Huguley School

Goodbye to school daze.

If you've ever been in a school on a hot, sticky afternoon, you know that very little learning takes place. The heat makes the students restless and inattentive and the teachers impatient. As Alabama Power representative Greg Duffey, says, "A student who is really hot or really cold is about like a student who is hungry.that's all he or she can think about."

So when it came time to replace the old, worn out equipment at Huguley School near Lanett, Alabama, Principal Hubbard, the Parent-Teacher Organization, and the School Board decided to explore options for heating and cooling the school. They knew it wasn't going to be easy with the very limited money that was available, but they felt than an efficient, reliable heating and cooling system was absolutely necessary if they were to provide a positive learning environment for their students and teachers.

Getting out of a sticky situation.

As a native of the Valley area, Greg Duffey had a natural concern for the teachers and the students in Huguley School, and he wanted to make sure they ended up with the best system possible for the least amount of money. It didn't take too much convincing - the school's old equipment, on its best day, was hard to regulate and at times, wouldn't even come on in the morning. There was no cooling system in the school except ceiling fans, and Principal Hubbard points out that it "can get up to 100-degreees in late August and early September in an old building like this. The students and the teachers are very uncomfortable."

When the students returned to Huguley School in the fall of 1989, they entered classrooms that were equipped with individual, wall-mounted heat pumps. Each teacher had his or her own thermostat to adjust for fluctuating temperatures in the old school, and each student was able to sit comfortably in his or her classroom. Huguley School was the first school in the area to install a cooling system, and according to Principal Hubbard, "For a while, we were the envy of the county."

Works like a charm.

Since 1989, the school's 23 wall-mounted pumps have performed efficiently and effectively. The heating is much more predictable and even the cooling works "like a charm." Principal Hubbard noted that the school's utility bill is less now than it was when they only heated the building with gas. They are so pleased with their new system that, as he says, "We wouldn't go back to the old system if you paid us!"