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Roth Industries new Insulated Floor Panel Systems by Crete-Heat


Simplify your radiant floor installations with the Insulated Floor Panel System.  This system can reduce install time by as much as 2/3 and is available in three different thicknesses for either new construction or retrofit applications.  With the tongue and groove joints there is no taping required.


Are You Underselling Yourself?


The proliferation of the “We Won’t Be Undersold’ mentality has barged its way into the HVAC industry.  Most retail outlets, car dealers now offer some sort of price match guarantee which is great if the 2 items are the same.  Does it really matter where you buy your Sony 42” LCD HDTV 3D TV with surround sound?  Probably not.  But when a consumer uses that mindset when choosing his HVAC contractor you can bet it does. 
When it comes to choosing an HVAC contractor too often it comes down to the piece of equipment being installed, when in reality the choice should be between the contractors first, equipment second.  When dealing with a homeowner make sure that you are selling the features and benefits of your company.

Can you Heat your home in December for $6.15 a day?


You can with an air to water heat pump like the Daikin AC Altherma, at an installation here in New England the Altherma used an average of 45KW per day which at current electric rates works out to $6.15 per day.  And the side benefit is that you will reduce your CO2 emissions by more than 50% over a standard fossil fuel boiler. In the winter an air to water heat pump works by taking thermal energy from the outside and transferring to the inside of the home via radiators, fan coil units or radiant floor heating.  Because the Altherma employs an inverter driven condenser unit it can extract heat from the outside even at subzero temperatures.  And with a Coefficent of Performance as high as 4.54 which means for every 1 KW of energy used 4.54 KW of heating energy is produced or for every $1.00 you spend you get an additional $3.54 free.  And the above $6.15 per day includes the lights and other electric items in your home.

Is Your System Balanced?


With the shift to small condensing boilers and lots of zones a new challenge has arrived , avoiding excessive boiler cycling.  What is an unbalanced system? In the typical condensing boiler installation it is a situation where the system side is flowing at a lower GPM and BTU rate than the boiler side.  An example is a small zone of baseboard using 2 GPM and 20,000 BTU connected to a 150,000 BTU boiler that can only turndown to 30,000 BTU.  There are several solutions to the problem including ramp delay of a boiler, variable speed boiler pumps, zone synchronization and buffer tanks.  Lee Cook of Capco Supply has put together a great article on using buffer tanks.