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 "Beautiful Heat" Gains Traction
PM Publisher George Zebrowski attended last week's meeting of the Hydronics Industry Alliance (HIA), marketing arm of the Hydronics Institute, and reported that Canada's "Beautiful Heat" marketing campaign is apparently getting traction. The Canadian Hydronics Council is planning to fund it via a 2% levy on all residential hydronic heating products sold in Canada.
The proposal was initially presented to 10 industry companies, of which two have already signed on and another four have agreed in principle, while three others are doing due diligence. If all 10 companies came aboard it would be a $2.7 million program. About 44% of the needed money is said to have already been pledged or accounted for.
Meantime, the Hydronics Institute in the U.S. is looking into the possibility of moving its marketing arm, the Hydronics Industry Alliance, over to the Radiant Panel Association in an effort to expand its funding base -- last year's budget was only $75,000. The HI and RPA executive committees are scheduled to meet June 29 to discuss this proposal, though it is purely an exploratory meeting.
Zebrowski reports that both Canadian and U.S. hydronics execs know they are facing a fundamental problem. Aside from industry insiders, almost nobody knows what "hydronics" means. It's a term the industry made up around a half-century ago as promotional shorthand to describe both steam and hot water heating, but it has never caught on with the public. -- Jim Olsztynski
In this edition:
- Siggy's May Glitch & Fix -- Give Me Some Flow
- Online Now -- Geothermal Helps A Distributor Grow
- New products from Watts, Rheem, Metal-Fab, Eemax and more
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 PM Supports Oil Heat Cares
PM magazine Publisher George Zebrowski is shown presenting a check to Judy Garber, executive administrator of the National Association of Oil Heating Service Managers, a for the group's Oil Heat Cares charity. Every year members of NAOHSM install new heating systems for needy families. PM highlights those projects in its May issue and donates a portion of the revenue from ads run within that coverage to OHC.
ASHRAE Finds Energy Guides Useful
A series of guides written by leading building organizations to advance energy efficiency are positively impacting the building industry, according to a new assessment commissioned by ASHRAE. The market assessment found that more than 70% of ASHRAE members who have used the guides view them as credible and useful design resources, and that the recommendations by climate zone and how-to tips are particularly helpful. The guides are available as free downloads at
www.ashrae.org/freeaedg.
ASHRAE Funds 14 Smart Home Projects
From smart home controls to solar powered gas refrigeration, undergraduate HVAC&R students in their senior year are able to gain hands-on experience in their field thanks to the 2010-2011 ASHRAE Undergraduate Senior Project Grant. The grants, totaling some $65,000, are awarded by ASHRAE to colleges and universities worldwide to promote the study and teaching of HVAC&R, encouraging undergraduate students to pursue related careers. The grants are used to design and construct projects. For more information, visit
www.ASHRAE.org/studentzone.
Free Webinar Offered On Using LinkedIn
Sonnhalter, a communications firm marketing to the professional tradesman in the construction industry, is hosting a free one-hour Webinar on how manufacturers and marketers can utilize LinkedIn, a professional networking site. It will be held on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 2 p.m. EDT. Participants can visit
www.SonnhalterLinkedInWebinar.notlong.com to register for the "LinkedIn: How Can B-to-B Manufacturers and Marketers Utilize the Professional Networking Site" Webinar. It will teach manufacturers and marketers how to harness the power of LinkedIn by showing how to grow contacts, join groups and use the social media site to promote thought leadership and ultimately, to generate sales leads.
Water Heater Shipments Jump
Residential gas water heater shipments increased 14% in April compared with April 2009, while residential electrical heater shipments increased 3%.
For the year-to-date, U.S. shipments of residential gas water heaters increased 11% and residential electric water heater shipments increased 4% compared to the same period 2009. Shipments of commercial units also were up slightly, according to data from the Air-Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration Institute. |
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A.O. Smith, Nordyne Join ClimateTalk Alliance
A. O. Smith and Nordyne are the latest industry companies to join the ClimateTalk Alliance, whose goal is to leverage existing industry standards and achieve seamless information integration. Other members include major HVAC, water heater and zoning equipment companies.
Armstrong, Cleaver-Brooks Form Training Alliance
Armstrong International provides global Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for educational programs covering proper steam distribution, condensate recovery, efficient water heating and humidity control. Cleaver-Brooks offers comprehensive training programs for proper boiler selection, application, financial justification, operation, maintenance and safety. Cleaver-Brooks seminars are offered at its Milwaukee, WI training center, the "Boiler House," as well as regionally throughout the country. These courses offer CEUs through the Association of Facility Engineers (AFE).
A.O. Smith Limits Ashland City Production
Since the historic flooding that impacted its Ashland City, TN plant, A. O. Smith recently opened a temporary distribution center in Nashville to warehouse and ship residential and commercial water heaters to its U.S. customers. The distribution center will serve customers until its finished goods warehouse is completely cleaned up and ready.
Electric power has been partially restored to the 1.5 million-sq.-ft. facility, and the plant has reopened one assembly line that is producing residential electric water heaters.
Roth Announces Solar, Radiant Seminars
Roth has announced a series of summer training seminars at its facility in Syracuse, NY to become one of its certified solar installers, as well as a separate schedule for training in Roth radiant. Seminars are free and for long distance travelers Roth will cover the maximum of one hotel night for each training. Contact Katrin at
KatrinT@roth-usa.com or call 401-562-0325 to check availability and for further details.
Raypak Says Its Products Verified As Low Lead
Raypak announced that all of its water heaters and/or hot water supply boilers are verified by an accredited third party testing agency (CSA) to meet newly enacted low lead requirements in California and Vermont, with additional state or federal regulations likely to follow. The California Statute applies to plumbing system components installed after January 1, 2010.
B&G Bulletin Details Low Lead Offerings
A new bulletin (A-151) describing the full line of Bell & Gossett lead-free potable water products is now available at www.bellgossett.com
. Ranging from pumps and boosters to tanks and valves, the potable water products are offered in lead-free brass materials and meet the requirements of California's AB1953 and Vermont's S152 legislation, as well as exceed the current requirements in the other 48 states.
Rinnai Vacation Promo Lasts Till June 30
Through June 30, 2010, Rinnai America Corporation is offering dealers an opportunity to win one of five vacation packages in its Summer Vacation Giveaway promotion. Grand Prize is a Hawaii Getaway for Two, including round trip airfare, 5-star hotel accommodations for seven nights, a rental car, traditional Hawaiian Lei greeting, $1,000 American Express gift card and a dinner cruise. To enter, dealers can visit the Rinnai Partner Portal (
http://partners.rinnai.us) and register Rinnai products that have been purchased and installed between April 19, 2010 and June 30, 2010.
 Triangle Treats 50 People To Europe
A group of 50 Triangle Tube wholesalers and sales representatives recently returned rom an 8-day trip to Belgium and France. In Belgium, the group toured parent company ACV International's manufacturing facility for high efficiency stainless steel heating equipment. In France, the group traveled to Paris and the Normandy coast.
AERCO To Build New HQ
AERCO International announced that the company has signed an agreement to build a new 156,000 sq. ft. corporate headquarters that will allow AERCO to consolidate all its product development, manufacturing, sales, service and operations. The new headquarters will be located in Blauvelt, NY, less than 10 miles from AERCO's existing Northvale facilities. Construction has begun and occupancy of the new facility will be completed by early March 2011.
Lochinvar Hosts VIP Contractors
Lochinvar Corp. recently celebrated the success of the 12 top-selling participants in its 5th annual VIP Contractor Program by awarding them and a guest of choice to an all-expenses paid trip to Tennessee for the 2010 Nashville Experience. These 12 winning VIPs were nationwide top-sellers of the following product lines: KNIGHT®, Efficiency+®, and Solution™ residential boiler product lines, the KNIGHT XL® Commercial Boiler and the Squire® Indirect Water Heater.
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The search for a rep just got a lot easier.
The 2010 Rep Locator, brought to you by the publishers of Supply House Times, PM Engineer and Plumbing & Mechanical Magazines in partnership with AIM/R, provides a comprehensive database of manufacturers' reps in the plumbing market.
Year-Round Reference
- Published in print in the June issues of Supply House Times, PM Engineer and Plumbing & Mechanical
- Fully searchable online at www.locatearep.com year-round (launching June 2010)
- Key information all in one source, complete contact info, lines represented, states and territories served and much more.
- Online extras like company brochures and line cards, live web and email links, Google-based keyword search, and more, right at the fingertips of manufacturers, plumbing contractors, engineers and wholesalers to locate products and representatives.
Reps who wish to stand out from the crowd may purchase print ads, listing enhancements and online upgrades. Pricing and packages are available for every budget. AIM/R members receive special discounts and exclusive options.
Contact Deborah Reda at redad@bnpmedia.com or 630-694-4389.
If you have listed your rep firm in AIM/R's printed Locator in the past, your account is already set up. For new listings, changes or inquiries contact Breanne Rozek at rozekb@bnpmedia.com, or 248-244-6259.
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 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.
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Quotes To Live
(Or Die) By
"What's the use of happiness? It can't buy you money." -- Henny Youngman
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The Glitch & The Fix - May 2010
©2010, J. Siegenthaler - all rights reserved
Click here to access a full-size PDF.
Give Me Some Flow
The Glitch
An installer sets up a zoned distribution system as shown below. To keep things simple, he uses the same size piping for the headers and all the distribution circuits. The heat source is a boiler with high flow resistance. The distribution system operates at water temperatures where sustained flue gas condensation will not be an issue. To prevent heat migration, he installs a spring-loaded check valve at the beginning of each zone circuit, just above the header. To control differential pressure, he installs a partially open globe valve across the ends of the headers. He sets the globe valve for one-turn open.
Exercise: Can you identify and describe at least six details that should be changed?
The Fix
Here's what's wrong and how to correct it:
1. The high-flow resistance boiler will create significant variation in zone flow rates depending on which zones are open. If the boiler has low thermal mass, there could be an additional problem with flow starvation under low-load conditions.
2. The partially closed ball valve is a very poor excuse for proper control of differential pressure across the headers. The variable-speed, pressure-regulated circulator is now the state-of-the-art method for providing such control in systems using valve-based zoning.
3. Headers should always be generously sized to minimize pressure drop along the length of the header. This plays a big part in providing hydraulic separation between the load circuits.
4. Any "flow-sensitive" boiler supplying a system using zone valves should be decoupled from the distribution system through some means of hydraulic separation. In the fix drawing, this is accomplished with a pair of closely spaced tees. It could also be accomplished using a hydraulic separator or a buffer tank between the boiler and the distribution system.
5. It's never a good idea to install check valves near fittings that creates high turbulence. This is the case with the check valves shown in the glitch drawing. There should always be at least 12 diameters of straight piping upstream of any check valve to calm turbulence that otherwise will cause the check valve to rattle. However, heat migration in this system is eliminated by simply installing the zone valves on the supply side of the zone circuits. Do this and there is no need of installing the check valves.
6. Purging valves on each zone circuit are missing in the glitch drawing. They are shown in the fix.
7. The circulator location in the glitch drawing, in combination with the likely pressure losses of the piping system, puts the circulator in a "pumping toward" rather than "pumping away from" situation with respect to the expansion tank.
Visit www.hydronicpros.com |
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 NAHB Selects HydroCare For Model Home:
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) selected HydroCare as the solution for lime scale prevention in the New American Home, the Official Showcase home being built for the International Builders Show in Orlando January, 2011. HydroCare technology met the criteria for a green, energy efficient and effective solution that is easily integrated into any home. HQ Hometek based in Oceanside, NY is the U.S. distributor for HydroCare, which has been sold worldwide for years in residential and commercial applications.
www.hydrocareusa.com. www.hqhometek.com.
 Save Time Filling Solar Collectors:
The Solarcheck Mobile Center manufactured by ZUWA is used for servicing solar thermal systems and designed to save up to 50% of time to flush, vent and fill solar collectors with heat transfer fluids. The compact unit includes the pump, hoses, cart, and tank. May discounted price is $975.00 with prepaid shipping to anywhere in the USA to the first 25 customers! www.alphathermalsystems.com.
 Thermostatic Radiator Valves:
The Danfoss RA 2000 TRVs regulates the flow of hot water or steam through free-standing radiators, baseboards or convectors in hot water and two-pipe, low-pressure steam systems. The operators can now be attached to the TRVs with a "snap-action" connection. An audible "click" indicates that the operators have been installed correctly. www.na.heating.danfoss.com.
 Anti-Scale System For Tankless Water Heaters:
Watts has introduced the OneFlow® Model OFTWH for tankless water heaters for use with all major tankless water heater brands. OneFlow prevents scale by transforming dissolved hardness minerals into harmless, inactive microscopic crystal particles that make their way through plumbing systems without attaching to pipes, fixtures, valves or heating elements. www.TheScaleSolution.com.
 Triangle Tube Controls:
Triangle Tube announced the availability of its Optima Series hydronic controls. This new line of eight controls is custom engineered to work with Triangle Tube's boilers for total hydronic system control. Installers can specify these controls utilizing packaged wiring and piping diagrams. These controls can be used to connect and control up to 16 boilers with full modulation, outdoor reset and lead stage rotation.
www.triangletube.com.
 40-Gal. HP Water Heaters:
Rheem Water Heating has expanded its line of hybrid heat pump water heaters with a new 40-gallon model designed for smaller households with a lower hot-water demand. The new Rheem HP-40 hybrid meets ENERGY STAR® requirements; certification is pending. The unit will be available in early June. Like the 50-gallon model unveiled in 2009, the new HP-40 hybrid offers an Energy Factor (EF) of 2.0, or more than twice the energy efficiency of a standard electric storage water heater.
www.rheemhpwh.com
 New Gas Vents:
Metal-Fab has introduced a totally redesigned line of special gas vents for condensing gas appliances, CAT II, III, and IV. Corr/Guard® II features a new design that eliminates the need for sealant at the joints. Liquid-tight connections are accomplished at each joint with the specially compounded SII Silicone Gasket. The two pieces are simply butted together and connected with a Vee band connector, engineered for exact, leak-free fit around the pipe flanges, no joint sealant required.
www.metal-fabcommercial.com.
 Eemax Tankless Heaters:
Eemax offers its Home-Advantage Series, a full line of whole house electric tankless water heaters with thermostatic control. With "Quick-Connect" fittings, they install easily, activate instantly, and deliver an endless supply of hot water to any point of use. Eemax HomeAdvantage products are 99% energy efficient and made in the USA. www.eemaxinc.com.
 Webstone Installation Diagram: A convenient 11 x 17 laminated reference diagram depicts proper plumbing of systems and easily highlights the amount of time and leak paths saved by using the proper Webstone products in hydronic heating systems.
www.webstonevalves.com.
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AEC Store Corner
The AEC Store offers technical resources to help increase your knowledge, skills and profits.
HOT OFF THE PRESS
 Greening Steam: How to Bring 19th-Century Heating Systems into the 21st Century (and save lots of green!) - $30.00
Author: Dan Holohan
When it comes to saving money on heating, old steam systems are delicious low-hanging fruit. There is so much you can do to make them better, and most of what you do won't cost a fortune. - Dan Holohan
There are many steam systems in service today, and they'll be around for some time to come. It's not that easy (or inexpensive) to rip out a steam system and start anew, and that's why so many of them are still around. Dan Holohan's Greening Steam: How to Bring 19th-Century Heating Systems into the 21st Century (and save lots of green!)
walks you through your old steam heating system and shows you how to get the most out of it without putting a lot of money into it. It's an entertaining and informative book that will have you looking at steam heating in a whole new light. You'll be amazed at how small changes can make a big difference when it comes to efficiency and savings. Read this book and start greening your steam heating system (and your wallet) today!
Follow this link to view the table of contents or to purchase this item.
Visit AECStore.com to view all of our products for the Radiant & Hydronics Pro |
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