Sharpen your pencils and get out your marketing plans, because the government is looking to provide contractors with a new tactic to sell energy-efficient heating and cooling systems - higher energy costs.

My new thermostat and my old thermostat are the same brand - set exactly the same way. I noticed, however, that with the new thermostat, I am often too warm.

With temperatures surpassing 100°F in the Pacific Northwest, residents and contractors are scrambling to stay cool. Residents usually don’t have a need for a/c and so they don’t have regular maintenance or don’t have an a/c unit at all. With the extreme weather, finding, repairing, and installing equipment is proving difficult.

In essence, air conditioning units are primarily designed to address temperature and dehumidifiers designed to address humidity levels. It is when the job descriptions begin to intermingle that homeowners may find themselves in an uncomfortable and less efficient environment.

Although I am not a wholehearted subscriber to the “sky is falling due to CO2” doctrine, I am learning new things about the environment that seem to be based in solid science.

The seventh annual Honeywell Users Group (HUG) Symposium brought more than 160 attendants together to “Discover the Power” of innovation, best-practice sharing, and networking. Organized by a steering committee of Honeywell customers, the symposium emphasized energy management, sustainability, green technologies, and IT innovations.

I don’t get a chance to watch too much TV, but recently I have taken some time to relax in front of the tube. The most annoying thing about watching TV is commercials, especially bad ones.

Extended warranties, equipment costs, and the R-22 phaseout all present distributors with puzzles to solve in 2009 and the coming years. Each region and distributor faces these challenges uniquely, but the standard goals are survival and growth. Lyon Conklin & Co. and Munch’s Supply Co. both know what it means to survive and grow during industry changes.

“Each customer of The Habegger Corporation is unique, and we strive to understand and address their personal needs.” Those are the words of Mike Branson, director of marketing for Habegger, an HVAC wholesale distributor headquartered in Cincinnati, and serving markets in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, and Iowa.

In a 2009 Mid-Year Economic Update Webcast intended for distributors, Adam Fein, Ph.D., founder and president of Pembroke Consulting Inc., reported that the economy wasn’t done being volatile quite yet. He addressed distributors and other attendees on the overall factors that influenced what he termed was a “terrible first quarter.”