Relief For Haiti

Just about everyone I know has donated money or services to the Haiti relief effort. The outpouring of sympathy for those beleaguered people surpasses what I remember as a similar stirring of charitable juices in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami that hit so hard in so many places, or of public reaction to the Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005.

Speaking as a donor, it's frustrating to watch the TV images of suffering day after day, knowing that while the money and supplies for Haiti are accumulating fast, getting them to where they can do some good is not. Lack of infrastructure and disorganization are causing delays that cost lives and prolong misery.

This article from the Economist tells of some things that go wrong when aid is well intentioned but misdirected. Let's hope the authorities in place learn quickly how to sort things out. -- by Jim Olsztynski

In this edition of Radiant & Hydronics e-News:

• A New Glitch & Fix
• NATE's President Resigns
• Tankless water heaters in the news
• Contractors Need To Get Certified For Lead Removal

NATE President Resigns
North American Technician Excellence (NATE), the nation's certification provider for HVACR technicians, announced the resignation of its president, Rex Boynton, who left NATE on January 15 "to pursue other opportunities." Named interim president was David Pannier, who has served in leadership roles on numerous industry boards, including NATE's, before retiring as president of Trane Residential Systems in 2009.

Solar Training For Contractors
Lumos Solar, a Boulder, CO-based designer and distributor of solar electric and solar thermal products, held its first solar education and training classes last December. The classes were a hit and now they are running four trainings each month. The training is geared towards plumbing, mechanical and electrical contractors that want to gain access to the solar industry. Visit www.lumossolar.com.

California Claims First State Green Building Code
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Jan. 19 announced the California Building Standards Commission unanimously adopted the first-in-the-nation mandatory Green Building Standards Code (CALGREEN) requiring all new buildings in the state to be more energy efficient and environmentally responsible. Taking effect on January 1, 2011, these comprehensive regulations aim to achieve major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and water use.

Rheem Tankless Heaters Explained On TV
Rheem tankless water heaters are discussed and featured on episodes of Lifetime Television's popular morning program The Balancing Act . The show, designed to deliver information on home, family and other topics to decision-making women-on-the-go, features Mike Siuda, Rheem director of tankless marketing and sales, who debunks common tankless water heating myths while addressing three main benefits homeowners can expect from tankless water heaters. The first show featuring Siuda and Rheem tankless products debuted on January 14 with a repeat airing on Jan. 21. Another is scheduled for Feb. 11.

Noritz Introduces EZPay Programs
Noritz America Corp. has introduced two new EZPay programs, it was announced by Yoshi Asano, Noritz America senior marketing manager. Noritz has made an exclusive arrangement with FTL Finance and Viewtech Financial Services to offer the new Noritz EZPay programs to PROCard members which, in turn, will trickle down to the thousands of new consumers who purchase a Noritz tankless water heater. Interested parties are urged to compare the two and select the program that best fits their needs. Visit www.noritz.com/EZPay for additional details.

Ridge Offers Online Business Tool
RIDGIDConnect is a subscription-based, online business tool designed for service professionals and contractors who create or use digital information. RIDGIDConnect provides the ability to share and store digital assets such as diagnostic job site photos and videos, job reports and histories, maintenance records, customer lists and other business files, which in turn simplify external and internal communication, as well as the recordkeeping process. Click on the headline to learn more.

Grundfos Introduces "Thinking Buildings" Site
Grundfos' Thinking Buildings Universe is a new web site from Grundfos Building Services, offering contractors and engineers a complete range of information and tools on commercial pumps to help make their building projects come together more smoothly. From quick-reference terminology, theories and e-learning, to sizing tools and sustainable pumping solutions, thinkingbuildings.com delivers everything specifiers and installers need to identify and size the correct technologies for their applications.

Cleaver-Brooks To Expand Georgia Plant
Cleaver-Brooks announced that it will expand its manufacturing facility in Thomasville, GA, to increase operational efficiencies in the production of its broad line of firetube boilers. The expanded Thomasville plant, scheduled for completion in December 2010, will have more than 200,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing space and increase employment by up to 20% to approximately 250 people.  Additionally, Cleaver-Brooks announced a proprietary program called BOOST (Boiler Operation Optimization Savings Test) aimed at helping companies increase operational efficiencies and reduce costs via a customizable computer program, designed for steam boiler systems, that details the annual cost savings realized from making certain energy-efficient upgrades, retrofits or replacements.  In beta tests, the average annual savings potential was around 20%.

Digital 2010 Radiant Flooring Guide Now Available

Are you at a client's home and forgot to bring a copy of the 2010 Radiant Flooring Guide? Or are you at a convention and need some quick information about using cork flooring over a radiant heating system?

Open your Internet browser, key in this address - http://tinyurl.com/rfg-digitalmag-2010 - and browse through the pages at your convenience. The Table of Contents contains links to take you directly to the article you want to read. Or you can browse through page by page as you would with the printed version.

Ads are linked to advertisers' web sites to provide more information on products or services readers are interested in.

The 2010 Radiant Flooring Guide is an indispensable tool for architects, heating contractors, mechanical contractors, floor covering retailers and installers, builders, wholesalers, radiant system specifiers and homeowners. It provides all the information for making proper choices on flooring over radiant heating systems, including an updated directory of radiant floor product manufacturers.

To purchase printed copies of the 2010 Radiant Flooring Guide for $15, contact Stephanie Weingartz at weingartzs@bnpmedia.com, phone 248-244-1275, or visit www.AECstore.com.

Thermal Solar Gets No Respect 

Wales Darby trainer Gerry Wagner laments the fact that photovoltaics have all the sex appeal while our industry's contributions to green living get short-shrifted.

Read the Complete Article

Contractors Need To Get Certified To Stop Lead Spread

Starting in April, an EPA rule goes into effect requiring every contractor working in homes, schools or child care facilities built before 1978 to be certified and follow specific work practices to avoid disturbing lead-based paint. Read more about it this EPA regulation here .

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©2010, J. Siegenthaler - all rights reserved

Floor Heating Dilemma

Click here for a full-size PDF view

The Glitch

Overview: The system below uses a gas-fired cast-iron boiler to supply three zones of low-temperature floor heating. The installer selects a 1-inch-pipe-sized three-way thermostatic mixing with Cv=3.5 for the mixing device. Each zone is piped in parallel from a common header downstream of the mixing valve.

Exercise: Find at least five errors in this layout.

The Fix:

There are several problems with the original schematic. They are corrected in the schematic below:

First, the zone circuits are not equipped with check valves. Without them, reverse flow will develop in circuits that are off. The fix is to either install check valves or use circulators with integral flow checks as shown.

Another serious error is the flow capacity of the three-way thermostatic mixing valve. A valve with a Cv of 3.5 means that a 1 psi pressure drop will occur with a 3.5 gpm flow rate. If we assume a conservative 20-degree temperature drop on the manifold stations, the required design load flow rate would be 12 gpm. At this flow rate, the pressure drop through the thermostatic valve would be almost 12 psi! This is way beyond the capacity of typical 1/25 horsepower zone circulators and, thus, it simply won't occur.

Instead, flow through the zone circuits will be severely restricted and heat delivery would suffer the same fate. The fix is to use a mixing valve with a higher Cv rating. Select a valve with a Cv approximately equal to the full design load flow rate; this will limit pressure drop through the valve to about 1 psi under these conditions.

Still another problem on the original schematic is a lack of boiler inlet temperature protection. There is no provision for a mixing point to boost boiler inlet temperature. Furthermore, there is nothing to "react" to lower boiler inlet temperature; thus, the boiler is not protected against flue gas condensation. The fix is to use a motorized three-way valve with a controller that measures boiler inlet temperature and, when necessary, restricts the flow of hot water into the valve so that flue gas condensation does not occur within the boiler. The circulator in the boiler loop is necessary to create the second mixing point that boosts boiler inlet temperature.

Other errors are: 

•  Circuit purging valves installed backwards.

• Zone circulator inlet too close to header (allow minimum 12 pipe diameters of straight pipe on inlet to any circulator).

Visit www.HydronicPros.com

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