Do you remmber?

Michael Solow

Few years back I attended Dan Hoolahan’s seminar in the Sheraton Hotel in Long Branch , NJ. This must’ve been one of the first he gave about steam and hot water systems. I believe he still conducts seminar on the same topics throughout the country. Curiosity brought me there, because until that day the things I knew about steam was that if I boiled water long enough I would generate steam. I also knew that it takes about 950 BTU for each pound of water to accomplish this feat. I found the seminar most interesting and Dan a very knowledgeable wet-head. But, what took the cake and for me were the highlights of the seminar was when a fellow in the front row asked Dan as to what BTU’s look like. Without batting an eyelash Dan said that these little suckers look like a tiny balls. A discussion among the attendees took place, and another fellow suggested that indeed they are round but sometimes they are square, rectangle, and even in the shape of a figure eight. I glanced over to see this guy’s reaction and the expression on his face showed a relief. I guess seeing the picture rather than hearing words is how we learn best. He only heard Dan and nothing would convince this man that the BTU’s are anything other than tiny solid balls. Dan did try to tell him that BTU is an abstract, and it’s only a number which signifies a ratio of one quantity over another, but the man was a “goner”. Setting aside that incident the rest of the presentation was right on the target. Every time anybody would ask me about BTU’s and what they look like I am tempted to show them a beach ball.