Choosing The Trades
It’s four years ago, and 8th-grader Paige Knowles is walking down new corridors and thinking about her future. She’s able to get a glimpse of the different labs, but the ...
Systems Help Center
Our comprehensive HVAC Systems Help Center covers a wide range of HVAC-related topics, including air conditioning and heat pumps, geothermal, hot-water heating, thermostats and controls, solar, steam heating, and warm air. We also have a section of informative and entertaining articles to help you sharpen your HVAC business skills. And our Heating Museum is a captivating journey through the evolution of HVAC technologies.
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Recent Articles
Spitting or Hissing Air Vents
Here are some reasons why the air vents are hissing or spitting water on your one-pipe steam heating system (and where to look for solutions). The system is dirty. Steam ...
The Pipes, The Pipes Are Calling!
If you look at the pipes in your old steam system you’ll notice that most of them are made of black steel. This was the standard in the old days. Nowadays, some contracto...
The Wedgie Factor
Comfort is a funny thing. When we have it, we’re usually not aware of it. It’s just there.
Keep It Simple
Once upon a time, when a manufacturers’ rep was foolish enough to hire me and teach me enough to be dangerous, I suggested to my boss that he would be very smart if he al...
Disassembly Required
It’s a good price and they’ll assemble it for us,” The Lovely Marianne looked up from her iPad and nodded. “This is a good deal. And you should definitely not be assembli...
Thieves
We had a warehouse break-in over the weekend when I was young and working inside-sales (read, order-taking) for a manufacturers’ rep on the Isle of Long. We had just move...
Air Vents and Oversized Radiators
Years ago, my friend Frank Taverna (who happens to be one hell of a good heating man) and I looked at a steam problem in a small church in New York City. Five one-pipe st...
Eureka: An Early Diverter Tee
In 1897, Eureka made an early version of what we now call the diverter tee. It worked by creating a drop in pressure along its run, which encouraged the water to flow int...
A Foreign Exchange
It took Jimmy about a half-hour to realize that the homeowner hadn’t understood a word he had said. “The guy was a real dummy,” Jimmy told Larry, who had been his partner...