The home heating oil industry has a long and proud history, and Fuel Oil News has been there supporting it since 1935. It is an industry that has faced many challenges during that time. In its 77th year, Fuel Oil News is doing more than just holding
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32 FEBRUARY 2014 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com Tundra Tradesman A special breed of skilled labor W hale skulls, walrus hides, oil boilers and wolves – just another service call in the life of Dan Phinney. Work is different on the tundra. Phinney owns Phinncraft, a heating company in a special niche market. As far as he knows, he's the only heating professional serving the wilds of southwestern Alaska. His com- mute typically involves a bush plane, miles of barren tundra and a rough landing outside an Eskimo village. Traffic jams aren't an issue, but flight restrictions and one-month lead times on equip- ment can be. "I have a shop and supply house in the booming metropolis of Dillingham, Alaska," said Phinney, with only a hint of sarcasm. "From there, I head north and west, responding to calls from Eskimo villages in need of heating system help." Phinney lives in Elk, Wash., but spends two weeks in Dillingham, and two weeks at home. "Villagers were throwing away cast iron boilers every five years," he continued. "They weren't properly installed, and there wasn't anyone to service the units. Heck, the people installing them had never seen a combustion analyzer before I showed up." Phinney got started in Alaska almost three years ago, after closing his heating business in Spokane. Initially, he was hired to install a waste oil-fired boiler at a grocery store in Dillingham. Later, he was approached by the University of Alaska Fairbanks to teach heating courses across the state. He hasn't looked back since. Black gold Aside from seal fat, oil is the only fuel source available on the coastal Alaskan tundra — and it doesn't come cheap. "Fuel oil is barged in once every year," said Phinney. "Weather has to be warm enough for barges to make it up river, but cold enough to provide easy ground transportation. If homeowners don't order enough oil to last the year, they're shacking up with a neighbor." Once the oil reaches the dock, it's moved in 25-gallon drums via dogsled to the villages — making its $7 per gallon price tag seem almost reasonable. The No. 1 fuel oil stays in an outdoor tank — sometimes gelling around -35°. But the oil runs into a 30-gallon "day tank" inside the building so that it can liquefy before entering a boiler. Phinney uses a -30° outdoor design temp, but plenty of nights drop below that. One night last January was -50°, without wind chill. The past two heating seasons have been some of the worst on record. do or die "If the job is a mid-winter retrofit, you must have the system back online before nightfall," said Phinney. In January, his work at the Dillingham City jail pushed the limits even further. From the time he took the decrepit existing boiler off-line, till the new Burnham MPO-IQ fired, he had one hour. With -30° outdoors, and the inability to move the 10 prisoners out of the building, the pressure was on. For a little extra muscle, Phinney hired a few locals to help with the project. Just as the temperature in the jail was getting uncomfortable, the new boiler ignited. logistics "It's as simple as this; if you don't have what you need out here you're totally, completely, 100 percent screwed," said Phinney. "There's no Hajoca or Winnelson out here." A late-winter residential boiler swap-out in Togiak, Alaska, tested his supply chain. HVAC/ HYDRONICS By DAN VAsTyAN One night last January was -50°, without wind chill. The past two heating seasons have been some of the worst on record. Right: Dan Phinney with a happy customer at the town's small municipal building. Thermometer iIllustration ©istockphoto.com/pialhovik