Columnists: Eatherton
The largest, greenest job I've ever done
Our company recently set a new corporate record for the largest residential job we have ever performed. It just also happens to be the greenest job we...
The color of green, Part 4
In last month's article, I promised that we would look into the intricacies of the safety controls that are common to solid fuel-fired appliances. As...
The Color of Green, Part 3
When opportunity knocks, you should answer. We did. Early this spring, I was approached by a gentleman named Dan Bihn. Dan is into promoting the use of...
Color of Green Found in New Resource, Part 2
A search of the Internet with the key words “gasifying wood boilers” bounces back 19,800 hits. When you Google just “wood boilers,” you get about 289,000 hits, so it is apparent that this new classification of boiler is relatively new to the world market. ...
Color of Green Found in New Resource, Part 1
As the most recent Earth Day came and went this year, I found myself mesmerized by the number of companies, large and small, that suddenly have turned...
Hydronic Radiant Heating Options, Part 6
At the end of last month's column, I promised that I would share the results of the most recent Kansas State University ABOVE tests being performed on the Radiant Glass Industries LLC Power *e Heated Glass product....
Alternatives to Hydronic Radiant Heating, Part 5
At the end of last month's column, I promised I would tell you about the results of the operational efficiency tests of radiant glass. ...
Hydronic radiant heating options, Part 4
At the end of last month's column, I promised to tell you more about radiant glass windows. As I stated in the last column, this device seems to defy normal logic in more ways than one....
Hydronic radiant heating options, Part 3
At the end of last month's column, I mentioned a product that was recently introduced to me as a “potential threat” to my business as a hydronic heating contractor. Sure, I said, bring it on. I always want to know what the enemy has up its sleeve. That's the work of a wise warrior....
Alternatives to hydronic radiant heating, Part 2
We ended last month's column (p. 36) having looked at the individual wire core circuit type of electric radiant heating system. I failed to mention that...
Retrofit variable speed pump considerations, Part 2
BY MARK EATHERTON Hydronic heating contractor At the end of last months column, I promised that we would venture into the world of...
Watching a killer at work, Part 1
We have all had this phone call. Even if its not one of our own installations, we still have a moral obligation to address the situation to the best of...
Retrofit variable speed pump issues, Part 1
In a previous article I promised that we would venture into the word of light commercial pump sizing using variable speed pumps (July, p. 36). How many...
A New Age In North American Hydronics
By Mark Eatherton Hydronic Heating Contractor During the ISH Frankfurt show in March 1999, I was exposed to a product that made my mind race. I saw, for...
A matter of grave concern, part 4
I EXPLAINED HOW I believe I contracted Legionnaires' disease in my May column. What I didn't explain was the good news/bad news scenario. ...
A matter of grave concern, part 3
I STATED IN last month's column (pg. 42) that I had contracted Legionnaires' disease and promised to explain exactly how that happened. I maintain a weekend...
A matter of grave concern, part 2
WE BEGAN LOOKING into the issues associated with combination, open-loop, hydronic space-heating systems last month (pg. 38). While these systems have...
A matter of grave concern
OVER THE YEARS as a licensed master plumber, I have always honored the credo under which plumbers operate, that being, "Plumbers protect the health of...
A matter of thermal efficiency
BY MARK EATHERTON HYDRONIC HEATING CONTRACTOR AS OF THIS SPRING, I have been working on hydronic heating systems for a third of a century; 33 years is...
Use solar radiation for snow-melt systems
WE DISCUSSED THE potential of waste heat recovery as an alternative to conventional heat sources for powering commercial snow-melt systems in last month's...
Unconventional heat for snow melt, part 2
BY MARK EATHERTON HYDRONIC HEATING AUTHORITY WE BEGAN DISCUSSING the potential of waste heat recovery as an alternative to conventional heat sources for...
Alternative snow-melt system heat sources
HYDRONIC HEATING AUTHORITY AS HUMBLE BEINGS on the face of this fine planet of ours, it is important for all of us as citizens to seek out ways to reduce...
Even more answers on snow-melt insulation
Third in a series. I SET UP MY own unscientific re-search to compare different insulation products used in snow-melt systems, as you'll recall from last...
Add hydronics to your contracting firm
IF YOU'RE CONSIDERING adding hydronics to your business mix, here's a chance to learn from my experiences. In 1976, my wife and I started a residential...
More answers on snow-melt insulation
HYDRONIC HEATING AUTHORITY I SET UP MY own unscientific research to compare different insulation products used in snow-melt systems, as you'll recall...
