ASHRAE Books Necessary for HVAC & Refrig Exam?

Working my way through the NCEES practice exam and running into a handful of solutions referencing the various ASHRAE Handbooks. I have some older books including the 2001 fundamentals which I was planning on bringing and has had most of the information I've needed. However, I just went through a problem involving thermal properties of food in which the 2014 Refrigeration Handbook they reference had different specific heat numbers than my 1998 handbook...which leads me to this question, which ASHRAE books do I actually need!?

You should expect to use the ASHRAE books for the exam.  Just a wealth of information in those books.  Hard to tell what they could pull out...

I would use the most recent version possible.  I took 2009-2012 versions and was ok for the 2016 exam.   

If you are taking the HVAC & R exam, you should take all 4 books in proper sequence.  Learn how to use the index...  

Yes you absolutely need all 4 books. I used each book at least twice to look something up for a problem. I'm going as far to say they're more important to have than the MERM. I had the 3 or 4 equations that you use often from the MERM memorized by the time I sat for the test. I arrived at multiple problems where I initially did not know how to solve them because I hadn't studied that specific topic. So I did a quick search through ASHRAE index, found the topic in one of the books, and was able to solve it. Be familiar with using the index to search things. You'll be doing it a lot.

I remember that food problem from the practice exams. I had the 2001 NCEES practice exam from Ebay. It had a lot of repeat problems with the 2016 NCEES practice exam. That food refrigeration problem was repeated and I remember the answer was different in the 2001 practice exam. In the 2016 practice exam they updated the answer to go along with the updated food data in the newer 2014 refrigeration book. I'd recommend having the newer version.

Thanks guys. I have a full 98-01 set but sounds like namod65 and I have both proven it's worth getting the updated set. 

Can anyone provide additional advice on looking up topics I'm not familiar with? There were a few problems (NCEES Practice Exam) where I was looking up key words in the index but it didn't really get me anywhere. 

Also, ASHRAE chart #4 was necessary for a few problems but it is not in any of the ASHRAE books or the MERM. Would this be provided on the exam or do I need to acquire a copy?

The Six Minute Solutions and the PPI practice exam both have a number of examples that I would qualify as "ASHRAE practice questions". For example in the PPI practice exam, there's a question asking to size an expansion tank. Flip through the ASHRAE index, and it will lead you to HVAC Systems and Equipment, where there's a section that will walk you through how to do it. In the Six Minute Solutions, there is a question that asks about a window condensation factor. You'll find that equation in the Fundamentals.

Both of those examples, I don't think the MERM will help you. But ASHRAE would have you covered.

I don't remember what this chart #4 is?

namod65 said:

The Six Minute Solutions and the PPI practice exam both have a number of examples that I would qualify as "ASHRAE practice questions". For example in the PPI practice exam, there's a question asking to size an expansion tank. Flip through the ASHRAE index, and it will lead you to HVAC Systems and Equipment, where there's a section that will walk you through how to do it. In the Six Minute Solutions, there is a question that asks about a window condensation factor. You'll find that equation in the Fundamentals.

Both of those examples, I don't think the MERM will help you. But ASHRAE would have you covered.

I don't remember what this chart #4 is?

Click to expand...

Thank you. I will go through some of those problems once I finish up the NCEES practice exam.

Chart #4 is the psych chart at 5,000 ft.

Yes I think it's a good idea to bring a copy of the psych chart for different elevations. I can't remember if they provided a low temperature psych chart, so I'd bring one of those as well.

namod65 said:

Yes I think it's a good idea to bring a copy of the psych chart for different elevations. I can't remember if they provided a low temperature psych chart, so I'd bring one of those as well.

Click to expand...

Link to psych charts for anyone interested: http://www.coolerado.com/material-resource-center/?tabgarb=tab6

I do think it would be odd for them to require a psych chart other than #1 since that is all that is in the ASHRAE books, but they did on the practice exam so I guess we will see...

If I was taking HVAC, I would have them.