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...
Answers to questions on snow-melt insulation
I CAN'T TELL YOU how many times someone has asked me, and just about any wholesale supplier worth his salt, "What is the best insulation for below-slab...
No horsing around on this job
RECENTLY, WE WERE approached by a customer of ours whom we had inherited via an "orphaned" system. For those who are unaware, an orphaned system is one...
System must offer comfort, efficiency to barn
BY MARK EATHERTON HYDRONIC HEATING AUTHORITY THE NEW OWNERS of the barn intended it to be their last home ("The most unusual home I've ever worked on,"...
The most unusual home I've ever worked on
BARNS ARE UNIQUE buildings. Each one has a character all its own. There was a time in our recent history when barn building was a community event. People...
What to do about pending labor shortages, part 3
WE COVERED alternative hiring practices, such as hiring veterans, women and immigrants in last month's column (February, pg. 24). This is the last of...
What to do about pending labor shortages, part 3
WE COVERED alternative hiring practices, such as hiring veterans, women and immigrants in last month's column (February, pg. 24). This is the last of...
What to do about pending labor shortages, part 2
IN THIS, THE second of three installments, we'll continue to look at the many options for replacing our dwindling workforce. Hire from the returning military...
Employ innovative snow-melt systems
HYDRONIC HEATING CONTRACTOR We discussed the potential of earth-linked energy as an alternative to conventionally powered snow-melt systems in my January...
What you can do about labor shortages, part 1
LIKE A NEVER-ENDING doomsday story, the pending labor shortage is theoretically lurking just on the other side of the horizon, waiting to attack and cripple...
'05 Hydronic Wish List
WE INTERRUPT normal programming for a special holiday message. Six years ago, I wrote my first Hydronic Christmas Wish list. Some of my wishes came true,...
Figure your job costs for profitability
ONE OF THE MOST common questions that I'm asked when I present the Radiant Panel Association's Radiant Basics class is: "How much should I charge for...
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