Blog Phase 4

Lilyestrom, J. R. (2012). Low-cost natural gas - what's not to like? Power Engineering, 116(5), 12-12. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.hacc.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1022338533?accountid=11302

Summary:

John Lilyestrom, in his 2012 article “Low-Cost Natural Gas – What’s Not to Like?”, discusses how  the natural gas supplies are abundant and the prices lower than they have been at any point in recent history, and the increase of shale gas production makes it unlikely for prices or supply to change any time soon. Lilyestrom also makes reference to the electric market and how the prices of electricity have also taken a plunge. This, however, is much more likely to fluctuate back up than the prices of natural gas. His final point says that these factors are all reasons that it is becoming difficult for any alternative type of fuel to compete with natural gas.

CRAAP Analysis:

This article is informational, relative to my topic, and reliable. The author, John Lilyestrom, is a trade journalist for ‘Power Engineering’, so his credibility is well-established. The information is directly relevant to my topic, being that my topic is entirely centered around natural gas energy. Lilyestrom also supports all his claims about both the current and future price and availability of natural gas with strong evidence. I feel like this source would be of value to my research also because it is relatively recent, which is important due to the always fluctuating prices and availability of natural gas. Overall, I would feel comfortable citing this source in my research because it uses good, well-supported, and current information that is related directly to my topic.

Eckert, Brian. (2013). How Much Does a Furnace Cost? Cost Owl. Retrieved 3/17/2013 from http://www.costowl.com/home-improvement/hvac-furnace-replacement-cost.html

Summary:

In his short article “How Much Does a Furnace Cost?”, Brian Eckert discusses the different types of furnaces as well as the types of fuel, heating capacity, and efficiency of each. He stresses that the higher the efficiency, the more heat your furnace will be able to produce in a shorter amount of time using less gas. The installation prices of each type of fuel furnaces are listed and compared, but Eckert notes that the prices are approximate and factors such as location, brand, and the complexity of the installation may cause those prices to vary widely.

CRAAP Analysis:

“How Much Does a Furnace Cost?” is an article that is full of useful information related to my topic. From doing additional research about the author, I found out that Brian Eckert is the Executive Director of Phillips Lytle LLP, which is a legal company whose clients are typically significantly large, mechanical or technical based companies. This leads me to believe that he has a very strong and broad base of knowledge about technical products of all kind. The website on which this article was published, CostOwl.com, noted that every single article is updated every month, so the information is undoubtedly current. What was most important about this article was the pure importance of this information in my research. The numbers and averages given in this article are facts that will be absolutely necessary to use in my paper, so it was important to verify the crediblility of this article so I would feel comfortable citing it. Through the business I work for, I was able to get ahold of some numbers to compare to the ones given in this article, and they matched up very closely, which makes this article all the more credible. I plan on citing this article in my research because it provides vital information that is recent and relative to my topic, and also because it is written by very knowledgeable author.

I feel like “How Much Does a Furnace Cost?” is more valuable to my research, but both articles are overall pretty credible. Lilyestrom’s article is undoubtedly current, but Eckert’s article was published without an exact date which initially led me to believe that it may not be up to date. Both of these articles are of incredible relevance and value to my topic, so both of them will be used for research. Although I did have to do some outside research, I found that both authors are credible and qualified to write about the topics in their articles. The information in both articles comes from research on statistics and numbers, but Eckert’s article likely comes quite a bit more from company records or experience and a lesser level of research. Both of these articles were written strictly for informational purposes and are seemingly written without bias. Overall when comparing these two articles, Lilyestrom’s article seems to be a bit more credible because it gives an exact publication date and refers to other sources for information while Eckert’s article does neither of those. Both articles are found to be credible to the point of usability, but Lilyestrom’s article shows just a few more signs of credibility.