Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. HVAC system design is a subdiscipline of mechanical engineering, based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer. "Refrigeration" is sometimes added to the field's abbreviation as HVAC&R or HVACR, or "ventilation" is dropped, as in HACR.
A central heating system provides warmth to a number of spaces within a building from one main source of heat. It is a component of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, which can both cool and warm interior spaces.
A storage heater or heat bank (Australia) is an electrical heater which stores thermal energy during the evening, or at night when electricity is available at lower cost, and releases the heat during the day as required. Alternatively, solar storage heaters are designed to store solar energy as heat, to be released during the night or other periods where it is required, often making it more cost effective than selling surplus electricity to the grid and buying it back at night.
Housekeeping is the management and routine support activities of running and maintaining an organized physical institution occupied or used by people, like a house, ship, hospital or factory, such as cleaning, tidying/organizing, cooking, shopping, and bill payment. These tasks may be performed by members of the household, or by persons hired for the purpose. This is a more broad role than a cleaner, who is focused only on the cleaning aspect. The term is also used to refer to the money allocated for such use. By extension, it may also refer to an office or a corporation, as well as the maintenance of computer storage systems.
Home repair involves the diagnosis and resolution of problems in a home, and is related to home maintenance to avoid such problems. Many types of repairs are "do it yourself" (DIY) projects, while others may be so complicated, time-consuming or risky as to require the assistance of a qualified handyperson, property manager, contractor/builder, or other professionals.
Renovation is the process of improving broken, damaged, or outdated structures. Renovations are typically done on either commercial or residential buildings. Additionally, renovation can refer to making something new, or bringing something back to life and can apply in social contexts. For example, a community can be renovated if it is strengthened and revived. It can also be restoring something to a former better state. Renovation is very common in some places. For example, there are more than twenty thousand home improvement projects every year in Hong Kong, affecting more than a million residents.
Holmes on Homes is a Canadian television series featuring general contractor Mike Holmes visiting homeowners who are in need of help, mainly due to unsatisfactory home renovations performed by hired contractors.
A dropped ceiling is a secondary ceiling, hung below the main (structural) ceiling. It may also be referred to as a drop ceiling, T-bar ceiling, false ceiling, suspended ceiling, grid ceiling, drop in ceiling, drop out ceiling, or ceiling tiles and is a staple of modern construction and architecture in both residential and commercial applications.
The Pentagon Renovation Program (PENREN) was a long-term project by the United States Department of Defense to perform a complete slab-to-slab renovation of the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The program began in the 1990s, and was completed in June 2011.
Utility sub-metering is a system that allows a landlord, property management firm, condominium association, homeowners association, or other multi-tenant property to bill tenants for individual measured utility usage. The approach makes use of individual water meters, gas meters, or electricity meters.
The term programmable communicating thermostat (PCT) is used by the California Energy Commission to describe programmable thermostats that can receive information wirelessly.
The Drake Landing Solar Community (DLSC) is a planned community in Okotoks, Alberta, Canada, equipped with a central solar heating system and other energy efficient technologies. This heating system is the first of its kind in North America, although much larger systems have been built in northern Europe. The 52 homes in the community are heated with a solar district heating system that is charged with heat originating from solar collectors on the garage roofs and is enabled for year-round heating by underground seasonal thermal energy storage (STES).
The Home Improvement Programme (HIP) (Chinese: 家居改进计划; pinyin: jiā jū gǎi jìn jì huá; Malay: Program Peningkatan Rumah) was introduced by the Housing Development Board (HDB) in August 2007, during Singapore's National Day Rally. It replaced the earlier Main Upgrading Programme (MUP), which operated from 1990 to 2007. The HIP focuses on addressing common maintenance issues that arise in ageing HDB flats, such as spalling concrete, ceiling leaks, and outdated infrastructure. It offers essential and optional upgrades tailored to flats, where essential improvements are fully subsidised by the government, while optional improvements require co-payment from residents.
The United States is the second-largest single consumer of energy in the world. The U.S. Department of Energy categorizes national energy use in four broad sectors: transportation, residential, commercial, and industrial. Energy usage in transportation and residential sectors is largely controlled by individual domestic consumers. Commercial and industrial energy expenditures are determined by businesses entities and other facility managers. National energy policy has a significant effect on energy usage across all four sectors.
PACE financing is a means used in the United States of America of financing energy efficiency upgrades, disaster resiliency improvements, water conservation measures, or renewable energy installations in existing or new construction of residential, commercial, and industrial property owners. Depending on state legislation, PACE financing can be used to finance water efficiency products, seismic retrofits, resiliency, and other measures with social benefits.
Smart thermostats are Wi-Fi thermostats that can be used with home automation and are responsible for controlling a home's heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. They perform similar functions as a programmable thermostat as they allow the user to control the temperature of their home throughout the day using a schedule, but also contain additional features, such as Wi-Fi connectivity, that improve upon the issues with programming.
Google Nest is a line of smart home products including smart speakers, smart displays, streaming devices, thermostats, smoke detectors, routers and security systems including smart doorbells, cameras and smart locks.
Accessible housing refers to the construction or modification of housing to enable independent living for persons with disabilities. Accessibility is achieved through architectural design, but also by integrating accessibility features such as modified furniture, shelves and cupboards, or even electronic devices in the home.
St Paul's Church in Glenageary, County Dublin, is a large parish of the Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough of the Church of Ireland. The building itself is a large one in the Gothic Revival style. The church has had a distinguished history of both rectors and curates, with many of them going on to senior posts in the Church of Ireland and further afield. The current rector is The Rev Gary Dowd.
Reliance Home Comfort is a residential and commercial services company headquartered in Canada primarily focused on rental, sales and maintenance of water heaters, water purification, smart home and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. The company has its largest base of operations in Ontario, but also has offices in western Canada and the United States. As of 2017, it served 1.7 million customer households across Canada.
