Plumbing & Mechanical Contractor

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In 1885, when you could still buy a milk cow for $29.70, Albert Butz, a Swiss immigrant living in St. Paul, Minnesota, invented what he called the damper-flapper. He patented it the following year. The flapper opened a damper that allowed outside air to enter a coal-fired home furnace. This increased the oxygen in the furnace and made the fire burn hotter. When the temperature rose to a desired point, the damper closed.

More and more hydronic heating and cooling systems are being designed around air-to-water and water-to-water (geothermal) heat pumps. When the heating distribution system is extensively zoned, a buffer tank is typically installed between the heat pump and that distribution system.

Are you an ace troubleshooter? We pose a question to you, our readers, to review a system’s schematic layout and discover its faults, flaws and defects.

Late last year, LIXIL made headlines when it announced the acquisition of Basco, a U.S.-based shower door manufacturing company.

Concealed attic spaces combine some of the most difficult aspects of fire protection design and require carefully tailored fire sprinkler solutions for effectiveness.

Many hydronic installers look for ways to differentiate their work, to craft a specific look — maybe even a “brand” — that resonates with customers. For Fernando Lobo, owner of Fairfield, Connecticut-based 1 Call Services, that unique look begins with the raw material list he builds when sizing a boiler replacement, or new boiler install.

Ray Bramble, along with his sons, Ryan Bramble and Bradley Bramble, are no strangers to franchising. The Brambles converted their family-owned and operated HVAC contracting business to an Aire Serv franchise — a Neighborly company — in 2009, mostly due to a lack of systems in place at the time.

Jobs don’t have genders.
That’s the message Judaline Cassidy wants to get across. Cassidy, founder and chief vision officer of Tools & Tiaras and self-proclaimed feminist plumber, has more than 20 years’ of experience in the trades.

People who knew Capt. Montgomery C. Meigs said he was occasionally pompous, but when the job was done to his satisfaction, he said, “This was the most difficult piece of engineering and construction that I have yet to undertake.”

Government planners, taking their queues from politicians and advocacy organizations, have steered the future of energy supply away from fossil fuels and toward renewably-sourced electricity. It’s happening on every level from the feds right down to local city councils.