Thomas J. Fannon & Sons1200 Duke Street , Alexandria, Virginia, United States

Over a century ago Thomas J. Fannon founded a wood & coal business that today serves Northern Virginia with the most advanced heating and air conditioning equipment. Now in our second century of service, we stand ready to recommend and design the system that best serves your needs.

History

In 1885, T.J. Fannon & Sons opened its doors at Duke and Henry Streets selling coal and wood. With the advent of trucks and automatic stokers, the coal business rapidly expanded after the turn of the century. In the twenties, Fannon made its first oil delivery and was soon installing oil heating equipment, as well as natural gas appliances.As central air conditioning became popular in the sixties, Fannon led the way in sales and service. Since then we have engineered replacements, retrofits and new installation of boilers, furnaces, air conditioners – everything for your home comfort.  Over the past 125 years, we have been providing homeowners with the fuel and the means to heat and cool their homes. From our early days as a woodlot with mule carts for home delivery of coal, through the development of “automatic heating” devices; from rail deliveries of coal to our silos to our new fuel oil plants, from the earliest atmospheric gas burners to air conditioning, condensing furnaces, and inverter heat pump technology, T.J. Fannon & Sons has been part of the growth of a remarkable industry.  Where next? Variable output technology is opening into levels of performance and efficiency that were unimaginable a generation ago. Heat pumps capable of operation without costly back-up heat, heat pumps heating water for domestic use, and for use in radiator systems are all on the horizon. These designs are expensive now, but as their popularity grows, their prices will drop. Certainly, though, Fannon will continue to provide the best in quality and reliability.

We’ll Have Oil in Your Tank by Noon

No fuel packs more BTU’s than fuel oil. It heats faster with more sensible heat output than gas, propane or heat pumps. It can be stored on site without relying on interruptible pipes or wires, and the consumer can select from a host of vendors eager to provide a higher level of service.  Your oil can be delivered on automatic or on a call-in basis. Automatic delivery is based on degree day calculations – your individual consumption rate is calculated on past usage, and a reliable forecast of your next delivery is made. If you choose call-in, make sure you have an accessible, readable gauge, and call us at least one day in advance.  Payment can be made on a budget account. Your estimated consumption is broken into ten equal payments due between July and April. Avoid the crush of mid-winter bills with this easy level-payment plan!

Storing Fuel Oil

Your fuel oil tank, whether outdoors, indoors, or underground, provides safe, reliable storage.  Oil is not flammable, it requires pressurization, atomization, and an extremely hot ignitor in order to combust. The biggest problem homeowners can face with a tank is the gradual buildup of moisture and sludge, which clogs lines, filters and nozzles, and can freeze solid in bitter cold. Keeping a tank relatively full, especially in spring and summer, can minimize condensation. We add a special anti-sludging agent to all of our deliveries, and other additives are available if needed.  Underground tanks are often a special concern.  How long they last is usually a matter of soil condition…wet, acidic soils (marine clay, for instance) are tough on a tank.  Dealing with a tank that’s leaking, however, poses no great cost to the homeowner. The first sign of leaking is water in the fuel.  Groundwater pressure typically puts water in the tank before fuel can create a problem in the soil. The State of Virginia manages a fund (paid for by your fuel oil company) which will cover any remediation costs associated with a leak (less a $500 deductible). Small Heating Oil Tank Fact Sheet.

• Furnaces Today’s consumer finds a wide array of choices in warm air furnaces based on the efficiency sought, the type of chimney available, and the fan package features.  Efficiency refers to the percentage of fuel purchased that ends up as heat inside your home and the remainder that is exhausted to the outside. Gas furnaces to be installed into a chimney cannot have an efficiency rating greater than 80%.  The first consideration, then, is the chimney. If a sound, properly sized chimney is available (metal b-vent is always reliable) then an 80% efficiency furnace is a cost-effective choice. If the chimney requires lining, a 92% furnace is the best choice. Chimneys require a certain amount of heat to properly perform, and the 92% (condensing) furnaces lose so little heat they are vented directly to the outside, like a dryer, with plastic pipe.  Oil burns much hotter than gas, and so is much more “chimney-friendly.” Efficiencies up to 84% are available in a number of different high quality units.  A popular feature now is a variable speed fan package, or an EMC motor. Both will lower your electric bill and the variable models can improve comfort as well.  Also popular are 2-stage and 3-stage furnaces, which deliver lower BTU outputs on days when full output is not required, providing a longer cycle of warm air flowing out of the vents.
• Unlike the old “monster in the basement”, a modern boiler is remarkably effective at producing heated water, which can then be used in a variety of applications: radiators, radiant floors, kick heaters, domestic water heating, hydronic blowers, snow melting and more.  Cast-iron boilers, oil or gas-fired, offer high efficiency ratings (84-85%) and solid, reliable performance over many years. Great efficiency (up to 95%) in a small package can be found in the new variable output condensing boilers, which can literally hang on the wall.  Tremendous domestic water heating is provided by an indirect water heater, which uses the heating capacity of the boiler to heat household water virtually as fast as it is consumed.
• Ductless systems are a remarkable way to bring heating or cooling to spaces that ducts cannot cost-effectively reach…attics, sunrooms, basements, even top floors that just never seem to quite cool.  The indoor component is discreet and whisper-quiet – it can look like a picture frame or a sleek stainless steel box – While the outdoor component is efficient enough to qualify for a federal tax credit, the indoor component is discreet and whisper-quiet. It can be mounted on the wall, or hidden in a closet, kneewall, or attic space. 
• When it comes to trouble-free cost-effective domestic water heating, it’s still hard to beat a simple tank water heater. A.O. Smith makes units in a variety of sizes and configurations – gas and electric – for same-day installation.  If size or demand is an issue, tankless water heaters can solve the problem, providing unlimited supply in a wall-hung package at remarkable efficiency. These units do require large gas supply and specific venting, so we’ll have someone come to site to provide pricing.  If you already have a boiler, an indirect water heater can provide your domestic hot water with both efficiency and performance.
• The field of air conditioning and heat pumps – the transfer of heat via refrigerant gas – is the scene of dramatic advances in technology and efficiency. In most replacement situations today, both indoor and outdoor sections must be included as even slightly older units have incompatible technologies or refrigerant gases.  Efficiency is measured on the SEER scale – Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio. It’s an arbitrary set of numbers in which each point represents a 10% increase in efficiency over the preceding point. As such, it’s a scale of diminishing returns, as one goes up the scale 10% is deducted from a steadily declining base. Most air conditioning systems in the field today are 9-10 SEER, and the minimum now available is 13 – a great improvement. SEER ratings of 15 and 16 are readily available, but beware ratings advertised as “up to” – they often apply to component match-ups unsuitable for actual usage!