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Energy Saver: Heating Energy Methods
In lots of places on Earth during certain times of the year, people need supplemental heat to survive. Tonight, outside it is well below freezing and I sit here in relative comfort in front of my computer. I thought it might be appropriate to write about some stories I have about heating around the world. It's a curse: I'm a facility engineer, so I always examine buildings as to how they heat, cool, ventilate, power, use and transport energy. I have traveled to many places; some business and some personal. However, I am sure that I haven't seen nor heard of all that there is to see on heating. The following are some personal stories worth sharing. If you have one, please send it along.
Here is one story. A fellow I know, originally from Bulgaria, described to me a time when he worked for a Russian facility engineering firm. His job then was something like his and mine are today; facility system engineers. We design sophisticated engineered systems using computerized modeling for industrial, commercial and educational buildings. Our designs are highly efficient and we select exactly matched equipment for any given building. In Amercia, our selection of equipment choices is endless. As his story goes from likely twenty years ago, he did the same thing he does today. But rather than picking the right boiler or furnace to fit the building, he had one choice of boiler. The only engineering to be done was to determine how many of that one model was needed to get the job done. In modern societies we lose track of what choices we have.