Humber Real Estate - Course 2, Module 7, Understanding Residential Construction -
Mechanical Systems (Practice Questions and Answers)
How does electrical service enter a building? - ✔️✔️From the street via the electrical service
entrance cable into the electrical main disconnect, where it can be shut off.
From there it goes to the Distribution panel and gets sent through circuits to various outlets,
where appliances can be plugged in.
The electrical main disconnect is often incorporated into the distribution panel.
When an electrical system has fuses in the distribution panel, each of these fuses must have
the same _________ as the wire it is protecting. - ✔️✔️Rating
What are the 3 types of wiring? - ✔️✔️- Copper (most modern & desirable)
- Aluminum (older, prone to oxidization, softer and more brittle than copper, can pose fire
risk)
- Knob-and-tube (Used prior to the 1930s, not grounded, can be dangerous)
What type of outlet should be used in a bathroom? - ✔️✔️One with a ground fault circuit
interrupter (to help avoid electrocution risk in locations near water).
What are some warning signs you should look for that may indicate problems with an
electrical system? - ✔️✔️- Frequent blown fuses or tripped circuit breakers
- Hot or charred outlets
- Burning smells
- Flickering or dimming lights
- Electric shocks
- Light bulbs burning out too quickly
What are the benefits and financial incentives or using solar panels? - ✔️✔️- Can be installed
in homes with enough roof space and access to sunshine
- With a net metering system, more electricity can be created during the summer months,
creating a surplus in the form of credit, which can be used to offset the cost of electricity bills
for days with decreased availability of sunlight (can also be sold to the electric company for
credits)
What is the ideal direction a house's exposure for solar panels to work effectively? -
✔️✔️South / South-West
What are the primary requirements of any heating system? - ✔️✔️- Size (large enough to
provide adequate heat on the coldest day)
- Reliability (reliable and safe)
- Cost (Economical to install and operate)
- Equal heating distribution (Capable of heating all parts of the home equally)
Heating systems are rated for capacity and efficiency. Capacity tells homeowners what? -
✔️✔️How much heat a heating system can generate.
What are the 2 types of capacity in reference to heating systems? - ✔️✔️- Input capacity (How
much fuel is consumed for every hour of operation in British Thermal Units [BTU] per hour)
- Output capacity (How much usable heating or cooling the unit provides to a home)
A heating system's input capacity + Output capacity = ? - ✔️✔️Efficiency rating, expressed as
a percentage.
What are heating system efficiency ratings based on? - ✔️✔️The Annual Fuel Utilization
Rating (AFUE), which measures how much fuel is converted to heat in a heating system.
Example: If a heating system has an AFUE rating of 60%, then 40 cents of every dollar spent
on heating are being wasted.
Canada's Energy Efficiency Regulations mandate that gas furnaces manufactured after
December 31, 1999 must have a minimum efficiency rating of ____% - ✔️✔️90
What types of heating systems are there? - ✔️✔️- Forced air
- Steam (radiators, good for allergies)
- Hot water (radiators, good for allergies)
- Electric (good for allergies)
- Radiant (good for allergies)
- Ground source heat pumps
- Air source heat pumps
How does a radiant heating system work? - ✔️✔️Warms the house by circulating water
through pipes embedded in the floor (copper or PEX).
How does a ground-source heat pump or geothermal system work? - ✔️✔️Uses the earth,
groundwater or both as the source of heat in the winter and as the sink for heat removed from
the home in the summer.
Liquid (usually antifreeze) circulates through a loop under the ground. The heat collected
from the ground is distributed through the house with an air handling system.
Describe an air source heat pump. - ✔️✔️A system that transfers heat from outside to inside a
building, or vice versa. Similar to ground source heat pumps, except that they extract heat
from the air rather than the ground and use it to heat the house.
What are the types of furnaces available? - ✔️✔️- Electric
- Gas
- Oil
- Gravity (found in old homes ... fuelled by either gas or oil)
Which furnace is most expensive to operate and takes the longest to heat up the house? Gas,
electric or oil? - ✔️✔️Electric
In areas where gas isn't available, what is often used instead in a furnace? - ✔️✔️Propane
How often should above-ground oil tanks be replaced and at what cost? - ✔️✔️Every 10 years
for approx. $3000
What is the least efficient type of furnace? - ✔️✔️Gravity furnaces
What are the 2 components of a boiler? - ✔️✔️A heat exchanger and a burner
What are the two types of boilers? - ✔️✔️- Open (no longer common, uses an expansion tank,
uses gravity rather than a circulating pump)
- Closed (water is pressurized a few pounds higher than what is required to force it up to the
highest level within the structure ... typically have a circulating pump to force water through
the system)
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