I'm in Plumbing, not HVAC... but other than technical issues, I'd say the 2 trades share much in common.
Just a question.
All throughout the supposed terrible economy of the last 4 or so years, you'd have hardly noticed it around here.
Now that things are supposedly better..... hhmmmmm....
This is shaping up to be one of the worst 1st quarters I've seen in awhile.
Anyone else?
We can bite our fingernails, you better not :-)
Paul ( pjm @ pobox . com ) - remove spaces to email me 'Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.'
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Maybe where you live....
That's quite an insult.
He must be in my area
How so?
I have employees to care for, vans to maintain, customers to take care of, deadbeats that wont pay. Taxes, work comp, advertising, stock to maintain.
Tell me how its an insult.
Kansas City
Well, a plumber is.....A plumber!
Other than both trades have employees, tools and trucks, what else is similar?? We do some pipe fitting, but I never see a plumber installing a furnace, RTU, DDC controls, ducts.......
As far as being busy, we have not had a break in over three years, and don't see one coming in the near future either. We had a tiny break last fall, but by the time we realized it, and we were catching up, it was over, and we were behind again! Greg
Exactly!
What I meant to say, is other than the ACTUAL owrk we do, the logistics behind getting the work done are identical.
Scheduling, Customer service rep, bookkeeping, deadbeats, etc, etc, etc.
In other words, we do VERY dissimilar things.... but the road to getting each of our techs to do the work is identical.
Hmmmm .....
'Hey, Ted ! Go check out the AC unit at The Gap, and make sure to bring enough R-22, it's been leaking.'
vs
'Hey, Billy Bob ! The toilet is overflowing down at the supermarket again, and they say it's really bad this time, so make sure to bring the heavy-duty shit-sucker vac from the shop. You might have to empty it first, I don't think Bubba EVER bothers emptying it after he uses it, and he used it 2 weeks ago !'
Hmmmmm.......
Paul ( pjm @ pobox . com ) - remove spaces to email me 'Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.'
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Or.
Perhaps.
The water pressure in units 1010 - 1150 is 40 PSI over normal; while the pressure in units 999-1000 is 20 under.
Also, the water temp in rooms 114 - 400 is 30 degrees over tolerance; while the temp in rooms 500 - 535 is way under tolerance. Maybe got a lawsuit from a scalding victim because of poor maintenance, BTW.
Oh - the 25 Jacuzzis that 1000's of random people use each day is WAY OUT of acceptable liimits for bacterial control.
Or, maybe..... just maybe a backflow device has failed and is filling the drinking water for your local fast food taco joint with bacteria sucked in from a garden hose.
Face it....... HVAC is critical to human comfort.
Plumbing is Critical to life or death.
Both trades are critical.
All I wanted to do was talk about the similarities without getting into a discussion of which was more important.
Down, boy, I was just busting on ya !!!
Geez, I had HEARD plumbers can't take a joke .... :-)
Paul ( pjm @ pobox . com ) - remove spaces to email me 'Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.'
HVAC/R program for Palm PDA's Free demo now available online
Sounds like ANY business! I guess plumbing is similar to lawn care, my buddy that has a lawn service often has problems with scheduling, customer service, bookkeeping, deadbeats, etc, etc. Greg
Sorry mate...
Im a bit drunk, and I have ahard time interpreting, even moreso than when I sober.
Peace
Simple fixes for all your problems you listed, my bet is anyone here could fix then after a few minutes of figuring out the plumbing situation.
Now you go trouble shoot the 100 ton chiller I was asked to check out the other day, the one with the typical computer for controls.
Not trying to bust you chops, but I would bet that damn near any good AC tech could make a good plumber with a little training. How many plumbers could make good HVAC techs in the same amount of time.
As for plumbing being critical to life or death, that seems a bit extreme to me! If my plumbing in my house goes to hell, good chance that nobody will be dyeing soon from it, same with my AC or heat.
When I was a kid we pumped water from a shallow well, shit in an outhouse. What the hell was plumbing?! AC? Open the window! Heat? Throw another log on the fire! Seems to me that most plumbing is for comfort too. Greg
I damn sure hope no one in your family was dyslexic .....
Paul ( pjm @ pobox . com ) - remove spaces to email me 'Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.'
HVAC/R program for Palm PDA's Free demo now available online
Hmmmmmmmmm..............
HVAC techs already know that sh*t runs down hill, paydays are on fridays, and not to pick our noses or bite our fingernails..... I guess that makes us qualified to be plumbers?? I suppose that anybody anybody could be a proctologist too, but why would you want to??
Funy, now you sound like the HO's fixing their furnace.
Besides those basic business things you cite the comparision as that you both are installing & servicing mechanical things that are generally part of a building's infrastructure. Plumbing, electric, and HVAC. Although of these three plumbing and HVAC are more closely comparable because they are more apt to need maintenance on an ongoing basis while an electrician's skills are more likely to be invoked for making changes or new construction with repairs to a lesser degree.
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