Home Inspector Heating & Cooling Practice Questions
Heating & Cooling makes up 4 of every 50 questions on a Tigertest Home Inspector practice test. Here are 10 of the 16 questions on it, each with the answer and the reason.
Updated by the Tigertest team. Based on the EBPHI content outline for the National Home Inspector Examination. Original questions; 50 per test, weighted like the real 200-question exam. Not affiliated with EBPHI.
1. In a split-system air conditioner, the coil in the outdoor unit acts as the:
- A.Air handler
- B.Condenser
- C.Evaporator
- D.Expansion device
Answer: B. The outdoor coil rejects heat as hot refrigerant gas condenses to a liquid. The indoor evaporator coil absorbs heat from house air.
2. The larger, insulated copper line running between the indoor coil and the outdoor unit is the:
- A.Condensate line
- B.Discharge line
- C.Liquid line
- D.Suction line
Answer: D. The suction line returns cool, low-pressure gas to the compressor and is insulated to prevent sweating. The smaller liquid line runs warm.
3. For a working central air conditioner, a normal temperature drop across the indoor coil is typically about:
- A.14 to 22 degrees F
- B.8 to 10 degrees F
- C.2 to 6 degrees F
- D.30 to 40 degrees F
Answer: A. A split of about 14 to 22 degrees between return and supply air is a common rule of thumb. A much smaller drop suggests a problem worth referring.
4. Many inspectors will not run an air conditioner when it is below about 60 to 65 degrees F outdoors because:
- A.The thermostat locks out
- B.The fan motor overheats
- C.The compressor can be damaged
- D.The coil cannot hold a charge
Answer: C. In cool weather liquid refrigerant can return to the compressor and damage it. The report states the system was not operated and why.
5. The part that lets a heat pump switch between heating and cooling is the:
- A.Check valve
- B.Defrost board
- C.Reversing valve
- D.Expansion valve
Answer: C. The reversing valve changes the direction of refrigerant flow, so the indoor coil becomes the condenser in heating mode.
6. An air handler in an attic above a finished ceiling should have:
- A.A secondary drain pan
- B.A backdraft damper
- C.A dielectric union
- D.A gas sediment trap
Answer: A. If the primary condensate drain clogs, a secondary pan (or a float shutoff) keeps water from coming through the ceiling below.
7. A cracked heat exchanger in a gas furnace is serious because it can:
- A.Short the thermostat wires
- B.Raise the gas supply pressure
- C.Freeze the condensate line
- D.Let flue gases into house air
Answer: D. The heat exchanger separates combustion products from the air being circulated. A crack can let carbon monoxide into the supply air.
8. Scorch marks on the furnace cabinet just above the burner opening suggest:
- A.Low line voltage
- B.Flame rollout
- C.Short cycling
- D.A dirty air filter
Answer: B. Flame rollout happens when flames escape the combustion chamber, often from a blocked flue or heat exchanger. It is a fire and CO hazard.
9. A gas furnace vented with PVC pipe and connected to a condensate drain is most likely:
- A.An oil-fired furnace
- B.A condensing furnace
- C.An 80% furnace
- D.A natural draft furnace
Answer: B. Condensing furnaces (about 90% efficient and up) extract so much heat that flue gas condenses, so they use plastic vents and drains.
10. A lazy, yellow, sooty flame at a natural gas burner usually indicates:
- A.A cracked igniter
- B.A normal gas flame
- C.Too much primary air
- D.Incomplete combustion
Answer: D. A healthy natural gas flame is blue. Yellow, sooty flames mean too little air for the fuel and can produce carbon monoxide.
Practice all 16 heating & cooling questions, and the rest of the 200-question bank, in the free Home Inspector training sets. Questions you miss come back until you have mastered them.
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