I asked some friends in the industry, who work in cities, how they manage to do what they do, what with the traffic, lack of parking and high-stressed inhabitants. What they had to say made me shiver. 

For most of my career I’ve heard lay people say that it doesn’t pay to turn down the heat when they’re away from home because it takes much more heat to heat the house up again once it goes cold. They believe this because someone told them it’s true, even though it’s not true.

I recently posed this question to The Wallies, they being contractors who post nearly every day on The Wall at HeatingHelp.com: If a new wholesaler moved into your town, what would they have to do to win your business?

Each year, Supply House Times editors receive thousands of product releases from industry manufacturers. The 20 products highlighted here have earned the distinction of being PM’s Top Products of 2021 based on the number of page views on supplyht.com. Congratulations to those products on this year’s list.

I was listening to James Trane the other day. He was speaking from Chicago in 1902, telling me that his system of steam heating using small pots of mercury was the best way to go. Mercury. That got me thinking about how my classmates and I used to play with mercury while our science teacher smiled as he wandered the room, watching us poke the dangerous stuff with our adolescent fingers. Life in the 1950s sure was interesting.

Navien has started shipping the new PeakFlow A scale prevention system. The PeakFlow A was first announced in November 2021, as part of an improved lineup of water treatment products alongside the PeakFlow S and PeakFlow C.

Rheem announced the retirement of John Fitzgerald from his role as executive vice president of operations. “Fitz” joined Rheem in 2016 and brought more than 30 years of diverse experience from several industries.
Fitz led many different teams and functions throughout his career at Rheem. His vision and leadership in Brand Strategy, Enterprise Marketing and Sports Marketing had a significant impact on Rheem’s brand awareness. He also oversaw business-critical functions including IT, Advanced Technology Integration, Controls Engineering, Procurement and Supply Chain Management, and Corporate Quality.

In 1992, I self-published a thick book I called, "The Lost Art of Steam Heating." I did this because I could not get a publisher interested in something that few, if any, contractors had installed since the 1930s. I thought it would do well in New York City, where there are still plenty of steam-heated buildings, but to my delight, we sold tens of thousands of copies everywhere, and even in Hawaii. Go figure.

I read somewhere that the most prevalent machine in the world is the electric motor. I thought about that for a while and it made sense. Just look around. But then I began to wonder what the second-most prevalent machine in the world is. Turns out it’s the pump! And most pumps are connected to electric motors of one kind or another, so there you go. Throw a rock and you’ll hit a motor. Or a pump. They’re everywhere.