kVA (kiloVolt-Ampere) is a compounded unit. It’s comprised of both electrical potential (Volts) and electrical current (Amps). 1 kVA is a frequently used unit; it represents 1,000 Volt-Amperes. In many cases, it’s useful to convert kVA to amps. The most common question here is ‘How many amps is x kVA’. To calculate the amps, we … Read more
One of the most frequently needed electricity conversions is kW (kilowatts) to Amps. kW is a unit of measure of electrical power (wattage). Ampere (A) is a unit of measure of electrical current (amperage). To convert kW to Amps, we can use the equation for electrical power: Power (kW) = I (A) * V (V) … Read more
AFUE rating stands for ‘Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency’. This is a key energy-efficiency rating for furnaces and it’s most commonly used when evaluating the energy efficiency of gas furnaces. In the most basic sense, the AFUE rating tells us what percentage of fuel (natural gas, propane, oil) is converted into heat. Here are two examples … Read more
In the world of HVAC, heating and cooling device capacity is given in either: BTU (British Thermal Units) or, Tons. Converting BTU to tons is very easy. Here is a list of how many BTU’s different heating and cooling devices with certain tonnage have: Tonnage BTU 1 Ton to BTU: 12,000 BTU 1.5 Ton to … Read more
When it comes to heating devices, there is no single specification more important than the HSPF rating. HSPF rating is the key metric for all heating devices; be it heat pumps, furnaces, or water heaters. Understanding it gives you the fundamental insight into all heating devices. In fact, it’s so important that every larger heating … Read more
The SEER rating is a universal rating to determine the energy efficiency of air conditioners. SEER stands for ‘Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio‘; this is the key metric to determine how much electricity our AC unit will draw. A large number of AC units have either 14 SEER or 16 SEER. When figuring out which unit … Read more
Example: An air conditioner is powered by 800 Watts. How many Amps is that? It’s 5 Amps. To convert electrical power to electrical current (Watts to Amps), we need to use the electrical power equation: P = I*V where: P is electrical power, measured in Watts (W) I is electrical current or amperage, measured in … Read more
Here’s a bit of the history of how CADR rating was invented: In the 80s, all talk with air purifiers was about maximum airflow (measured in CFM) and filters. But nobody really could tell how effective this or that air purifier was at actually removing pollutants such as dust, smoke, mold spores from indoor air. … Read more
ACH or Air Changes Per Hour is a metric that tells us how many times an HVAC device can fill up the full volume of a room with air. This is especially useful when comparing different air purifiers or air conditioners. Example: Let’s take an air purifier with 250 CFM airflow. We put it in … Read more
There are several HVAC metrics for energy efficiency. In many cases, the Energy-Efficiency Ratio (EER) is specified on the specification sheets. However, one of the most basic heating/cooling metrics – Coefficient Of Performance (COP) – is not. Fortunately, you can easily convert COP from EER (as well as EER from known COP) with these two … Read more