Another Solar Myth Bites the Dust
Way back in 1978, I (Larry) installed my first solar water heating system. I continued with solar thermal, installing new domestic hot water (DHW), space, and pool heatin...
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Recent Articles
Benoist Bros. Furnaces Catalog
This catalog from Benoist Brothers of Mount Vernon, IL, showcases their furnaces, circulators, tank heaters, and laundry stoves.
Close to Perfect?
I always enjoy looking at photos of their own work that Wallies post on The Wall at HeatingHelp.com. It’s not easy to do because The Wall is home to some of the sharpest ...
Do Contractors Prefer Educated Customers?
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 house. This was...
Do Radiator Reflectors Work?
We always have turkey for Thanksgiving. I mean who doesn’t? My job wasn’t to cook it, though; it was to eat it.
Magical Thinking
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 s...
Freezing Univentilator Coils
I had written a story for Plumbing & Mechanical a while back about a fella in Canada who sent me this email: "Our problem is that five out of hundreds of univentilator co...
Times Change
Morris had me on the phone. It was 1974 and he was calling from Brooklyn, NY. I had a waxed handlebar mustache that year and my workmates at the manufacturers’ rep were c...
Who's Driving the Truck?
My first job in this business was to be a truck driver for an AC/Refrigeration wholesaler on Long Island. I didn’t have a car at the time, so I walked a mile to the branc...
Do You Miss the T87?
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 pate...