A word from the editor
Raymond Castillo — Editor. Raymond spent thirteen years as a service technician and then a service manager for a commercial HVAC contractor in Phoenix, maintaining rooftop units on offices, shops and small commercial buildings in some of the hardest cooling conditions in the country. That experience is why this site begins with maintenance and controls, not new equipment. He writes DuctWise HQ for the person who gets the call when the office is too warm.
Why this site exists
Commercial heating and cooling is bought twice: once when the building is fitted out, and again, in a hurry, on the hottest day of the year when a unit stops. Most small-business owners meet the system for the first time at that second moment, with a technician on the roof and a staff of people sweating indoors.
A good deal of what happens next can be understood, and a good deal of the cost avoided, by knowing a few things in advance.
Who it is for
Owners, office managers and small landlords in the United States who are responsible for heating and cooling a shop, office, clinic waiting room or small commercial building, and who are not themselves HVAC professionals.
Everything here lives in one category, Commercial HVAC: matching rooftop units, split systems and heat pumps to a space, understanding maintenance contracts, explaining hot and cold spots, reading replacement quotes, and getting more from thermostats and schedules.
Our boundaries
Installation and repair instructions. Refrigerant handling, combustion equipment and electrical work are regulated and hazardous. We explain what the work involves. We do not tell you how to do it.
Code and permit interpretation. Mechanical codes, permit rules and energy requirements vary by city and state. We tell you to ask your local building department and do not say what it will require.
Indoor air-quality and health claims. We describe airflow, filtration and humidity in building terms. We do not make health claims or advise on medical conditions.
How we work
- We explain the system before the sales pitch. Knowing why a rooftop unit short-cycles, or why one office is always cold, tells you which question to put to the contractor. A brochure does not.
- We give ranges and name the variables. Costs and lifespans depend on climate, equipment type, access and the condition of the ductwork. We do not quote a single number we cannot defend.
- We say when maintenance beats replacement. A clean filter and a serviced coil outperform many new units that are poorly set up, and we say so.
- We name the failure mode. Every kind of equipment fails in a characteristic way. Each article says how, and what the early signs are.
- We keep safety in the foreground. We never tell readers to open refrigerant circuits, gas trains or electrical panels. We explain what a licensed technician does and why.
Funding and independence
DuctWise HQ is free to read and is supported by display advertising, plus affiliate links on some pages. If you use an affiliate link and buy something, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. Advertisers do not see our articles before publication and have no influence over them; ads are placed automatically by third-party networks. Affiliate commissions do not decide our recommendations either — much of what we recommend is a filter change, a service visit or a thermostat schedule, which is the least profitable advice in this industry. The full disclosure is on our Disclaimer page.
Corrections policy
Equipment, refrigerants and rules change, and we make our own mistakes. If something here is wrong, send it through our contact form with a source. We will verify it, correct the article, and record what changed and when.
Contact
Questions, disagreements and topic suggestions are welcome through our Contact page. We cannot diagnose your system or price your job from a distance, but we can usually tell you which two questions to put to the contractor before you approve the work.