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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20 MARCH 2016 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com smart phone or tablet to download an app, or go to a designated website, to monitor and manage the customer's equipment, York said. Solutions With Innovation Solutions With Innovation, based in Naugatuck, Conn., exhibited an upgraded "RF Capacitance Transmitter" for fuel tanks. With the upgrades, the unit has improved performance and is easy to calibrate, said Patricia Semplice, sales supervisor for SWI. The company also exhibited its custom switches for small and large tanks. The small-tank switch features probes up to four feet long; the large-tank switch features probes up to 15 feet long. Taco Comfort Solutions, a Taco Group Company Taco Inc. is now called Taco Comfort Solutions, a Taco Group Company. Headquartered in Cranston, R.I., Taco develops and manufactures hydronic-based components for use in heating and cooling applications in residential, commercial, industrial and institutional buildings. Its acquisition of Italian pump manu- facturer Askoll Sei, finalized on Jan. 1, benefits Taco through the addition of high-efficiency ECM technology to its product line and it also gives the company a position in the European market, John Hazen White, Jr., chairman, CEO and owner, told an audience at a press briefing at the Taco exhibit during the AHR Expo. Today Taco has manufacturing sites in the U.S., Canada, Panama, China and Vietnam, White said, and has gone from being "an American company based in Rhode Island to a global company based in America." Speaking after White, Wil VandeWiel, president and COO, said, "We are going to become one of the biggest players in the ECM business. That's our goal." The acqui- sition of Askoll Sei has already contributed to that effort: Askoll's patented ECM technology has been incorporated into Taco's new 00e Series high-efficiency circulator line. Taco says the pumps and circulators use less electricity than standard models and are designed for use in systems zoned with circulators or zone valves. Taco also established an annual award in the name of Dan Holohan, long-time hydronics expert, and White presented the inaugural award to Holohan during the press briefing at AHR. "Dan has contributed so much to the industry in so many ways," White said, praising Holohan's contributions in "education, humor, writing" and "loyalty and friendship." The award is called the "Dan Holohan Lifetime Contribution to Comfort," and will be presented each year by Taco to a person, persons, institution or company "that we feel has contributed the most to the industry, to comfort—to all the things you represent in a way that's full of love, happiness and laughter," White told Holohan before presenting him with the award, an engraved bowl. Testo Noteworthy for those fuel oil dealers who have diversified into HVAC is that Testo introduced eight Smart Probes—HVAC instruments that allow users to remotely read measurements from one or up to six probes at the same time by using the Testo Smart Probes App installed on their smart device. Designed for setup and diagnostics of large and small HVAC/R systems, the Smart Probes can be combined to create measuring solutions for most HVAC/R applications. The family of Smart Probes includes measuring instruments for air temperature, infrared non-contact surface temperature, humidity, pressure, air velocity, volume flow, and temperatures of pipes. The Smart Probes App for both Apple iOS and Android is designed to be an easy-to-use tool that will turn a smart device into the display for the Smart probes. After downloading the App, the user hits one button on the Smart Probe and it automatically connects to the smart probes and shows the data. All measurement data are presented as a live single- point reading, in table format or diagram, and can be converted into PDF or Excel files. Custom reports can be saved and/or shared by email with photos and comments. All of the data can be stored and retrieved, to and from a smart device, saving the end user hours of time-consuming paperwork. CHRIS SHEPPARD/SLN MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PHOTO COURTESY OF GENERAL FILTERS, INC. Left: General Filters' President and CEO Bob Abraham and Vice President John Redner presented the "Soaring Eagle" Award to Mid Atlantic Sales, Norfolk, Va., during General Filters' annual sales meeting, which coincides with the AHR Expo. Left to right: Redner; Tony Blanton and Robert Pelkey, owners of Mid Atlantic; and Abraham. Right: Dan Holohan (right) thanks John Hazen White, Jr., chairman, CEO and owner of Taco, after receiving the inaugural "Dan Holohan Lifetime Contribution to Comfort" award. AHR EXPO 2016