Mid-County Newsletter MCnewsletter-Winter11 | Seite 3

MID-COUNTY ENERGY
www.midcountycoop.com
Page 3
A long and happy road
Dale Schmitz has been a Mid-Coun-
ty Coop employee since 1989, and he’s
enjoyed each year.
“Every day is different,” he said.
“It’s not the same routine.”
Schmitz grew up between Cologne
and Waconia, and graduated from
Central High School in 1980.
“I worked in town, at Custom For-
mulations, and I also milked cows for
14 months,” he said.
Then, Schmitz became involved
with Mid-County Coop through a part-time job in
the agronomy
department.
“Through
the years, I got
more involved
in the whole co-
op,” he said.
His
fi rst
winter at Mid-
County, Schmitz
Dale Schmitz
worked in the
shop, doing oil changes and other re- pair work.
The second summer of his employ-
ment, he started doing fuel deliveries.
“You have to be versatile,” he said.
Now, Schmitz travels about 125
miles per day as a fuel driver, and is
also an applicator in the agronomy de-
partment.
When he’s not working, Schmitz
can be found volunteering on the Co-
logne Fire Department.
“I’ve been on the fi re department for
over 25 years,” he said.
When is the
last time you
scheduled
a
leak test for
your propane
system?
If you’ve re-
cently put in a
new
furnace,
replaced your
water
heater,
Quay Zander
or purchased a
new home, you’ll want to make that
call right away.
Checks are required any time pro-
pane service has been turned off, in-
terrupted, or an item has been added
to the service (including replacement
of an existing appliance).
At Mid-County Coop, we conduct
thorough inspections, running a pres-
sure check from start to fi nish on the
system. The requirement is to hold
pressure for three minutes, but we go
beyond that, to 10 minutes, because
we do fi nd leaks after that three-min-
ute mark.
Even if service hasn’t been inter-
rupted, it doesn’t hurt to have a leak
check every four or fi ve years, in case
of a mechanical failure.
Leaks can come from a variety of
sources. Sometimes, it’s as simple as
a nut that needs tightening, and other times, it’s a deeper problem – such as
a crack in any pipe or fi tting.
However, the potential for a gas leak
doesn’t make propane an unsafe fuel
choice.
According to the National Propane
Gas Association, propane is used by
more than 14 million American fami-
lies, and is a clean, cost-effective, ef-
fi cient, and reliable energy solution.
On its own, propane is tasteless and
odorless. In order to alert homeowners
to potential leaks, manufacturers add
a scent that’s often described as simi-
lar to rotten eggs, a skunk’s spray, or a
dead animal.
If you smell it in your home, make
the phone call right away.
The cost to check for a leak is very
minimal.
Sometimes, leaks are present even
when the smell of gas does not seem
apparent. If a person has a cold, allergies, or
other medical condition, or is taking
medication, alcohol, tobacco, or drugs,
the smell can be diffi cult to detect.
Also, according to the Propane and
Education Research Council, if the
smell of propane is in the air over a
period of time, “odor fatigue” can oc-
cur. This means that the nose “gets
tired,” and a person no longer smells
the odor.
Rarely, the concentration of odor in
propane is reduced, which may result
in a gas leak that doesn’t have a strong
scent. This can be caused by the pres-
ence of rust on the inside walls of the
tank or cylinder.
If you suspect a leak, leave the area
immediately and contact Mid-County
Coop right away at [phone].
We do the work as safely and quick-
ly as possible.
Don’t forget those propane checkups