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I began my career in the HVAC business in 1970 as a truck driver for an AC/refrigeration wholesaler. I stayed there just six weeks because my father — who worked for a manufacturers’ rep — told me there was an opening for a clerk at the rep. It paid $110 a week, which was $10 more than I was getting driving the truck. Plus, I’d get to work with him as my boss.

Although I’ve worked with hydronic heating for four decades and designed systems around just about every possible heat source, I would be hard-pressed to predict what might be available as hydronic heat sources 25 years from now. 

Does anybody else feel like 2022 just flew right by, or is it just me? It seems too early for Christmas decorations and music — just a few short weeks ago, Michigan was still having 70-degree weather! But ‘tis the season!

This past year has been an unprecedented year for the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) space, hitting $5 trillion in volume in 2021 through over 40,000 transactions. The number of transactions in the distribution and manufacturing space has caused owners to take a closer look at their options regarding selling and/or acquisition options.

The National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) reported in what’s referred to as the "nation’s report card" in September 2022 that recent long-term reading and mathematics assessments during the COVID-19 pandemic showed that “average scores for age 9 students in 2022 declined five points in reading and seven points in mathematics compared to 2020.

A2L refrigerants are the latest refrigerants recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) as substitutes in residential and light commercial air conditioning and heat pump systems.

Ninety percent of seniors would rather remain in their own homes than move to assisted living, according to AginginPlace.org. Given the costs of assisted living, aging-in-place makes financial sense as well. Yet, many homes are not ready, which presents an opportunity for plumbing contractors.

Taco Comfort Solutions wins the AHR 2023 Innovation award for Sustainable Solutions with its System M. I fully expect to see a virtual explosion in the number of air-to-water heat pumps on display at the upcoming AHR Expo in February.

Motivation. It’s something we all need and want, but that’s where the commonality ends. Each of us needs different things to motivate us to get things done. That means that when you talk about motivation, you need to know what kind of motivation your specific team member is interested in and what they will best respond to.

I have heating (plumbing, fire suppression, etc.) shops in New York and New Jersey. This is very much steam country, and we repair and replace steam boilers and systems all week long and have been for decades. All that is fine, but what I find incredibly odd is the polarized perception of the automatic water feeder.