Pennsylvania College of Technology students Ronald J.Button, an HVAC- mechanical systems major from Port Allegany, and Matthew J. Kinneman, an HVAC technology student from Aberdeen, N.J., recently teamed up with technicians from local heating contractors to replace a Watsontown woman's leaking boiler.
This was not the typical job instead of bidding against each other, professionals from Montour Home Comfort Systems and R.W. Dittmar Plumbing-Heating & Oil Co. joined forces with the students from Penn College to meet a need. The new boiler was installed under the Oil Heat Cares program, in which the Oil Heat Cares Foundation provides funds for equipment and parts for deserving and qualifying persons or nonprofit organizations.
The woman had contacted her church, First Baptist Church of Milton, about her heating problem, and a fellow parishioner, the branch manager at Montour, confirmed that the leaking boiler needed to be replaced. A local manufacturer, the Axeman Anderson Co. in South Williamsport, provided the new boiler at discount for the installation. Montour will continue to service the unit, providing a yearlong service contract.
The companies participating in the service project are members of the Susquehanna Valley chapter of the National Association of Oil Heat Service Managers, of which Penn College faculty members Robert S. Heiser, assistant professor of HVAC technology-plumbing/heating,and Rick C. Taylor, associate professor of plumbing and heating, are members. The students applied classroom skills, while blessing Phillips with heat!
More information on NAOHSM and Oil Heat Cares can be foundonline.