HVAC School - For Techs, By Techs

In this episode, Bryan sits down with compressor teardown specialist Ty Branaman for a deep dive into what really kills refrigeration and AC compressors. After some lighthearted banter, the conversation quickly turns technical: Ty has spent years cutting apart failed compressors on video, and he explain...

In this short podcast episode, Bryan talks about multi-position service valves and more valve types.

Many typical residential systems have brass service valves with a hex cap and Schrader ports; access happens solely through the Schrader ports (where the cores are). Schraders are restrictive and prone to leaking, and they don't have the ability to back-seat or front-seat. In applications where we need that capability, we use multi-...

In this episode, Bryan is joined by Matthew Taylor, a supermarket refrigeration specialist whose expertise centers on CO₂ rack systems, and Andrew Greaves, Director of User Experience at NAVAC Tools, for the third installment of their series on triple-point evacuation. The conversation expands beyond wate...

In this short podcast episode, Bryan talks about considerations for washing commercial coils and water challenges techs might face. Despite being the topic of debate within the last several years, cleaning coils matters and will affect performance.

When washing coils, we use Refrigeration Technologies Viper cleaners (especially Venom Packs) when we actually need cleaners. No matter which cleaner you use (or if you don't), you ...

Bryan opens this conversation with Ty Branaman, Head of Training at the GRIT Foundation, by digging into a question that anchors everything else in the episode: what is trades education actually for? Ty's answer is unambiguous — it's about people, not information. He describes his own struggle with traditi...

In this short Q&A podcast episode, Bryan answers a question from Evan, a licensed mold assessment consultant, about system oversizing: What can be done when an HVAC system is oversized to control humidity and keep occupants comfortable?

The extent of the problem will depend on how ba...

In this episode of the HVAC School Podcast, Bryan sits down with Kelsey Hei and Andy Fox from 3M Filtrete to pull back the curtain on what really goes into a quality air filter. Most homeowners — and even some contractors — think of air filters as simple screens that catch dust, but as this episode makes clear, mod...

In this short podcast from the 8th HVACR Training Symposium's Bry-X stage, Ken Davis shares his experience as an HVAC contractor who has brought vital experience from high-performance medicine to High-Performance HVAC. Ken's experience comes from developing high-reliability organizations (HROs).

An HRO has a low fail rate in an industry where high fail rates aren't tolerated due to catastrophic consequences, such as in medicine, nu...

In this episode of the HVAC School Podcast, host Bryan sits down with Lenny from Copeland to explore how one of the most respected names in HVAC and refrigeration is actively investing in the next generation of technicians. Lenny leads Copeland's aftermarket demand creation efforts, which includes everything fro...

This short episode is Andy Holt's session from the Bry-X stage of the 7th Annual HVACR Training Symposium: Communications Might Be Your Best Tool. In this session, Andy covers some key communication and customer service principles that can help you become a better technician. In the end, customers won't remember your technical knowledge; they will remember how you made them feel, and that's why good communication is so important.

A...

In this session from the 7th Annual HVACR Training Symposium in Florida, Eric "Elk" Kaiser delivers a comprehensive workshop on airflow testing and measurement. Eric opens by challenging technicians to think beyond simply pointing an instrument at a duct and reading a number. Before selecting any tool, he argues, professionals must understand exactly what they are measuring —...

In this short podcast, Roman Baugh takes over with his new series, "The Deep End," where he shares tech support conversations. This time, Roman is on the other end of a live tech support call about a grounded compressor with an existing Mitsubishi mini-split (Mr. Slim heat pump). The unit in this case had an unclear service history due to the homeowner moving in recently.

In this issue, the compressor kicked on and kicked off immed...

In this episode, HVAC veteran Adam Mufich of National Comfort Institute (NCI) pulls back the curtain on one of the industry's most overlooked problems: the majority of residential HVAC systems in the United States are not delivering the correct amount of airflow. Drawing on decades of hands-on experience, Adam opens up about his own journey from confi...

In this short podcast from the Bry-X stage of the 7th Annual HVACR Training Symposium, Matthew Taylor from Kalos Services introduces refrigeration pulse valves, which started as a solution for CO2 refrigeration systems and are now common in commercial refrigeration as a whole. He briefly explains how they work and describes their role in the refrigeration systems (and possibly commercial HVAC systems in the future!).

Refrigeration ...

In this candid team meeting, Bryan — a founder of Kalos Services and a veteran of residential HVAC — gathers his install crew to have an honest conversation about what goes wrong on the job. With summer around the corner and the workload about to spike, Bryan circles back to his roots in residential HVAC to lead a round-table discussion on the pain points his technicia...

In this short podcast from the Bry-X stage of the 7th Annual HVAC/R Training Symposium, Ty Branaman and Leilani Orr talk about how to teach kids the trades. They share lessons they've learned from the GRIT Foundation and over their careers as trades and home educators. Their approaches have evolved over the years, and GRIT has also evolved quite a bit from its beginnings.

Leilani and Ty have found that the Socratic method is great ...

In this episode, Brad Cooper — second-generation HVAC technician, educator at Arkansas State University-Beebe (ASUBB), and CMHE-certified professional with HVAC Excellence — breaks down geothermal systems for everyday HVAC technicians. Brad brings a grounded, no-hype perspective to a technology that has long intimidated many in the trade. His central message is simple:...

In this short podcast, Ruchir Shah and Dan Riggs from SkillCat talk about how to make online training that does not suck! They talk about how to develop training that is relevant to the trades and can be applied in real-world trade work.

The skill gap is widening in the trades, especially as shortages grow when people retire and it becomes more difficult to hire qualified new people. Hiring apprentices with little experience also h...

In this action-packed live stream episode of HVAC School, host Bryan is joined by Eric Kaiser, Ty Branaman, and Roman Baugh for a continuation of a deep-dive conversation on vacuum practices — picking up where a previous episode left off with Andrew Greaves and Jim Bergmann. The team set...