After rising to an exhilarating high, the housing market now remains on a downward slope. Despite earlier forecasts that it would reach bottom this year, it appears the bottom is still months down the road. At the latest National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Construction Forecast Conference, economists presented generally gloomy outlooks on housing with some occasional glimmers of hope.
Working with refrigerant recovery cylinders is a basic part of servicing refrigeration systems. Technicians need to work safely when handling these cylinders.
As you might recall, my Nov. 5 column focused on a restricted liquid line after the receiver. In this column, we will look at local cold spots or frost where the restriction occurs and issues related to bubbles in a sight glass.
It was rather appropriate that International Service Leadership (ISL) held its 2007 Owners’ Conference in the Show Me State. ISL brass certainly had plenty to show, tell, and introduce - including many exclusive program offerings - to the nearly 200 members, owners, and general managers that came to the St. Louis Airport Marriott for three full days of learning, learning, and more learning.
Elizabeth Fletcher was curious as to why people would attend her seminar on creating good and useable employee handbooks. The operations manager for F.H. Furr, a plumbing and HVAC contractor from Manassas, Va., and Nexstar member, is an authority on employee handbooks and wanted to share her expertise with attendees to the Nexstar fall meeting in Pittsburgh. The answers were predictable.
Developing
products that consumers need and will ultimately buy is something that
manufacturers spend much time - and money - researching. In the world of
humidification, manufacturers are constantly coming out with new products and
reworking existing products in order to respond to customers’ needs.
All
manufacturers now offer programmable thermostats that are easy to understand
and simple to program. These controls don’t just make life less complicated for
the homeowner, though; dealers also love how easy they are to install and how
well the smart systems communicate with the technician and the homeowner.
Under the umbrella of the Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI), manufacturers, distributors, and contractors met to discuss business matters and enjoy the beauty of Victoria, British Columbia, during its 39th Annual General Meeting (AGM).
In conjunction with the HVAC Comfortech show, Honeywell hosted a Residential Products Forward Thinking Conference recently at the America’s Center in St. Louis. Conference attendees were able to preview over a dozen new Honeywell products, including two new product innovations - TrueZone panels and TrueSteam humidification systems.
The biggest challenge facing residential HVAC contractors is not a new one. In fact, it has been at the top of the list for several years. It is the recruitment, training, and retention of residential service technicians. That was one of the topics discussed at the Residential Contractors Forum at the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors National Association (SMACNA) meeting in Las Vegas.
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