Major Donations

Over the past several months, The News has heard from several members of the industry who want to help with the development of the secondary HVACR program. Donations large and small have been promised. For example, last month, ECR International said that it would send boilers and coils for use in the classroom.

Now, two more major manufacturers have come through at the request of ARI. Trane and Lennox have both notified Sandler that they would be donating a generous amount of equipment.

Trane will provide an electric furnace, two high-efficiency 90 percent-plus gas furnaces, two upflow mid-efficiency gas furnaces, three air conditioning condensing units, and a heat pump.

Lennox will be sending two high-efficiency 90 percent-plus gas furnaces, as well as five air conditioning condensing units.

There is also good news on the renovations to the lab space. As reported last month, the lab was still in need of new gas and electrical lines. The original plan was to install these systems within the next year. This would have meant powering the equipment with propane tanks until the classroom could be accommodated with gas lines. However, Oakland Schools approved for the installation to take place this summer. The goal will be to begin work on the installation when the spring 2003 semester wraps up in June. This will give workers until August to complete the installation of the gas and electrical lines, as well as the installation of all the new and donated equipment.

Help Is Still Needed

The News and Oakland County Schools are both thankful for the tremendous show of support in launching the school district’s HVACR program. Sandler has also said that other manufacturers are definitely interested in making donations, and plans should be solidified within the next month.

In the meantime, the program is still in need of equipment. There are still several large items needed, such as sheet metal brakes, and a Pittsburgh machine. The program is also in need of smaller items, including several manifold gauge sets, electronic leak detectors, refrigerant recovery machines, vacuum pumps, and oxygen/acetylene torch units, to name a few.

If you believe you can help support the Oakland Technical Center HVACR program, contact James J. Siegel at 248-244-1731, 248-362-0317 (fax), or jamessiegel@achrnews.com.

Publication date: 02/24/2003