Sometimes, love isn’t all you need.

Don’t let experience turn into complacency and a lack of differentiation.

Contractors are poised to use marketing method previously reserved for billionaires.

Why we do what we do” is why I do what I do. My job is to “change behavior.

Sales and marketing aren’t the same thing, but they can be powerful when combined.

I was wondering about boiler chemicals and how many contractors (if any) were using them on brand-new systems. Do we need them? 

Have you ever had one of those times when you’re trying to figure out some problem and then suddenly the solution comes to you as if by magic? 

This one goes back a bunch of years. The contractor was a good steam man, but he had run out of ideas with this job. It was a typical, five-story, New York City tenement building. Its one-pipe steam system had served generations of tenants for more than 100 years.

October, being the month for ghosts and goblins, seems like the perfect time to reminisce about those tight spots few want to visit, but many must.

How’s that for a title? I’ll give you the answer right up front: Everyone!  And the best part is you don’t have to know what you’re doing; you just have to show up.

A young guy who was about the size of Bruno Mars came to my seminar once, and we were chatting during a break. I asked him how long he had been in the business. It’s good to see young people getting involved.

In March 2010, a nine-month-old boy rolled off his sister’s bed in Jersey City, New Jersey, and got stuck between the bed and a cast-iron, steam radiator that was as hot as it’s supposed to be. The radiator delivered third-degree burns to the infant and left him with permanent scars.

A homeowner posted a question on The Wall at HeatingHelp.com about a drumroll sound that was coming from his brand-new steam boiler. What could it be? He included a video so all could hear, and sure enough, it sounded like a snare drum.

Frozen steam coils always seem to happen at the worst of times, don’t they? You’re busy because it’s cold enough to freeze coils. The place with the frozen coil contains people who are doing things that are so important they can’t possibly be without that particular coil. Not even for a minute. They’re on the phone, and they’re not being reasonable.

My neighbor, Tony, loves his house. We live in a low-crime neighborhood on Long Island but Tony is always on guard against miscreants. He has a Ring camera on every side of his house, mounted high so they’re protected from spray paint. Some of the cameras turn on klieg lights and alarms if I step outside at night to toss the trash in the can. 

In the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, which snuggles into the center of the state, you will find Mount Saint James, and upon that steep hill, you will find The College of the Holy Cross.

My shop teacher was a wiry man who loved hand tools. We spent a week making a buzzer base. He taught us how to saw, sand and varnish. He introduced me to a Brace & Bit hand drill and went on and on about how this was better than an electric drill. “Can you feel the wood? It’s alive!” he said, and I could.

Some years ago, a wholesaler hired me to do a seminar in a New England hotel for about 100 of his contractor customers. After the seminar, the owner of the company invited me and a bunch of his employees out for a nice dinner. There were about 15 of us.

My iPhone pinged a text: “Hi, Dan. How are you and Marianne, and the family? I’m sorry to bother you. I can’t get my steam heat to go on. I can’t get a plumber to come quickly. I guess they’re busy with the weather. Can I call you later to ask you something about the burner?”

I called the plumber because there’s an immediacy to plumbing; and I’m old enough to know that it’s best for me not to touch pipes. To each his own trade.

Most hydronic systems have the boiler running up to 180° F with water returning from the system at 160°. This rarely happens in real life, but it’s the traditional way we do things.

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.

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.

I love all the advances taking place in the world of hydronics, but I’m still seeing plenty of steam systems out there in our older cities, so knowing about dry steam will help you if you’re replacing a steam boiler. The dryer the steam is, the better you’re going to look to your customers.

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.”

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.

Morris had me on the phone. It was 1974 and he was calling from Brooklyn, New York. I had a waxed handlebar mustache that year, and my workmates at the manufacturers’ rep were calling me Rollie Fingers because he was pitching for the Oakland Athletics in the World Series.

It was one of those days at HeatingHelp.com when the old guys had the floor. One of the regulars, a retired (and understandably crotchety) fella from Canada had this to say:

Over the years, I've had many homeowners read my books and then write to tell me they knew more about their system than the contractors that came to their houses. This was particularly true when it came to steam heating.

Safety professionals work diligently to engage both leaders and employees. But there is often a challenge: leaders wish their employees would just "be careful" without doing diligence to hazard identification, assessment and control. The result: workers claim leaders are only concerned with productivity and budgets.

In September 2022, Hurricane Ian made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane along Florida’s southwest coast, bringing high winds, storm surges and massive flooding.

One of the most common OSHA violations is respiratory protection. Let’s dive into why and what’s required to be compliant.

Learn about two specific air filtration and dust collection standards set by ASHRAE to guide you in establishing air quality programs.

Learn about sources of silica dust and best inspection practices to improve indoor air quality and reducing health risk in facilities.

Engineered to work with materials that create sticky or agglomerative dust, the evolutionary Dalamatic G2 dust collector includes patented Dura-Life^™ bag filters. 

OXEA, part of the Oman Oil Company, is a leading chemicals manufacturer with operations around the globe. Its specialist products go towards making high-quality coatings, lubricants, cosmetics, pharmaceutical products, printing inks and plastics.

Garney Construction trialed a new continuous monitoring smart PPE system, comprised of sensors worn on the arm of its workers and technology that collects data to signal when the worker may be headed for trouble while working in the heat.

“Let families decide” is the only reform of the DOL chapter in Project 2025 - a controversial Republican blueprint - specifically referencing job safety. This article is about youth safety, not politics. What do you think?

Every year, AdvisorSmith researches the most dangerous jobs in the United States based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. The list doesn’t usually vary by too much, but there are some statistics worth a second look in the current list, which uses data from 2014-2018.

The rule updates the current standard by improving the amount and quality of information on labels and safety data sheets. Updates take effect on July 19, 2024.

Sportswear manufacturer failed to correct its fall hazard violations from 2021 OSHA inspection. 

Bulwark, the world’s largest flame-resistant (FR) apparel brand, was recently sold to Redwood Capital Investments, LLC, marking a new era for the company as it transitions into a stand-alone workwear organization.

In 1998, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report, 413 workers were struck and killed by vehicles. That was “the highest number in the 7-year period that the fatality census has been compiled.”₁ Without a standard in place, the numbers were steadily rising.

A highly anticipated global standard aimed at creating safer workplaces everywhere will be published on March 12, according to the Switzerland-based International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that spearheaded the five-year development process with support from the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE). Companies can purchase a hard copy of ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems from ASSE beginning the week of the standard’s publication.

Tyndale announces the completed expansion of their Houston DC to 118,260 square feet, which is more than 50% more square footage than its original size.

The winter session’s discounted early rate expires after Nov. 16.

Currently designated as NFPA 660: Standard for Combustible Dusts, the all-encompassing standard will be completed in 2024 and likely released in late 2024/early 2025.

The platform can be used by companies in industries such as Oil & Gas, sheet manufacturing, and chemicals to test modifications during planned shutdown periods to reduce rework.

Sensors provide solutions across industries and applications.