Industry News Farmers’ Almanac calls for more cold, more snow For the 198th year in a row, the Farmers’ Almanac released its annual winter weather predictions. This year’s issue contains one resounding message across the northern U.S.: prepare for more cold. “It’s like Winter Déjà vu,” said Peter Geiger, Editor. “Last year our bitterly cold, shivery forecasts came true in many states including the 23 eastern states that experienced one of their top-ten coldest Februaries on record. This year, many of these same states may want to get a jump start now and stock up on lots of winter survival gear.” The official outlook is described as “Snowy and Bitter Cold” in New England and New York, “Snowy and Unseasonably Cold” in the Mid-Atlantic States and “Snow-Filled and Frigid” in the Upper Midwest. It is not immediately clear how “snowier than normal” conditions in New England will compare with last year’s unprecedented precipitation totals, but it is worth noting that the National Weather Service, whose methods place slightly less emphasis on sunspot activity and planetary arrangements, is predicting a relatively average winter. Join OESP for a weekend on the Cape The 10th annual the National Association of Oil & Energy Service Professionals (OESP) Oil Heat Retreat will take place Oct. 1–4 at the Cape Cod Resort & Conference Center in Hyannis, MA. The slate of events blends education, dining, golf and a tour of Hyannis along with meetings and networking opportunities. The educational component will include a National Oilheat Research Alliance Turn back the clock... (NORA) Gold Hydronics Course taught by Dave Holdorf of Taco. Contact Judy Garber at jgarber@thinkoesp.org for more information. Mobile home residents fume over conversion policy Residents at a mobile home park in Longswamp Township, PA expressed frustration after being asked to convert their home heating systems from heating oil to “an alternative” by Dec. 1. Located about 15 miles southwest of Allentown, Mountain Village Community has been home to some residents for nearly 40 years, according to WFMZ 69 News. Property managers said the mandate comes from recommendations given by the Pennsylvania Manufactured Housing Association (PMHA), which An article from the June, 1975 edition of Fuel Oil & Oil Heat describes how Oil City Petroleum in Palisades Park, NJ maintains their 2,000 accounts thanks to an innovative degree day machine, allowing them to work about 100 degree days ahead on deliveries. cautioned them about their own liability under state law should a resident’s heating oil tank sustain an accidental spill or leak. A document distributed by PMHA titled Manufactured Housing Community Fuel Oil Conversions Best Practices reads: “It is best to give residents a time frame to make the changes with a caveat that they will not be allowed to sell the home in a community unless it is brought in compliance with the current rules which should be, ‘all homes must be fueled by an environmentally-safe product, which does not include fuel oil.’” Some residents wondered about the consequences of failing to convert by the mandated deadline. Others questioned why having oil tanks that were insured and regularly inspected 20 ICM/Sept/Oct 2015
ICM September-October 2015
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