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.

Learn More Here

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.

 Read Lee's Article Here

TO CONDENSE OR NOT TO CONDENSE

High energy prices have created a consumer driven shift toward high efficiency modulating/condensing boilers. Yet many remain skeptical of the true value of a condensing boiler, especially in high temperature applications, such as baseboard or hydro air. However, the high efficiency boiler creates savings by modulating its firing rate down. For example the Sync boiler, by Lochinvar is equipped with a 10:1 turndown ratio and can fire at a rate as low as 10% of the full rated capacity of the boiler.
Now let’s talk about condensing. In a condensing boiler, when flue gases condense, or change state from a gas to a liquid, latent heat gets absorbed by the water in the heat exchanger. Instead of flue gas heat going up the chimney, its heat is now applied to the system water. The lower the return water temperature, the greater the condensing will be. Since condensing begins at around 135 degrees, designing your system with a 25° delta T and a supply temperature of 160° will yield return water cold enough to condense. With a properly sized boiler there are few days each heating season that require water temperatures over 160 degrees. In fact standard baseboard can still provide heat with water temperatures of 110 degrees.
If that isn't enough to sell it, how about rebates and tax credits of $2,500.00 residentially and, depending on which gas utility, as much as $15,000.00 commercially per boiler.

NO MORE SINGLE WALL TANKS IN PLAINVILLE, MA

With the adoption of 527 CMR Board of Fire Prevention Regulations sections 4.00 and 9.00, Plainville has made double wall oil storage tanks mandatory.  The Board of Health also requires “Interior tanks shall be installed so that any basement flooding will not deteriorate or compromise the integrity of the tank.”  And if you are not familiar with it 527 CMR section 4.03:5(b) States

(b) A supply tank larger than ten gallons (38L) but not larger than 660 gallons (2500 L) shall meet the construction provisions of Standard UL 80, UL 2258 or be a secondary containment type tank meeting the following standards:

1. The primary tank shall meet the German Institute for Construction Technology (DIBt) Standard PA-V1-321, Requirements and Test Methods for Thermoplastic Tanks made from Blow Molded Polyethylene, Rotationally Molded Polyethylene and Anionic Polymerization of Plyamide-6, or an equivalent standard.

2. The secondary containment shall be provided by a liquid tight outer jacket of galvanized steel or stainless steel with a minimum 18 gauge nominal thickness.

3. A means of detecting a leak from the primary tank into the secondary tank shall be provided.

DO YOU NEED A PORSCHE OR A PICKUP

When it comes to replacing a pump you need to know what your conditions are to avoid problems later.  Let’s examine the performance characteristics of 2 Bell & Gossett PL series pumps, the PL-55 and the PL130. Initially many would assume that the PL-130 is a bigger pump and will flow at a higher rate than the PL-55, However that isn’t always true. 

Going back to the Porsche vs. Pickup analogy the Porsche can certainly outrun the Pickup any day of the week right, now hook a 7,000 lb trailer to the back of them and the Porsche doesn’t move and the Pickup runs away.  In this example the PL-130 is the Porsche and the PL-55 is the pickup.  Take a look at the pump curve below:

On the left is the feet of head the pump can operate against and along the bottom is the gallons per minute it will flow.  So at 10 feet of head pressure the PL-130 flows 85GPM while the PL-55 flows 45GPM, but increase the head pressure to 18 feet and the PL-130 drops to 25GPM while the PL-55 now is flowing 40GPM.  Next time your sizing a pump take a minute to consider the conditions it save time and money later on.

ROTH INDUSTRIES LOOKS TO MAKE LEAKING OIL TANKS EXTINCT.

A new marketing promotion “ DINOSAUR IN YOUR BASEMENT” by Roth Industries aims to educate homeowners on the benefits of double wall tanks.  This customizable program allows companies to partner with Roth to create a website that will generate qualified leads for customers in need of tank replacement.  Contact your Roth DWT distributor or FIA for more information.

ARE DEGREE DAYS IMPORTANT

Absolutely, they can really make the difference in calculating your return on investment.  Let’s take a quick look at how this October with the unseasonably warm weather, could impact our perceived savings not only historically but in the future. By using my house as an example, which has a single pipe steam system with a standard efficiency boiler we can see the weather related impact.  Last October we used 82 therms for heating and hot water production, this year that dropped to 50 therms or a reduction in use of 39%.  Since I did not make an efficiency upgrades these savings are strictly weather related.  Now let’s look at my usage factoring in degree days, last October we had 271 degree days vs. 157 days this year.  So my usage last year was .30 therms per degree day and this year .31 therms which is actually an increase.  If next year the weather pattern is the same as 2010 some customers who have made high efficiency upgrades may actually see an increase in the fuel usage, so it is important when discussing energy savings to base it on degree days.

Is this guy servicing your heating system?

USING THE AIR OUTSIDE TO HEAT AND COOL YOUR HOME.

When we think about air conditioners we think of them as appliances that cool a space.  In reality they are removing the heat, yes this is splitting hairs, but it explains how we can use these same appliances to provide heat in the winter as well.

Have you ever stood next to an outdoor condenser and felt the hot air blowing out of it?  This is the condenser unit rejecting the heat from inside.  These units work by flowing refrigerant in a loop thru the outdoor and indoor unit picking heat up inside and dropping it off outside.

The refrigerant can absorb and reject heat by constantly changing its state from a liquid to a gas and back, when it is passing thru the indoor unit or evaporator it changes from liquid to gas and absorbs heat.  The gas is then run through the outdoor unit or condenser where it is condensed back to a liquid and the heat is rejected.  In the winter a heat pump unit can reverse this process and take the heat from outside and bring it inside to provide heating. 

On the inside the heating or cooling process has generally been limited to an air based system.  However by adding a refrigerant to water heat exchanger indoors we can transfer the energy to water, now we have an air to water heat pump.

If we cycle the water thru heat emitters that are designed for lower temperatures such as radiant, panel radiators or specially designed air handlers we have a very efficient heating and cooling system that is using up to 75% renewable (free energy) and dramatically reducing carbon emissions.

Since the indoor heat emitters are hydronic it is very simple to pipe in a supplemental heat source like a wood, gas or oil boiler for the really cold days.  Accessories like solar kits and water heaters allow the user to reduce their energy consumption even further.

Take a look at the Daikin Altherma system here.

What do those pressure gauges on a pump tell us?

I was speaking with a good friend this week who was trying to quiet down the cavitation in a couple of centrifugal pumps that sounded like rock tumblers.  He had already taken a look at the pressure differential across the pumps and noted that it was minimal, but didn’t know what the numbers should be.  So we needed to start with the designed flow rate of 57GPM (gallons per minute).   The pump curve (fig. 1) showed that the pump would flow 57GPM at 65TDH (feet of head).

    Figure 1 

   

To convert the feet of head to a pressure reading we can divide the head by the pressure caused by the height of water above any given point.  Approximately 2.3 feet of water height equals 1 PSI, so in this case:

          65 TDH / 2.3 = 28.26

Now all we had to do was add the 28.26 PSI to the reading at the suction side and we could get the pump in the ballpark.  Since our suction side pressure was 30 PSI we needed to get to 58 PSI on the discharge, which was done by adjusting the Bell & Gossett Triple Duty Valve.  Once the adjustment was made the pump quieted down and the building occupants were happy.  Although not an exact method of balancing it will keep everyone happy till the balancer gets there with his pressure differential readout kit to set it up. 


So the gauges actually tell us how many feet of head the pump is generating when operating and by using the pump curve chart we can figure out the flow rate through the pump at that head pressure.

Something to keep in mind is the pressure readings work opposite of flow as the pressure goes up the feet of head increases and the flow goes down and vice versa. Also if the pressure is to low and the flow is too high you can get a pressure drop in the eye of the impeller that could cause the liquid to flash to a vapor creating air bubbles, as these bubbles move out along the impeller vane they will collapse and cause pump cavitation.  As these bubbles collapse they create tiny pits on the impeller in as little as a few hours these pits can add up and cause serious damage to an impeller.   


Next time you are called to a noisy pump take a look at the pressure differential and make sure the pump is operating along its curve, if not a little balancing might save a lot of problems later.

Does the right hand know what the left hand is doing?

Imagine driving your car down the road with your eyes closed and the pedal to the floor board waiting for your passenger to yell stop.  That is what happens when your boiler sits in the basement waiting for the zone control to tell it to go, stop, go and so on.  The boiler doesn't know if it is connected to one zone or to twenty, it just assumes that if I am told to go I must need all my BTU’s right now.

What if we could have the thermostats talk to each other and the boiler control with just two wires, and they could set the water temperatures and control the firing rate of the boiler.  Well the Tekmar House Control and communicating thermostats can do just that and so much more.

More information here

Opportunities with Thermal Solar

Lochinvar Corporation of Nashville and TiSun of Austria have joined together to offer commercial thermal solar products in the United States.  With an abundance of Federal, State and Local rebate programs adding solar to your job may provide the need financial incentives to close the jobs.  So the next time your looking at a commercial heating or domestic hot water job, think about adding a solar option.  The Lochinvar/TiSun panels have a SRCC OG-100 rating and a 10 year limited warranty. 

Pex is Pex right? Maybe not.

A recent study of Roth Industries X-Pert S5 by Jana Laboratories Inc. concluded that “By protecting the EVOH barrier layer, the five layer technology is seen to provide significant advantages for handling, installation and operation of hydronic systems and the EVOH layer itself has been demonstrated through testing to provide the barrier protection required to protect the rest of the hydronic system from oxygen damage.” 

Read the full report here