However the point is you do not defer to an HVAC company just because you don’t know or understand something.
You end up costing your client money for the simple fact you didn’t bother to learn the principals.
By all means stay within your level of education but your education should be at a level to recognize a problem.
Todays inspection was a 1955 model home 2855 SQ FT that had a add on master bed and bath The A/C unit was a 1988 Lennox 5 ton and was performing all it could do. Trouble was the duct design Low CFM at all registers. The system consisted of one trunk line rectangular with the added on room being connected to the end of the trunk line with round metal duct. The blower motor on the furnace was inadequate HP to supply proper static pressure on the duct system thus the low CFM.
I will pass this info to the client as nice to know but not as a repair.
The furnace was a Lennox 1988 model all Lennox pulse furnaces between 1981 and 1990 had a recall for repairs to the heat exchanger. There was no sticker on this furnace to indicate that the MFG rep had made repairs to this furnace.
Today’s inspection had as close to perfect designed system as found in these hear parts;-) The home was a 1982 model 2301 SQ FT. The A/C condenser was a split system 1997 4 ton with a 100K BTU down flow 2002 furnace. The ducts were Metal and schedule 20 PVC beneath the slab foundation. The duct system was well balanced with equal CFM from all rooms based on their size. The return air ducts in the attic were a combination of flex and metal with three return air grills located in the ceilings of the front living room, the hall to the bedrooms and on the ceiling of the master bedroom. Boys and Girls It just don’t get any better than this except for the age of the units.
I am making these post to form a pattern stand by for a few more post
I thought you said: Dave a client does not give a squat about all that mum bo jumbo what matters to them is how they feel to hot or to cold. I will stand behind my run time statement as it is very close to what a home owner will be satisfied with.
How do you know what the air flow was, and if it was right, when you don’t do none of that mum bo jumbo?
Seeing your basing your report on what the client “thinks” and not based upon thermodynamics, your leading these guys here down the path to a law suit.
Regardless of how “satisfied” you make you clients “feel”, you can make that system better than it is. I’m never “satisfied” with just getting by with a clients feelings. They can turn around in a second and be dis-satisfied at a drop of the hat for the same reasons.
So, how do you get cold air off the floor in the winter time? If cold air can get sucked up into a ceiling register, the air speed is so high you’ll freeze at 102F.
Turn on the thermal camera in the winter and you’ll see what I’m taking about.
As I have posted before…
No home inspection today gearing up for a commercial roof scan. I will keep posting my A/C Inspection just to prove a point and you can guess my point:D:D
TGIF
Today,s inspection was a 1964 Model two story, 2230 SQ FT with 4 bedrooms up none down. The home faced west with updated windows and additional blown insulation in the attic. The two split system A/C condensers adjacent to the east exterior wall. The downstairs condenser was a 2.5 ton MFG in 2013 the upstairs condenser was a 2 ton MFG in 2007.
The down stairs gas fired down flow furnace MFG in 2015 was installed within the garage closet supply air ducts were beneath the slab foundation with excellent CFM at the floor registers.
The upstairs gas fired upflow furnace was installed in the attic above the garage MFG in 1993 with the supply air from the upstairs ceiling registers.
The upstairs supply air duct was one round trunk line with six drops. This could have been improved by using two trunk lines with 3 drops each. The upstairs return air was on the wall of the SW bedroom and could have been improved by placing it in the hall centrally located between the bedrooms.
BTW improperly placed and or sized return air in my opinion is what renders most Central systems inefficient.
The down stairs return air grill was located in the SW formal dining room on the south wall just below the ceiling. Return air grills that are not centrally located within the home are not as effective as one located in the central area of the home.
I am starting to form a pattern with these post see if you can spot it. The pattern is based on Okla summer winter temps. Not Fla or Canada;-)
Commercial IR is over and paid for and AGHHHH I am back to inspecting houses GRRRRR.
Today was a 2024 SQ FT 1969 model with crawl space. The split system A/C unit was a 2017 5 ton located adjacent to the north exterior wall. The gas fired forced air 90% down flow furnace located in the open area of the garage. The return air ducts were a combination of metal and flex located within the attic with 3 return openings within the home. The supply air ducts located within the crawl space were metal with adequate CFM at the floor registers.
The home had updated Anderson windows with adequate blown insulation within the attic.
In my opinion the 5 ton condenser was over sized for the home as it cycled off before removing an adequate amount of humidity.
Can someone tell me how to tell the BTU rating of a gas furnace without looking at the data plate???
Worth repeating 
Marcel ya did not answer my question give me a little help here:p:p:D
Approximate 25,000 BTU per burner.
Thanks ya got it:D:D
Next house was a 1980 single story been added onto twice 2269 SQ FT MOL
This would of been a good training house as it was a flipper The A/C unit was a 5 ton split system HP Mfg in Feb of 2002 and the electrical furnace was a upflow MFG in the 26th week of 2002 installed within the bathroom closet.
The supply air ducts within the attic were a combination of flex and metal the flex duct had the outer wrap deteriorated and the insulation was separated exposing the inner plastic and wire.
The return air was less than desirable for this size home as it was a local return at the furnace only. There were two abandoned return air grills in the ceiling, installed from a later unit. One of which was still open into the attic allowing attic air into the home. One local return air grill on one side of the home was a bad choice due to the length and foot print of the home. The master and one other bedroom was on the apposite side of the home from the furnace. The furnace was not centrally located thus the extra push from the furnace blower being a 5 ton system was very helpful on the CFM" Larger Horse power blower motor"
The electrical furnace had 3 5KW heat strips and the middle strip was not operating as indicated with the amp meter. I am attaching a pic of the heating elements.
No home inspections today or tomorrow as I am preparing for the HVAC class Saturday at the ORICA spring conference if you live in Okla it will be a good time to bone up on your HVAC. Hope to have a lot of Q & A for visual inspections.:D:D
401.9 Air Conditioning
1 The inspector shall:
A. open readily openable access panels.
B. inspect:
- central and through-wall equipment.
- distribution systems.
C. describe: - energy source(s).
- cooling systems.
2 The inspector is NOT required to:
A. inspect electronic air filters.
B. determine cooling supply adequacy or distribution balance.
C. inspect window air conditioning units
Problem solved! 
Hey stranger that makes you just like your competition, when you have a dozen white chickens they all look alike.
True, but there are lots of other areas you can use to separate yourself.
If I was you I might do what you did, but most home inspectors do not have the knowledge to make that kind of decision, me being one of them. I tell people right up front that Im not an expert on anything. I know a little about everything but dont know everything about anything. Im a generalist. They seem to respect that. If they dont then they need to get another inspector, and thats fine too. 
I don’t do anything special, I like my gadgets I inspect just like you do;-)
BTW I have next week booked up and I will post the A/C results and then make my comparisons, that should be enough to accomplish what I want to talk about.
I agree. If you’re qualified to comment at an advanced level, you’re adding value to your report that will surpass the value of the information that your (less qualified) competition will be able to supply. As long as you’re confident in your ability to defend the information provided by your report, and you’re not violating any regulations, you don’t have to worry.
Worry!!! What is that is it something that keeps you awake at night??? I sleep like a baby
Nice well kept 1996 custom built home today. **2650 SQ FT **one story on a slab foundation. Two A/C units split systems. The west side had a 1.5 ton A/C serving the master bedroom, two small bedrooms and two bathrooms. The remaining area was served by a 2.5 ton split system A/C. Both A/C units had been updated once since 1996. The west furnace was a down flow gas fired forced air updated in 2016 with updated A-coil located in a exterior closet. The east furnace down flow gas fired forced air located in the garage closet and was a 1996 model with an updated A-coil. The supply air duct beneath the slab foundation was a combination of metal and plastic PVC schedule 20 and had adequate CFM air flow at all floor registers as measured at the floor registers.
Both systems had one return air grill each mounted in the ceiling of their respective locations east and west. The return air duct located in the attic was flex duct for both systems.
The tonnage of A/C was smaller than we find on the average built home of this size with less insulation in the walls and in the attic.
A home of lessor quality in my area would of had one 5 ton cooling unit.