Ray Wohlfarth: The Boiler Room

RSS

That was my first mistake. I assumed.

I am not sure whether it was divine intervention or just plain luck that allowed these brave firefighters to walk away from this.

One of the things I have learned about this industry is that no matter how much you think you know, things can still surprise and humble you

One of the most misunderstood portions of the commercial heating system is the gas train. The gas train is a series of components that safely feed natural or propane gas into the burner.

I like working with the control techs in our industry. They have such a passion for their craft. If left alone, they will control or monitor everything that moves, slides, shakes or switches.

One of the companies we represent was owned by Russ Geaslen. He changed the boiler industry as we know it by designing and patenting the primary/secondary piping of modular boilers in 1964 (Patent No. US3329343A). Russ was half genius and half mad scientist. Unfortunately, he passed on to the big boiler room in the sky in 1996. I still miss him.

If you are like most designers or installers, I would wager that you have never read the installation manual for the piece of equipment that you design or install. And if you do not, you may be held responsible for any omissions recommended in that manual but not implemented.

John was a custodian for a local school district. We used to call him “20 Questions” because he would constantly ply us with questions about the boilers when we would perform the annual service. He would jokingly ask how many of the 20 questions he would have left.

For years we have designed boiler rooms consisting of two oversized boilers with fully modulating burners. 

A complaint building maintenance departments frequently hear is that the occupants are either too hot or too cold. In some instances, both complaints may come from the same room.