This is for Heat Geek on Twitter

The History of both Domestic and Commercial cooling and heating started out in modern life in the 1960’s. We had a number of wonderful Manufactures in the UK almost all now gone. One company “Prestair” made window rattlers for the Armed Forces overseas, these were all cooling with electric resistance heating, the famous RANCO C17 thermostat. They then went on the develop the “Split System” using refrigeration engineers in the main to install them. Then along came the Horrible “pre-charged” lines, causing mayhem, with any man and his dog installing, B&Q tried it and failed!?

The?commercial reverse cycle Heat Pump only happened when a company called RANCO developed a viable reversing valve (see picture below), enabling the units to switch over from cooling to heating. Much has changed over the decades but the principle remains, of making the evaporator become the condenser and the reverse of. Below is an old U tube video link for education purposes.

https://youtu.be/8jr9d3KIfwY video for those interested in how it work, in the early days.?

Today we have Air to Air Heat Pumps, probably the most widely used method of “comfort cooling & heating in the World” 10’s of Millions all over the World. This type of heating and cooling is very sophisticated in todays modern units able to control space temperatures with tight TD’s. Variable speed compressor technology to match demand. Some units now have ultra fine filtration to control virus’s in the conditioned space.?

Now we get to the application, in the UK we have shunned air movement certainly domestically for heating, WHY simply when Coal Gas then later Natural gas arrived, brave plumbers took on the home heating market some now Household Names . So the mass wet heating system as we know it today arrived, the rest is history. The USA chose ducted air, Lennox being the most popular manufacture in the US. Who remembers the Lennox Pulse warm air NG furnace 98%+ efficient, I know I had one in my offices. In the 1980’s we designed Lennox Pulse systems with a cooling coil and reverse cycle. The controls would change to the best method of energy use, by sensing the external ambient and enthalpy, changing from NG to HP mode when the controls decided electricity was cheaper in operation than NG nothing new there then. Fancy Gas heating, electric reverse cycle heating and a Brucie Bonus "Cooling" all in one bit of kit, Oh! yes ventilation, filtration, god those were the days. when we designed stuff.

The environment and the cost of energy has once again initiated in the UK many alternative methods to keep ourselves comfortable in our homes, including that of the Air to Water Heat Pump.

LinkedIn is full of existing product and new?product as yet to evolve and adopted. LinkedIn is one of the best learning platforms on this subject, IMO. What I find in Trade Journals containing articles that by the time they are published are old news. More education please less of Opinions from a chosen few. Well quite rightly if you spend on advertising your product, you can also have a written opinion.

Heat Geek (Adam) must agree no heating solution of any type will solve all applications, and his education, his U Tube channel is a wonderful knowledge base for almost all who understand the basics and more. Getting back to A to A Heat Pump Splits, they are very sophisticated, almost silent, wall hung or low level console, even ceiling cassettes. They will heat or cool a space almost instantly, you can control them from an App on your phone, however not for everyone.?

So the home heating market has suddenly developed into a free for all and a myriad of solutions as a result of energy costs, the environment, and personal choice. No one can ever dictate to a home owner what they should install, or replace, simply offer solutions that are considered to meet the aspirations of the home owner. I love the saying the "cheapest energy" is that which you don’t use, so true.?

We as an Industry exist at all levels of talent and experience, those that think they know it all, to the best in the business. What we don’t have is enough of the best, we are woefully short on talent and experience, in turn an under educated workforce as a result of a lack of training, apprenticeships and teaching. Companies like Rob Berridge and more setting a standard in a sea of ignorance.?

It’s not all about the “Heat Pump” it’s about “ SPACE HEATING”. Companies out there breaking there necks to educate both an under skilled workforce and those about to be in it, who need to be trained. If we don’t sort this in this decade, again I say forget ZERO Carbon, ZERO Carbon has to be delivered by a multitude of trained talent, and the HVAC Industry is woefully lacking in it.?

Did you know press-fit has simply evolved as a result of a poorly trained workforce, nothing wrong with that you say, however it may suggest, soldering, brazing, welding, pipe bending (that lovely radius where fluids flow much better) is now no longer taught, but we still need these skills. I know "Hot Works Regulations" The refrigeration industry could not operate without this skill base.?I remember in College doing my first set of piping flares, forgot to put the "nut" on the pipe. The simple but complex question is who or what in the HVAC Industry has this incredibly responsible challenge? If it is not sorted very soon, we shall be spending more on home heating not less, think about it.

Ventilation is a much maligned subject, poorly understood and only applied as a last resort by Regulation but who ever checks it out when done. Free Cooling is available in ventilation systems, but it requires to be designed and installed effectively, there has to be a will to do it.?

Finally in some respects “Maintenance” most things that move any fluid requires maintenance, usually the first item knocked out of the FD’s cost, "can we go another year, of course you can," it’s just you pay more later, now that is sound economics. I stand to be fully challenged on this and that’s healthy, even in my old Industry age, I learn something new every day.