When Great Leaves Fall, the Winter is at Hand. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

As many of us experienced firsthand, the weather patterns over North America were dominated by subtropical high pressure systems that kept a constant stranglehold over much of the U.S. — and according to the Palmer Drought Index, severe to extreme drought affected 46.01 % of the contiguous United States.

Translation: Wish mercy and relief to those key farm states and the dairy farmers that were devastated by drought — and expect a 3-5% price increase at the food stores. The “wish mercy and relief” are my words, the “When Great Leaves Fall…” are Shakespeare’s.

Good: The oppressive heat-fatigue is almost over and the tempo on all fronts is about to accelerate, crisply. And, now that one of you geniuses out there has finally invented the home-sized cellulosic biofuel converter, I will greet the once tedious chore of raking leaves as one of my favorite green things to do (not yet, and never, respectively). Apple should get after these kinds of products.

The Excellent:  The CTA Awards event will debut in Dallas! And yours truly, is now a member of the CTA Academy…Oops, I wasn’t suppose to let that one slip out… Let me just say “Stay tuned to Control Trends — because next week there will be a huge announcement.”

The Bad: Dust off the Carbon Monoxide and Combustion Analyzer deal sheets, and for those facility managers that haven’t had your boilers tuned yet, you’re hitting the trail kind of late, partner. Personally, I’m rooting for a long and cold winter! There, I said it!

Translation: We can sell the gas valves and flame safeguard inventory from last year (kidding). Though ironic and true, the worse the weather, the better and busier the industry will be (and the happier the control companies). Talk about straddling the dicey lines of ethics.

The Ugly: Getting ready means a comprehensive mix of good memory, preparation, prevention, and insurance. As the change of season and weather approach the local theaters, some of us will be drying up the soil beds and placing blankets and styrofoam cups near the dear cacti, while for others, it’s a good time for a dry run on the snow blower.

We all have our business and personal chores to see to, so, in an effort to rally some fortitude around the Control Trends Community, let’s just get started — before the weather turns quick, and only then, in a bad way, we learn that the shingles were not to hold another year, and there wasn’t any bump gas left in the CO kit, and where are my gloves, anyway?

BAD (Again) The incentive money that always kick-started a lot of seasonal business isn’t what it used to be! There are still 30% Energy Star tax credits left (with no upper limit — that expire December 31, 2016) for Geothermal Heat Pumps, Small Wind Turbines (Residential), and Solar Energy Systems (the sort of stuff we can’t keep enough of on the shelves…), seems like they could throw more bones near the HVAC and Controls Industry.