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It was Thursday, and the groundskeepers were getting the place ready for a game that was, in the minds of most of the locals, bigger than Bunker Hill. Pats vs. Dolphins, and a savage December Nor’easter was churning its way up the coast, which was
My buddy, Fred, was over for a visit and the talk turned to steam. Fred works for Consolidated Edison in New York City. Con Ed provides the electricity and steam for about
I was visiting Washington D. C. with the family. We stayed right near the Smithsonian Institute and spent our days walking through museums and breathing in the history and having a fine time. The sight of the homeless people
My sister-in-law Missy has lived with us for the past seven years. She’ll turn 40 next September and she has Down Syndrome. She often does things that make perfect sense to her, but it takes us a while to recognize
If your house has a warm air heating system there’s a lot you can learn from your hair dryer. It sounds funny, but every now and then we’ll solve a “no-heat” call by telling someone to rearrange
When steam heating was new, back at the turn of the 19th century, coal was the fuel of choice. It burned hot, and it burned long. A good coal-fired boiler would stay lit for eight to 10 hours on a load of coal. Those early boilers contained cast iron grates that were similar to what you
The boilers (and there were 20 of them) were laying out there in the parking lot, not far from the boiler room door. I could see them as Joe and I drove
It all started when a friend called to tell me about this old gravity hot-water system that had him
Concrete has been used for many years as a composite material that has excellent mechanical properties and durability for construction. However, concrete is a poor electrical conductor, especially under dry conditions. Concrete that
It sounded like someone was coming through the front door with a fire axe. We were sound asleep and then
Some buildings just live on and on in my mind. Some are old and some are new, but each began as someone’s idea and then became
I have an old book on my shelf that came to me by way of my friend Paul Yunnie. Paul lives in England and is Chairman of the ASHRAE Historical Committee. I time-travel with him.
We use newspaper, red rosin paper and kitty litter. We are as careful as possible, but spills do happen. Because we know this, we also bring along a
There are websites that are home to the best and the brightest (and most helpful!) people in the oil heat business. Here, you will find
I was reading an interesting book titled The Monster Under the Bed (How Business Is Mastering the Opportunity for Knowledge for Profit) by Stan Davis and Jim Botkin (Simon & Schuster, 1994) when I came across something that made me sit up straight and stare out the window for a while.
I just got back from an industry symposium where I watched a bunch of engineers give lectures on various topics. Each was an expert who had knowledge to share, and I was hanging on as best I could, not being an
With the bombing of the world trade center something came to mind that was discussed during my apprenticeship days when the WTC was being built. The topic on the minds of plumbers/steamfitter at that time was how to protect life and property with adequate fire protection as we knew no fire fighting equipment could shoot water up that high
Q) I am in dire need of a plumber who understands storm water drains. I have had news gutters and drains installed (at great expense..for me) but there has not been enough provision made for the amount of water going down. Recent storms last week and on the weekend were disastrous. I need
As more and more Americans are leaving congested big cities and moving out to the suburbs there is a rapid growth in new housing starts and commercial building start ups and thus more demand for quality plumbing and heating
There is a lot of talk about who accepts responsibility when water is too hot. Now, I am curious, what is considered too hot? Many codes do give a minimum temperature of water, either leaving the source or at the point of use
