Industry News

Leading plumbing provider offers tips to Brooklyn residents to help ensure their home’s water remains safe and clean

Petri Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Drain Cleaning, a family-owned home service company serving Brooklyn and Manhattan since 1906, says National Water Quality Month is a great time for homeowners to pay special attention to their water quality and take proactive steps to help improve it.

“Being able to take a clean shower or drink water from the tap without fear of contamination isn’t a luxury everyone gets to enjoy,” said Michael Petri, owner of Petri Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Drain Cleaning. “Since August is National Water Quality Month, this is a great time for homeowners to focus on some simple tips to ensure their own water stays safe and clean.”

Petri said that communities can work together by following these tips to improve the water quality in their neighborhoods:

1. Don’t dump chemicals down the drain. Whether homeowners are using liquid drain cleaners or other chemicals to clean their pool or rid their homes of pests, they should consider the proper way to dispose of chemicals. By opting for organic drain cleaners and taking items like motor oil, pool chemicals and harsh cleaners to collection centers, homeowners can keep shared municipal drains free of hazardous waste.
2. Manage stormwater runoff. By diverting downspouts into yards, cisterns or other containment areas, homeowners can keep pesticides and bacteria from clogging up municipal storm drains.
3. Properly maintain sewer lines and septic tanks. Homeowners should regularly service their sewer lines and septic tanks to ensure that pollutants and disease-causing bacteria don’t leach into the groundwater. Septic tanks should have regular cleanings and sewer lines should be maintained so that contaminants can be properly contained and treated. Try to avoid getting chemicals into storm drains.
4. Don’t over irrigate lawns. Overwatering a lawn can cause runoff that contains fertilizers and pesticides that can seep into storm drains or an area’s groundwater. This tip provides the added bonus of conserving this natural resource.
5. Consider a water filtration system. Because many cities have older pipes that experience failures, even the water that comes into a home may contain contaminants. Using bottled water as a substitute also adds a lot of plastic to local landfills. Homeowners can protect their water quality and the environment by adding a water filtration system to their home’s plumbing system.

“Water is one of our most precious natural resources and is vital to any community,” Petri said. “This August, we should all take some time to consider how we’re dumping contaminated water and work on ways to improve the water quality in our neighborhoods. Following a few simple steps can ensure we all have clean water for years to come.”

For more information about Petri Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Drain Cleaning, visit https://www.petriplumbing.com/.

User-friendly Bosch Home Comfort PRO offers HVAC contractors a host of new resources, exciting rewards and unmatched flexibility.

Watertown, Mass. — Bosch Home Comfort (formerly Bosch Thermotechnology), a leading global source of high-quality heating, cooling and hot water systems, recently launched Bosch Home Comfort PRO, HVAC contractors’ new one-stop shop for their every servicing need. 

 This new portal improves upon the features offered by Bosch’s previous ABC program, brandishing a host of valuable new tools and rewards for loyal installers. Its industry benchmark user interface (UI) is designed for optimal user-friendliness and future-facing flexibility, allowing the platform to evolve and improve over time. 

“Bosch’s new PRO program was designed to streamline administrative tasks and consolidate the most essential resources HVAC professionals utilize regularly so they can devote more of their time to their customers,” said Will Barber, customer programs specialist at Bosch. “We’re thrilled to invite our existing installer base to immerse themselves in this new and improved digital portal, and confident that contractors previously unaffiliated with Bosch will be just as impressed with the invaluable selection of tools we have conveniently located in one easy-to-navigate space.” 

 Bosch Home Comfort PRO offers three tiers of membership – Silver, Gold and Platinum – and integrates the following resources: 

•  Product registration incentives 

o   Supported by a simple, intuitive registration form, contractors can earn points toward monetary rewards for tracking registrations (1 point = $1 value). A list of all registerable products and their point eligibility is available for download. 

•  Revitalized dealer locator / lead generation tool 

o   Become an advertised Bosch Home Comfort PRO installer, enjoying exclusive benefits and higher algorithmic placement based on contractor status. 

o   Search capability is customizable by service focus – allowing customers to search by products, service and/or coverage – and is proven to generate homeowner leads (>12,000 page views per month). 

•  Extended warranty program 

o   Platinum dealers can now enjoy one-year part warranties. 

•  Partner Shop 

o   Users enjoy an updated catalog of Bosch apparel, gear, marketing materials, gift cards, literature and more, purchasable with points earned through product registration. 

Bosch Home Comfort PRO was designed to adapt as contractors’ needs do, so while the platform in its current state provides a great baseline structure installers can rely on, they can also rest assured this program will continue to prove useful well into the future. 

“Our ultimate goal with rolling out this new program is to better serve the evolving needs of our contractors, which ultimately will deliver a better experience for end-consumers,” said Barber. “What is conducive to contractors’ success now isn’t necessarily going to be the same support they need down the road, so we knew adaptability had to be a cornerstone of this new portal.” 

New contractors who are interested in joining the PRO program can sign up at https://www.bosch-homecomfort.com/us/pro for the United States or https://www.bosch-homecomfort.com/ca/pro for Canada.

Franklin Electric Co., Inc. (NASDAQ: FELE) recently celebrated the 10^th anniversary of its global corporate headquarters in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

On Friday, July 14^th, the headquarters staff of Franklin Electric came together to celebrate the anniversary with a fun-filled day of activity. CEO Gregg Sengstack kicked off the celebration by addressing the employees and cutting the “anniversary” cake. Throughout the afternoon, as employees enjoyed outdoor lawn games, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic played bluegrass music. An ice cream truck was onsite, and food and beverages were also served to celebrate the milestone. Headquarter-based employees received a Franklin Electric memento to commemorate the event.

“As we celebrate the first decade at our Global Corporate Headquarters in Fort Wayne, Indiana, it gives us the opportunity to reflect on how much we’ve accomplished here,” said Gregg Sengstack, Chairperson of the Board & CEO. “Ten years ago, our goal was to expand our ability to provide our customers with complete water system solutions, and we’ve exceeded these expectations. We’ve grown by delivering reliable, trustworthy products, and the resources available here were a big part of that.”

Completed in 2013, Franklin Electric’s headquarters is 120,000 square feet and sits on 102 acres. The building is constructed with 294 tons of steel, and it’s powered by more than 70 Franklin Electric products. Outside, a cooling pond provides geothermal heating and cooling. The company was granted LEED Silver certification through the U.S. Green Building Council.

The headquarters also features a number of amenities to create a comfortable, productive forward-thinking environment, including collaborative areas to re-ignite creative thinking, onsite catering (with complimentary gourmet coffee), an in-house fitness center, state-of-the art meeting rooms, outdoor meeting areas and outdoor walking trails. The building features a significant collection of large-scale photographs by Canadian-born artist Edward Burtynsky focused on environmental and water infrastructure themes.

“This facility and the people who work here continue to drive our business forward,” said Sengstack. “Our Fort Wayne location houses not only our Global Corporate Headquarters, but it is also home to our 25,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art Engineering Center of Excellence where we test each product to ensure they deliver the performance that is critical to the markets and applications we serve.”

The new course is part of the Counter Intelligence training series, designed to provide distributor employees with knowledge and skills to grow sales and build strong customer relationships

Business Development Resources (BDR), a trusted provider of business coaching and training services for the HVAC, plumbing, and electrical industries, announces HVAC 101 for the Counter, a new live virtual course series that empowers HVAC distributor counter teams with essential knowledge to improve customer service, efficiency, and revenue generation.

“Your parts counter team must have a foundational understanding of the products you sell and how they work,” said Matt MacArthur, BDR’s Director of Training. “This allows them to deliver a higher level of customer service and efficiency, which leads to increased average tickets and greater customer satisfaction and loyalty.”

BDR announces HVAC 101 for the Counter, a new live virtual course series that empowers HVAC distributor counter teams with essential knowledge to improve customer service, efficiency, and revenue generation.

HVAC 101 for the Counter, scheduled for three sessions in October and November, gives attendees an overview of different types of HVAC equipment and their components, including gas furnaces, heat pumps, air conditioners, and ductless units. In the sessions, attendees will learn why it’s important to know HVAC systems and their components and how they work and operate, the different components and accessories available for each type of system, and communication skills for interacting with customers at the counter.

HVAC 101 for the Counter is presented in three two-hour sessions so teams can train without being pulled off the counter for an entire day. The sessions include:

• Gas furnaces, components, and accessories (Oct. 12)
• Heat pump and air conditioner components and accessories (Oct. 26)
• Ductless heat pumps, components, and accessories (Nov. 9)

HVAC 101 for the Counter is part of the ongoing Counter Intelligence training series, designed to provide distribution parts counter and inside sales employees with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed by growing sales and building stronger customer relationships.

To learn more about BDR’s HVAC 101 for the Counter training course, visit https://www.bdrco.com/event/counter-intelligence-hvac-101-for-the-counter/.