2020 was a weird year at work. Many of us found ourselves working at home for the first time, often with our…
During our 5+ years of building software at Ravti, we’ve learned that one of our greatest strengths is our…
The four main benefits to Ravti revolve around having a solid inventory, running a consistent tenant compliance program, direct purchasing of equipment, and giving you better data to make more informed decisions. But, how does that impact you financially?
The local power company supplies the power necessary for operation to what is known as the high voltage side of the HVAC unit. A contactor is present in the HVAC unit to allow the flow of electricity from the service breaker to the unit itself. It is quite literally what…
HVAC units can autonomously control themselves on the low voltage side, also known as the control side, by powering on when cooling or heating is needed in the space. While there are many complex HVAC control systems, we will use the most basic controller — a thermostat — and a…
The refrigeration cycle is a critical component of HVAC systems and is governed by the principles of thermodynamics. Before we dive in, let’s get an understanding of four key concepts:
Superheat and subcooling are critical to the refrigeration cycle, but can be tough concepts to visualize.
Let’s start with superheat:
Boiling is when a liquid gains heat and transforms into a vapor.
When it comes to measurements & scales, the United States is on a different page than the rest of the world. Other countries measure the capacity of an HVAC system in the form of BTU (British Thermal Units) per hour, while the US standard measurement is in Tons, or Tons of Refrigeration. Most HVAC…
An air handling unit, or AHU, is a piece of HVAC equipment that is designed to regulate and circulate air throughout a space. Air handlers typically connect to a ductwork ventilation system that distributes the conditioned air throughout the building and returns it…
A chiller is designed to do one thing: make cold water for the facility’s air handlers. The amount and temperature is based on the application designed by the engineer. Like most things in HVAC, let’s think of chillers as a chain of heat absorption and rejection.
Cooling towers are used when systems have water-cooled — not air-cooled — condenser loops. These are most common with water-cooled chiller systems, groups of water-source heat pumps, and groups of vertical self-contained systems.
A packaged rooftop unit, or RTU, is a type of HVAC system that contains all the components needed to provide conditioned air in one concise unit.
Packaged rooftop units are commonly found in light and large commercial applications…
A split system is an HVAC system that is “split” into two major components and connected by copper refrigerant piping.
A split system’s two main components are the condensing unit and the air handling unit. The condensing unit houses the compressor…
A variable air volume (VAV) box can have a variety of different configurations, but is usually a metal box containing a damper that responsible for varying the amount of air which is delivered to the space. The supply air coming through this box is…