Installation by Certified Technicians Is it Better

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Installation by Certified TechniciansIs it
Better?
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Installation by Certified TechniciansIs it
Better?

• ACEEE Summer Study 2006
• John Proctor, P.E.
• Proctor Engineering Group, Ltd.
• San Rafael, CA

Sponsors DOE Contract 03-STAC-01 New Jersey
Board of Public Utilities New York State Energy
Research and Development Authority National
Association of State Energy Offices (NASEO)
Partners Northeast Energy Efficiency
Partnerships Conservation Services Group Nexus
Market Research Vermont Energy Investment
Corporation
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• This research project was designed and
  implemented to determine
• the benefits of contractor training/certification.

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Site Recruiting

• Customer names were obtained by requesting and
  obtaining manufacturer warranty card information
  from sales of recent central air conditioning
  system installations to customers in New Jersey.
  The HVAC contracting firms were cross-checked
  against a membership database provided by the
  Eastern Heating and Cooling Council. This
  database identifies and classifies HVAC
  contractors according to participation in
  training and certification activities.

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The Two Groups

• Group 1 -- NATE75 of Technicians NATE
  Certified.
• Group 2 not-NATENo record of any of the
  technicians ever being trained

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Sample
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The Method Blind

• To eliminate the introduction of bias into the
  onsite data collection process,
• The customer recruitment, scheduling and onsite
  assessments were blind.

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The Method Inspections

• Refrigerant Charge using Manufacturers Methods
• Air Flow using TrueFlow Plate
• Duct Sealing by Observation
• Sizing comparison to Manual J
• Customer Satisfaction by Interview

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Certification Results
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Results Duct Sealing and Refrigerant Charge
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Results Airflow Across Evaporator
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Results Unit Size Relative to Manual J
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Results Customer Satisfaction with Installer
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Rebate Results(Existing Construction Only)
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ResultsDuct Sealing and Refrigerant Charge