Industry News

Fieldpiece to Present $25K in Scholarship Funds to Support Rising Stars in the HVACR Industry  Fieldpiece Instruments, a leader in tool and test instruments for HVACR professionals for over 30 years, is pleased to announce the second annual #MasteroftheTrade Scholarship. Fieldpiece partnered with SkillsUSA to administer the distribution of more than $25,000 in 2023 scholarship Read more

Fieldpiece to Present $25K in Scholarship Funds to Support Rising Stars in the HVACR Industry 

Fieldpiece Instruments, a leader in tool and test instruments for HVACR professionals for over 30 years, is pleased to announce the second annual #MasteroftheTrade Scholarship. Fieldpiece partnered with SkillsUSA to administer the distribution of more than $25,000 in 2023 scholarship opportunities designed to give back to the HVACR industry it proudly serves. The #MasteroftheTrade Scholarship will support 13 SkillsUSA students studying HVACR in their junior or senior year of high school, or as college or postsecondary students, granting them funds to continue their education in a college or postsecondary HVACR technology program. Seven $2,500 criteria-based postsecondary education scholarships will go to SkillsUSA HVAC students and a total of $10,000 in scholarships will go to the six gold, silver and bronze medal-winning high school and college/postsecondary students who top the leader-boards of the National Leadership & Skills Conference (NLSC).

“As a sincere advocate for the HVACR community, Fieldpiece strives to support both new and seasoned professionals in the HVACR industry,” said Tony Gonzalez, technical training manager at Fieldpiece Instruments. “Our commitment goes beyond simply designing and developing HVACR tools that enhance the way techs work. Fieldpiece is devoted to the future of the industry and is proud to help ensure young up-and-coming professionals are well-equipped with tools, knowledge and resources to support their future success. Whether supporting techs through free online training resources like Fieldpiece University, an online platform designed to keep industry professionals at the top of their game; or supporting the path to an HVACR career with scholarships like #MasteroftheTrade, we want to see our community thrive!” 

Through this continued scholarship offering, Fieldpiece Instruments also sheds light on the shortage of trained labor in the HVACR industry. With more than 110,000 unfilled HVAC technician jobs, Fieldpiece hopes to help spread the word about the positive career opportunities the industry offers.

“There is a critical need for more HVACR technicians,” said Chelle Travis, executive director at SkillsUSA. “We sincerely thank Fieldpiece Instruments for supporting SkillsUSA and our nation’s future workforce. We are rolling up our sleeves every day to support career and technical education as we forge meaningful partnerships with industry. Working together with Fieldpiece Instruments, we can help close the skills gap.”

To apply for the seven #MasteroftheTrade Scholarships, applicants must be SkillsUSA members enrolled in its HVACR or general construction programs who plan to study HVACR at the college or postsecondary level in the class of 2023-24 (high school seniors) or 2024-25 school year (high school juniors). The scholarship application must include a resume and either an essay (300 words or fewer) or a video (1-3 minutes) answering the question: “Why have you chosen a career in HVACR?” The scholarship opened on Dec. 1 and applications must be submitted by April 1, 2023. Scholarship recipients will be announced on May 16, 2023.

Scholarships will be awarded based on the merit of the application including the essay or video and the proficiency of the SkillsUSA Framework skills demonstrated in the application materials. To receive the funds, scholarship recipients must provide an acceptance letter from their postsecondary education program or their first semester tuition invoice. The funds will be distributed directly to the school.

 

The SkillsUSA Championships is the nation’s largest workforce development event for middle-school, high-school and college/postsecondary students enrolled in public career and technical education programs. The contests are planned by representatives of labor and management and are designed to test the skills needed for successful entry-level performance in given occupational fields. Safety practices and procedures — an area of concern to labor and management alike — are part of each contestant’s score. SkillsUSA represents 130 different occupational areas and adds contests to the SkillsUSA Championships each year to meet the demands of new or expanding careers. In 2023, the SkillsUSA Championships will feature more than 6,000 competitors in 110 hands-on skill and leadership contests. Each contestant is a state gold medalist.

Visit www.fieldpiece.com/Scholarship for more information.

Bradford White Connect™ platform empowers users to monitor and manage the AeroTherm® Heat Pump Water Heater through a convenient mobile app Bradford White Water Heaters, an industry-leading American manufacturer of water heaters, boilers and storage tanks, introduces Bradford White Connect™, an external adapter providing app-driven monitoring technology for the AeroTherm® heat pump water heater (HPWH) series Read more

Bradford White Connect™ platform empowers users to monitor and manage the AeroTherm® Heat Pump Water Heater through a convenient mobile app

Bradford White Water Heaters, an industry-leading American manufacturer of water heaters, boilers and storage tanks, introduces Bradford White Connect™, an external adapter providing app-driven monitoring technology for the AeroTherm® heat pump water heater (HPWH) series.

The Bradford White Connect™ platform allows users to monitor the HPWH, adjust settings, and receive alerts all through a convenient mobile app available on Google Play or Apple’s App store.

“The Bradford White Connect™ platform offers homeowners a range of convenient options so they can manage their AeroTherm® unit wherever they are,” said Louise Prader, senior director, product management for Bradford White. “Many families have busy schedules. With Bradford White Connect™, they have a pairing of convenience and performance, all through our IoT connected appliance platform.”

Contractors can use Bradford White Connect™ to monitor in-service Aerotherm HPWHs, analyze their performance, and set alerts for water heater errors. For utility programs, the Bradford White Connect adapter conforms to grid-enabled demand response requirements with its CTA-2045 port.

“Bradford White Connect™ gives contractors an opportunity to meet the growing desire for connected home technology coupled with energy efficiency,” Prader said. “We’re pleased to make this important tool available to them and their customers.”

To learn more about Bradford White Water Heaters, please visit https://www.bradfordwhite.com/connect or call (215) 641-9400.

Just in time for heating season, Weil-McLain® has updated its ProTools™ App with enhanced features to provide contractors and service technicians with the support they need to streamline customer visits and provide clients with a premium experience. Available for iOS and Android devices, the app now allows heating professionals to work virtually with Weil-McLain’s Tech Support team to Read more

Just in time for heating season, Weil-McLain® has updated its ProTools™ App with enhanced features to provide contractors and service technicians with the support they need to streamline customer visits and provide clients with a premium experience. Available for iOS and Android devices, the app now allows heating professionals to work virtually with Weil-McLain’s Tech Support team to problem-solve issues as they occur on the job site.

“Our goal is to continuously optimize this platform by adding additional features that make service technicians’ and installing contractors’ jobs easier – especially during the busy heating season period,” said David DeVries, Director of Product Management with Weil-McLain. “The new Site-Call video assistance opens new opportunities for service technicians to receive instant support from our Tech Support team.”

Service technicians who run into complications while on the job can contact Weil-McLain Tech Support for Site-Call video and receive immediate real-time assistance. After requesting support, they simply accept the call from Tech Support on their smartphone and share a live video of the issue they are experiencing on the job site. Tech Support will then highlight the issue on the service technician’s screen and propose corrective action to solve it.

“This new feature provides heating professionals with immediate access to our support team and also allows them the opportunity to learn new methods for troubleshooting, maintenance and boiler setup,” added DeVries. “As we prepare for what could be another colder than normal winter, we want to ensure service technicians have all the digital tools and knowledge they need to help expedite customer visits while providing homeowners a best-in-class service experience.”

The Weil-McLain ProTools App helps enhance service technicians’ hydronic expertise by putting a variety of Weil-McLain boiler product information at their fingertips. From reviewing fault codes for troubleshooting and accessing how-to videos to viewing product manuals and schematics and quickly finding parts, the app has become a one-stop resource for boiler installation and maintenance.

For more information on the upgraded Weil-McLain ProTools App, visit www.weil-mclain.com or download the app via the App Store or Google Play.

CMM Platform Driving Increased Revenues for Home Service Brands, Double Revenue at Camp Digital Annually Founded just four years ago in the expansive Home Services category valued at over $650 billion, the women-led Twin Cities-based digital marketing company formerly known as Home and Local Services has rebranded as “CAMP Digital.” The official announcement was made Read more

CMM Platform Driving Increased Revenues for Home Service Brands, Double Revenue at Camp Digital Annually

Founded just four years ago in the expansive Home Services category valued at over $650 billion, the women-led Twin Cities-based digital marketing company formerly known as Home and Local Services has rebranded as “CAMP Digital.” The official announcement was made in Austin, Texas, at a special event hosted by CAMP Digital during the annual Super Meeting of the Nextstar Network. Last week, CAMP Digital also announced its expansion to the West coast after a new office recently opened in Portland.

The rebrand reflects how the fast-growth company is changing the way HVAC technicians, plumbers and electricians, roofers and others do business by offering them its proprietary software tools and process to better manage their marketing messages, ad spend online and service capacity more effectively and economically – in real time.

CAMP Digital offers its customers a Capacity Managed Marketing (CMM) platform, driven by its proven Capacity Protocol Optimization (CPOP) software, which gives companies a strategic edge in managing their marketing dollars and workflow. The innovative and disruptive B2B technology is heating up revenues for many North American brands/customers and experiencing its own electrifying growth.

Revenue has doubled every year since its inception by twin sisters and serial entrepreneurs, CEO Katie Donovan (nee Stapleton), COO Meg Stapleton and Chief Strategic Officer, and fellow co-founder Thom Johnson, a veteran marketing guru and the creator of CAMP Digital’s CMM platform. CAMP Digital’s CMM expertise also has made it a coveted Google Premier Partner, based in part on CAMP’s $70 million annual ad spend and its outstanding performance in home services. It was recently named to Inc. magazine’s “Inc 5000” for 2022 – placing at position 365 in its first year of eligibility.

“The dedicated customers we work with daily like Southern Trust Home Services, a family run and operated Plumbing, Electrical and HVAC business in Roanoke, VA., understand how CAMP Digital can positively impact their business,” notes Donovan. “We helped Increase their average customer tickets with better leads and overall lead volume/conversions to 43.72%. Most importantly, we helped them maximize the return on ad spend: Overall conversions across the entire account yielded an amazing increase of 176.98%! – and resulted in a 60.19% increase in revenue to the business for Q1 of 2022 vs Q1 of the previous year.”

“Our new name readily reflects who we are and what we can do to streamline our customers digital marketing investments and maximize their ROI,” adds Meg Stapleton. “CAMP communicates directly with our advertising engine to dynamically distribute compelling offers through digital channels that align with their current business needs in real time. This is particularly important in the industry we support, since home services is a very low interest, high intent category. The average consumer is in the market for less than 72 hours and expects / requires resolution quickly. So, when our customers like Southern Trust and others widely succeed, we do too.”

“Home Service companies everywhere live and die by calls coming into their call centers. But how consumers find them – and how fast service providers can respond – often determine whose trucks are on the road to revenue versus those idling on the street,” notes Johnson. “Our Capacity Managed Marketing (CMM) bundles dynamic lead generation, scalable website creation and marketing messaging. And it allows service providers to minimize ad spend, in a strategic package –hence the name CAMP — Capacity And Marketing Platform.”

“CMM simply delivers HVAC technicians, plumbers and electricians, roofers and others the flexibility to price higher – when demand is high – and to price lower when demand is down – in real time. The system also helps better control ad spend: If a company is at capacity, spending is dialed back, saving decision-makers money, time, and reputation.”

The American Society of Plumbing Engineers (ASPE), the foremost authority on plumbing engineering and design, has released the latest updated volume in its Plumbing Engineering Design Handbook series: Volume 2: Plumbing Systems. The profession’s leading reference text, ASPE’s Plumbing Engineering Design Handbook (PEDH) encompasses more than 50 chapters in four volumes and provides comprehensive details of Read more

The American Society of Plumbing Engineers (ASPE), the foremost authority on plumbing engineering and design, has released the latest updated volume in its Plumbing Engineering Design Handbook series: Volume 2: Plumbing Systems.

The profession’s leading reference text, ASPE’s Plumbing Engineering Design Handbook (PEDH) encompasses more than 50 chapters in four volumes and provides comprehensive details of the accepted practices and design criteria used in the field of plumbing engineering. Volume 2 covers the most commonly found plumbing systems in commercial facilities, including sanitary, domestic hot and cold water, venting, storm drainage, fuel gas, water and wastewater treatment, and more. Whether you want to learn about the right design practices or the engineering change order process, you can find everything you need to know in the latest guide. The engineering handbook has everything you need to know about business and residential plumbing and engineering.

How to Access Volume 2

The PEDH is one of ASPE’s most valuable member benefits, and ASPE members can access all four volumes as eBooks for free. Nonmembers can purchase the Volume 2 eBook for $259.95, but a better option is to join ASPE to gain access to the entire series for free, a savings of more than $800.

To join the ASPE family and take advantage of all of our professional development and career-enhancing benefits, visit ASPE.org.