Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration News articles from November 1999

Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration News archives from November 1999

FYI.(heating, ventilation, and air conditioning industry news, events, and people)(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 1999... A weekly roundup of industry news, events, and people. Contractors * Carrier Corp. (Syracuse, NY) announced that it has acquired Wyco Mechanical Services, a Fort Collins, CO-based commercial hvac service contractor, as part of its...

Lennox buys service Experts.(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 1999... Latest mega-deal breaks one more industry mold. DALLAS -- Welcome to the new world of Lennox International, whose innovative approach to buying up its own dealers and becoming a retailer of its hvac brands to the residential-light...

Guide for servicing screw chillers, compressors.
November 1, 1999... Maintenance is required to protect investments. There was a time when air conditioning was considered a luxury. In today's business, it has become a requirement for operation. Building owners now view hvac equipment as a long-term...

Contractors: `A good marriage'.
November 1, 1999... The straw poll is in and the results are positive. Service Experts' contractors interviewed by The News agree that the announced purchase of Service Experts by Lennox will be good for the company and will give them better opportunities for...

`There is no substitute for hard work'.
November 1, 1999... Former PHCC contractor of the year Tom Rechtin keeps chugging along the banks of the Ohio River. BELLEVUE, KY -- It should come as no surprise that Tom Rechtin has accumulated a wheelbarrow full of awards during his hvacr career. The owner...

CORRECTIONS.
November 1, 1999... Mammoth, Inc. (Chaska, MN) has been building water source heat pumps since 1974. The year was incorrect in an article ("Mammoth opens heat pump facility," page 10) published in the Oct. 11 issue. In the Oct. 25 article on the Los Angeles UA...

Herrick named head of Pameco.
November 1, 1999... NORCROSS, GA -- Daniel P. Herrick has been named president and chief operating officer of Pameco Corp., succeeding Jerry W. Bowman, who has become president and chief executive officer of Pameco's new eBusiness subsidiary. Prior to joining...

New `consolidator' looms on horizon.
November 1, 1999... Service America buys Tucson contractor. TUCSON, AZ -- Add one more name to the list of national consolidators: Service America Systems, Inc. The company, a subsidiary of Chemed Corp., recently announced its first hvac contractor...

There are no hard-and-fast rules to pricing service agreements.
November 1, 1999... One reason contractors are hesitant to offer service agreements is that they believe they are a risky proposition. That's true, says Steve Howard, president of A.C.T., Phoenix, AZ, if you don't know how to price them. There are no...

Improve service, profits with today's remote communications.
November 1, 1999... Remote communications with hvac temperature control systems is on the verge of transforming the small buildings service market. Now feasible and affordable for the vast majority of these buildings, a good remote communications system...

Adieu, Mike.
November 1, 1999... This fall, Mike Miller left The News after 20 years as an editor and then publisher, a function for which God clearly put him on this earth. Mike not only solved the inevitable knotty problems -- advertiser vs. editor, subscriber vs....

COMPONENTS SYSTEMS TOOLS ELECTRONICS SOFTWARE.
November 1, 1999... For more detail on products in "What's New," contact the manufacturing directly or circle the numbers on the Reader Action Card in this issue. COMPONENTS SYSTEMS TOOLS ELECTRONICS SOFTWARE DIGITAL THERMOMETER The four models (51,...

PATENTS.
November 1, 1999... August 30, 1999 5,943,874: DESICCANT ASSISTED AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS. Maeda, Kensaku (Fujisawa, Japan). Assignee: Ebara Corp. (Tokyo, Japan), The desiccant assisted air conditioning apparatus can provide a stable operation and a...

Air handlers in the garage: Leak potential too risky?
November 8, 1999... CO poisioning is being traced to faulty installations. It's no secret that residential air handlers tend to leak. At times, potentially toxic air contaminants in their vicinity may be sucked into the system and spread throughout the living...

Lennox-Service Experts deal: What's next for the industry?
November 8, 1999... DALLAS, TX -- Lennox International's proposed acquisition of Service Experts, which bends the usual definition of "manufacturer" and "dealer," is resonating throughout the hvac industry. The deal also raises deep questions about brand...

GroupMAC, Building One form merger.
November 8, 1999... HOUSTON, TX -- Group Maintenance America Corp. (GroupMAC) and Building One Services Corp., two of the largest U.S. facilities services companies, announced a merger agreement. The merger has been approved by each company's board of directors...

Tips for a successful refrigeration installation.
November 8, 1999... The best way to avoid problems with a refrigeration system is to get it right the first time, but that is not as easy as it may sound. Whether you are new to the field or have been installing refrigeration systems for years, anyone can...

Jobs and training: A New England perspective.
November 8, 1999... If residential contractor Arthur Pickett had his way, all hvac students would have modern equipment to train on. Pickett, a past president of his Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) chapter and board member of a local trade...

August saw a rare bump in unitary shipments.
November 8, 1999... How did your fast-paced summer wind up? That was some summer! Many regions of the country, those with relatively modest cooling degree-days, saw high temperatures and humidity more common to cities like New Orleans and Houston. Cooling...

Europeans urged to move from R-22 ASAP.
November 8, 1999... ESSEN, Germany -- "Anyone purchasing new equipment today should insist on equipment without R-22." Lest anyone stateside who has big standing orders of R-22 air conditioners panic over such a statement, relax a bit. It comes from Europe,...

Lord retires from Carrier; Ayers named president.
November 8, 1999... SYRACUSE, NY -- Jonathan W. Ayers has been named president of Carrier Corp., replacing John Lord who is retiring. The appointment is effective Jan. 1, 2000. Ayers has been president of Carrier's Asian Pacific Operations since 1997. Geraud...

U.S. supermarkets strive for efficiency.
November 8, 1999... Today's stores are bigger, more energy conscious. While not subject to efficiency regulation, common practice in supermarket system design has been to plan for higher efficiency. This is an economically driven practice, owing to the high...

Students get savvy about indoor weather.
November 8, 1999... WASHINGTON, DC -- As 300 middle school students learned here, there's a whole world of weather to be discovered indoors at the first "Indoor Weather Classroom" sponsored by Carrier Corp. (Syracuse, NY) and The Weather Channel. Sixth...

Contractor silences `critics,' equipment noise.
November 8, 1999... Refrigeration, a/c design addresses noise concerns. When owner Bob Sickles decided to completely renovate the building that housed Sickles Farm Market, he called on Krohn Refrigeration -- a company that had been servicing his two...

The lowdown regarding vav control for fancoil units.
November 8, 1999... We're not just talking two or three speeds here! With the advent of efficient speed modulation for fractional-hp ac inductive motors, it's now practical to consider fancoil unit (fcu) control using a new type of "thermostat." The...

Punish the forecasters.
November 8, 1999... "We've got to shift as rapidly as possible from a 95% dependence on non-renewable fuels to full dependence on renewable ones. Otherwise, we're in grave economic danger." -- Barry Commoner, The New York Times America faces some very...

Refrigerant recovery now a concern in Europe.
November 8, 1999... ESSEN, Germany -- As the rapid curtailment of HCFC availability nears, refrigerant recovery has become a major topic in Europe. As supermarkets on the continent grow in size to start to rival those in the United States, storewide control...

Carrier tries booth without products.(Brief Article)
November 8, 1999... ESSEN, Germany -- Here's a radical idea for what to do with a booth at a trade show: Put nothing in there but a few tables and chairs. That means no product, no literature, no flashy signs. That was the route taken by Carrier at the most...

Checking in on `Herr Murphy's Law'.
November 8, 1999... ESSEN, Germany -- Call this a cautionary tale. The moral is: If you are going to do business overseas, make sure any text that you want translated into a foreign language is translated properly. At the International Trade Fair for...

WHAT'S NEW.
November 8, 1999... COMPONENTS SYSTEMS TOOLS ELECTRONICS SOFTWARE ENERGY RECOVERY VENTILATORS Series RERV packaged, indoor-outdoor rotary energy recovery ventilators are said to be designed with efficiency and cost effectiveness in mind. Air volume...

PATENTS.
November 8, 1999... September 13, 1999 5,950,451. RECIPROCATING REFRIGERANT COMPRESSOR. Kim, Ki Baek (Suwon, Korea). Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Suwon). A closed reciprocating compressor for use in refrigeration cycle containing a refrigerant...

New York state honors Carrier for waste reduction, recycling.(Brief Article)
November 8, 1999... ALBANY, NY -- Carrier Corp. (Syracuse, NY) has been awarded an Achievement of Excellence citation for waste reduction and recycling from the state of NY. Governor George Pataki announced the winners of the Governor's Waste Reduction and...

FYI.
November 15, 1999... A weekly roundup of industry news, events, and people Contractors * Excellence Alliance, Inc. announced that its latest training program, the Hvac/r Commercial Service Agreement Seminar, is a success. On the horizon for 2000 is the...

Utility looks for greater profits.
November 15, 1999... Will Toronto be the model for hvac operations? TORONTO, ON, Canada -- As U.S. utilities continue their buyouts of dealers in city after city; as the big, multibillion dollar consolidators form alliances with utilities; and as Lennox...

Minnegasco buys first contractor.
November 15, 1999... Reliant Energy Minnegasco, Minnesota's largest natural gas distribution company, has become the latest utility to begin acquiring hvac contractors within its service territory. Blaine Heating, which serves the entire Minneapolis/St. Paul...

More tips for a successful refrigeration installation.
November 15, 1999... Whether you are new to the field or have been installing refrigeration systems for years, anyone can benefit from some installation refresher tips. The employees at Heatcraft supplied The News with suggestions for a successful...

Boston contractors focus on the future.
November 15, 1999... They want growth, but they want it controlled. BOSTON, MA--In the hustle and bustle of a busy Boston College campus, one doesn't expect to find a neighborhood hvac contractor. But amongst the bookstores and fast food restaurants along a...

Contractors lament losing workers, but there are solutions.
November 15, 1999... BOSTON, MA--How would you like being compared to sheetrock? Warren Hudson, L.P. Anderson, believes that's what some general contractors in the Boston area think about hvac people. One of the reasons Hudson believes this trade gets a bad rap...

How do you sell hvac accessories?
November 15, 1999... Welcome to the first of what we hope will be many advice columns by The News' contractor consultants. This issue's topic offers tips on selling accessories and components, also known as add-ons. We have made one change to our panel of...

Fed's focus is on construction.
November 15, 1999... No more low bid contract awards? WASHINGTON, DC -- The mission of the federal government's General Services Administration (GSA) for fiscal year 2000 is to bring its construction program in alignment with its design program. In 1999,...

The ultimate accessories for sales.
November 15, 1999... Gas fireplaces and grills offer contractors profits. Let's face it: Our trade isn't exactly trendy. We sell, install, and service systems that are vital for comfort and safety, but most homeowners prefer our products to be out of sight, out...

Don't just install fireplaces; sell the products yourself.
November 15, 1999... Joe McLaughlin, sales representative for Napoleon Fireplaces, said that contractors are leaving a lot of money in customer's homes that could be theirs. "Contractors are making the hook-ups [of the gas lines], but they can't make any money...

Is your sales system clogged with accumulated gunk?
November 15, 1999... Clean the system so salespeople can actually sell. Recently, one of the salespeople with whom I was working with just happened to mention that he often obtained demonstration samples by coming into the office, visiting the warehouse,...

Ontario contractor speaks out on pending energy deregulation.
November 15, 1999... MISSISSAUGA, ON, Canada -- Ontario will see energy deregulation by the fall of 2000, including the end of a 90-year electricity monopoly by public utility Ontario Hydro. According to the Independent Electricity Market Operator (IMO), there...

How to create a cash-producing direct mail letter.
November 15, 1999... Contractors can fix their worst direct mail errors. After my last article on "The top hvac direct mail mistakes," it seemed only fair to give you what it takes to create a killer letter. I had tons of calls on that article (which ran in the...

Residential construction forecast: Slower in 2000.
November 15, 1999... WASHINGTON, DC -- At CMD Group's fourth annual North American Construction Forecast held here at the National Press Club, Robert Barr, a senior economist with Fannie Mae, Washington, DC, told attendees that following record levels in home sales...

Need a parts pipeline? Go to the `Warehouse'.
November 15, 1999... Website offers discontinued lines of parts, pieces. Where do all excess, obsolete, or hard-to-find parts go -- to the "excess, obsolete, and hard-to-find" parts cemetery? Into a landfill in some sparsely populated county? Into cyberspace?...

MichCon's contractors get access to homeowner loans.
November 15, 1999... SOUTHFIELD, MI -- Franklin Bank, a southeastern Michigan bank specializing in small business, has entered a lending partnership with gas utility MichCon that will increase the bank's lending portfolio substantially and help generate leads for...

Baby, it's not that cold outside.
November 15, 1999... Line up those service contracts right now! The long-term maps for this winter look pretty much the same as last month. For December-January-February, a major warm region blankets the southern tier of states and extends up into the...

Blue Dot continues to expand nationwide.
November 15, 1999... SUNRISE, FL -- Blue Dot Services Inc. has announced 11 acquisitions, with aggregate annualized revenues of $51 million for the third quarter. This gives the consolidator 57 locations in 23 states as of the close of the quarter. The 11...

Controls specialists gather for latest technology.
November 15, 1999... Speaker Harari gives attendees tips to stay ahead. TUCSON, AZ -- A fast-moving, on-target message explaining how to clean out the underbrush of management fads to stay ahead of your competition was a key take-away for more than 300 building...

Valve stops leaks, improves reliability for refrigeration screw compressors.
November 15, 1999... Although the screw compressor offers advantages for refrigeration applications, it also presented an obstacle that Delta Heat Transfer Inc., Flowery Branch, GA, wanted to overcome. A unique situation with screw compressors, noted Tim...

CIA contractors are into clean ductwork.
November 15, 1999... Group counts on IAQ to attract new members. Clean Indoor Air, Inc. (CIA), founded by IAQ industry leaders Jim Abrams and John Young, is counting on consumers' need for clean and healthy indoor environments to motivate residential...

Clean Indoor Air offers IAQ accessories, components.
November 15, 1999... One of the benefits of membership with Clean Indoor Air, Inc., is the opportunity to buy branded and specialty accessories designed for improving indoor air quality. "These accessory products are among the very best on the market," said...

Business planning is a must.
November 15, 1999... Small contracting companies need to have a plan, too. You say you already have a plan -- to do more business -- and you're busy executing it: pursuing new customers, dealing with employees and vendors, making sure orders go out and payments...

Exploring EEVs: Valve technology for techs.
November 15, 1999... Here are operating points of electronic expansion valves. In previous issues of The News, electric expansion valves (EEVs) were introduced and divided into four types: pulse, analog, heat motor, and step motor. The operation of each is...

Texas consolidator quietly acquires $500 million in acquisition revenues.
November 15, 1999... Company plans initial public offering in 2000. AUSTIN, TX -- The consolidation business has a new member in its midst -- and this one is making a big, Texas-style splash. Although its primary focus is on plumbing contractors, it is counting...

Obituary.(George M. Llewellyn of Estimation Inc.)(Brief Article)
November 15, 1999... George M. Llewellyn LINTHICUM HEIGHTS, MD -- Gorge M. Llewellyn, chairman of the board of Estimation, Inc., died on October 16 at the age of 67. Mr. Llewellyn co-founded Estimation in 1973, introducing a computerized estimating system....

OFF THE CHEST.
November 15, 1999... We're not alone MADISON, MO In reference to your August 9 editorial ("Are we to blame for a young man's injury?"), the air conditioning and refrigeration industries are not the only industries with the problem of unauthorized access...

Wallstreet update: Extended-hours trading.
November 15, 1999... Consolidators, other hvacr players have a stake. While professional investment managers and institutions have long traded with each other after the traditional Wall Street closing bell, individual investor orders submitted after 4 p.m. EST...

York joins other U.S. firms to shore up Kosovo.
November 15, 1999... YORK, PA -- York International Corp. is part of an American business delegation interested in revitalizing Southeast Europe and the post-war region of Kosovo. Participating in the Southeast Europe Commercial Opportunities and Partnership...

Hvac system gets real-world smoke test.
November 15, 1999... System clears dense smoke in 15 minutes. CAMP HILL, PA -- After settling down at home to watch the 11 p.m. news, mechanical engineer David Andiorio was horrified to see live coverage of a fire at the YMCA recreation center here, where he...

New boilers in the Basilica.
November 15, 1999... Contractor ensures cathedral will be warm for holidays. ST. LOUIS, MO -- Mechanical contracting firm Haberberger, Inc., Affton, MO, announced the completion of a new, and somewhat complicated, boiler installation for Cathedral Basilica of...

New sheet metal training center opens in Phoenix.
November 15, 1999... PHOENIX, AZ -- The Phoenix Sheet Metal Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (JATC) recently dedicated its new Robert H. Walker Training Center. Walker was honored for his years of service to the sheet metal and air conditioning...

Medical campus gets radical mechanical surgery.
November 15, 1999... The `patient' had to work the whole time. The installation of duplex chillers has helped increase cooling capacity and maximize the efficiency of the existing plant at the Johns Hopkins Medical Campus on the east side of downtown Baltimore,...

Displacement ventilation for a better indoor climate.
November 15, 1999... Hvac systems need to be adapted to indoor life. It is difficult to estimate the effect the indoor air climate has on our health, productivity, and overall enjoyment of life. Since the energy crisis of the late 1970s, the building...

NAFEM '99 focuses on ice machines, equipment.
November 15, 1999... Here is product roundup from trade show. DALLAS, TX -- While the temperature outside climbed to 80 [degree] F, attendees of the recent North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers (NAFEM) trade show here focused their...

Finally, a quiet ice machine?
November 15, 1999... DALLAS, TX -- Manitowoc Co. (Manitowoc, WI) introduced the "QuietQube," billed as a breakthrough in remote ice machine systems for foodservice, retail, and hospitality applications that call for a quieter approach to making ice. The...

A frosty purger tells when it's working.(Statistical Data Included)
November 15, 1999... Troubleshooting for refrigeration systems (big ones) Thousands of large industrial-size (150 tons or more) refrigeration systems need constant attention to ensure their peak performance. Concentrated largely in food processing and food...

An engineer's view on need for quality installations.
November 15, 1999... A simple duct-cleaning job? Not in this case. As a professional engineer, I perform pre-purchase house inspections for potential home buyers. In this case, I performed a post-purchase inspection of a residence in an upper-middle-income...

LITERATURE.
November 15, 1999... Vav control -- The company has a revised version of its VariTrane[R] controls catalog. This control system features a ddc microprocessor controller that allows flexibility and control throughout the vav system, the company says. -- The Trane...

`New direction' for Tecumseh, Virginia KMP.(Brief Article)
November 15, 1999... DALLAS, TX -- In an agreement formed between the companies, Virginia KMP Corp. and Tecumseh Products Co., Cool Products Division, will combine forces to utilize each other's strengths and knowledge -- acquired during a combined 150 years of...

New cogeneration system dedicated in Massachusetts.(Brief Article)
November 15, 1999... LAWRENCE, MA -- Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson joined recently with Congressman Martin Meehan (MA), Malden Mills president and ceo Aaron Feuerstein, and Solar Turbines president Gary Stroup in the dedication of a new cogeneration power...

Virginia KMP celebrates 100 years.(Brief Article)
November 15, 1999... DALLAS, TX -- When W.E. Eustis started Eustis Smelting Works in Virginia in 1899, he could not have conceived that 100 years later the offspring -- Virginia KMP -- would be a supplier of air conditioning and refrigeration components and...

WHAT'S NEW.
November 15, 1999... COMPONENTS SYSTEMS TOOLS ELECTRONICS SOFTWARE COMPRESSOR CD-ROM A CD-ROM provides a view of the company's TS[TM] technology. The CD features animation of how this technology allows a compressor to operate in both forward and reverse...

PATENTS.
November 15, 1999... September 27, 1999 5,956,959. REFRIGERANT COMPRESSOR AND COOLING APPARATUS COMPRISING THE SAME. Sunaga, Takashi; Watanabe, Masato; Ishikawa, Kazuhisa; Ando, Kenji; Obokata, Yoshinobu; Takahashi, Yasuki (all of Gunma-ken, Japan) Okajima,...

Lennox completes purchase of Ducane's heating-cooling division.(Brief Article)
November 15, 1999... DALLAS, TX -- Lennox International Inc. has completed its acquisition of essentially all assets of the Air Conditioning and Heating Division of The Ducane Company. Lennox had previously announced signing a letter of intent to acquire the...

FYI.(heating, air conditioning, and ventilation industry news)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 22, 1999... A weekly roundup of industry news, events, and people. Contractors * The Haskell Co. (Chicago, IL), a design-build general contracting firm, has been awarded the Ameri Freeze project in West Deer Township, PA. The 125,000-sq-ft frozen...

NAECA round two: Higher efficiencies on horizon.(National Appliance Energy Conservation Act)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 22, 1999... DOE debates how high the new minimums will go for a/c units, heat pumps. SAN ANTONIO, TX -- Seven years after the Department of Energy (DOE) imposed the first round of minimum efficiency standards for residential-light commercial hvac...

Explosion: Boiler or gas?(Clara Barton Terrace Convalescent Home accident)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 22, 1999... FLINT, MI -- The exact cause of an explosion and fire at the Clara Barton Terrace Convalescent Home here, initially reported to have been a boiler explosion, is still in doubt. A recent discovery, however, points to a possible gas explosion....

The need for head pressure control.(refrigeration systems)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 22, 1999... There are various methods of head pressure control, some of which contractors may not be aware of. They can have a dramatic effect on the performance of refrigeration systems and components. Refrigeration systems are designed around certain...

Longevity among Boston contractors.(profile of two heating, ventilation, and air conditioning companies)(Statistical Data Included)
November 22, 1999... Contractors grow by adding markets and customers. It's not unusual to find hvac businesses whose roots can be traced back to the first half of the 1900s. Historically, this business has been characterized by family ownership passed down...

Contractors say people are the keys to success.(Brief Article)
November 22, 1999... Andy Rodenhiser has no doubts about what is the key to his success. It's a four-letter word: care. He believes that showing care for his customers and "putting them on a pedestal" is tantamount to success. The way to show this care,...

Obituary: `Cal' MacCracken, inventor, athlete.(Calvin MacCracken)(Brief Article)
November 22, 1999... HANOVER, NH -- Calvin (Cal) MacCracken, 79, the founder and president of CALMAC Inc., died Nov. 10. A prolific inventor and the holder of more than 80 patents, Mr. MacCracken developed products ranging from cooling towers and ducted heat...