I'll be getting on a plane in a couple of weeks to go back to Frankfurt, Germany for my eleventh visit to the big ISH fair. That got me thinking about my last visit to this every-other-year show. Here's a story that I wrote about that trip. I'll let you know what I see this time. Oh, and I'll be stopping in Iceland on the way back to check out their geothermal plants. All their heating comes right out of the ground. Imagine that.

Here's a story about something most of us never think about. What's the best way to cool a cow? It turns out to be a chilled floor. Lots of good stuff in there about humidity. Might surprise you. Moooo!

Well, not quite yet. The good people of Estonia are still discussing whether it's economically sound to burn their old currency, the kroon, in their district-heating systems now that they've switched to the Euro. I love what they're doing with the shredded cash in the meantime. It proves once again that where there is a problem, someone will find a business. Here's the rest of the story.

Swedish people don't make enough garbage to keep their district-heating systems running so they're importing garbage from Norway. Here's the story. There's also mention of the Great Bunny Burn in there. Such fun!

The capital of Vermont is getting a new (and really large) biomass boiler, along with an extended district-heating system for its downtown area. It's quite an ambitious project and all the wood chips will come from Vermont. Nice! Here's the story.

Burn coal indoors while they're very young. That's the conclusion of this study. Oh, and please note that last bit about second-hand tobacco smoke.

Thanks to subscriber, Glen Aspen, for sharing this story with us. It has nothing to do with heating, but a lot to do with plumbing, and it sure does solve an age-old, and very urgent, problem.

Hug your kids.