Ferris State University was the recent backdrop for a NEWS survey on what current HVACR students expect from their future employers. But beyond that, we wanted to find out how employers can keep them interested enough in the trade to make it a lifelong career for them.

Heating oil prices have come down lately. But many consumers, fearing that oil prices would rise even more as the year wore on, locked in a price for their oil shipments this winter. As prices have dropped, the locked-in price has jumped past current prices, leaving many consumers virtually “holding the bag.”

It used to be a common sight to see a business owner make a handshake deal with his or her local banker over the opening of a new line of banking credit or an increase in an existing line of credit. But now the ease of getting new credit or credit extensions with affordable interest rates is quickly disappearing from the small business landscape.

Everybody in the world knows about 12-month guarantees because everybody in the world offers them. Be different from your competition by offering a 13-month warranty on products and services.

For many years, oil heat contractors have heard the tales of woe from customers: Someone is “skimming” heating oil from their tanks. Other words for skimming include “shortages” and “discrepancies.” Some of this skimming has come from oil company employees or common crooks, looking to make a quick buck.

In late 2007, the Department of Energy (DOE) issued a final ruling on its report titled “Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Energy Conservation Standards for Residential Furnaces and Boilers.” In it, is verbiage that will have a big impact on oil-fired heating products, as well as gas and steam heat products.

Hey Murph, you can’t maintain a good argument by sitting on the fence. Either green is greed or green is green. I think you have the whole thing wrong or twisted. Green is a means to be greedy, but it is not greedy in and of itself.

In the case of HVACR as a career, I believe people are both uninformed and misinformed. We, as a trade, have to address both responses.

The “bigs” rolled into a seaside resort town in Western Michigan to talk about changes in Michigan’s residential and commercial codes. Phil Forner, former ACCA national chairman, and John Sedine, current national ACCA secretary, are both members of the Michigan Chapter of ACCA (MIACCA).

The energy crisis has turned a lot of eyes to solar power as a source of sustainable and renewable energy. That statement was made 40 years ago and is being made again today. But this time, people are paying attention.