COVER STORY - PHCP Pros Home Page| PHCP Pros · Northbrook, IL 60062 847/564-1127 Fax: 847/564-1264...

A Publication

june 2009vol. 10, no. 6Tankless Water Heater Report

Get the low down on tankless . .Pgs. 32-38TANKLESS

REPORT

2009 Piping Report . . . . . . . . .Pgs. 42-51COVER

STORY

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As brand names are bought and sold, many outdated

The best way to ensure that your expectations are met is to update your grooved piping specifications. Make sure you specify Gruvlok® piping components manufactured by Anvil® International. As the largest, most complete fitting and hanger manufacturer in the world, with more than 150 years of industry experience, Anvil’s ability to provide integrated systems is unmatched in the industry.

Visit www.anvilintl.com for our easy-to-use CSI 3-Part Specs for all grooved piping products and a 3D CAD Library of Gruvlok products. Configure, view and download components 24/7 — saving time and money!

Call a regional service center nearest you to learn more, or go online today and update your piping specifications!

WHEN YOU SPECIFY GRUVLOK®

YOU SPECIFY QUALITY.

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B U I L D I N G C O N N E C T I O N S T H A T L A S T

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4 Phc News — JUNE 2009In thIs Issue

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www.phcnews.com

Owner

Tom M. Brown, Jr.

Chief EditorJohn MesenbrinkManaging EditorJames SchaibleContributing EditorsMary Jo MartinMark BrunoRichard DiTomaMorris R. BeschlossPaul RohrsDan HolohanEllen Rohr

Production ManagerCate C. BrownAdministrative AssistantDebbie Newberg

Editorial Offices1838 Techny Court

Northbrook, IL 60062Phone: 847/564-1127Fax: 847/564-1264,

[email protected]

Sales OfficesDavid Schulte, PublisherMidwest, Southeast,Eastern Canada

1838 Techny CourtNorthbrook, IL 60062

847/564-1127Fax: 847/564-1264

[email protected]

Brad Burnside, East1838 Techny Court

Northbrook, IL 60062847/564-1127

Fax: 847/[email protected]

Diane Spangler, West, TexasDiane SpanglerP.O. Box 9802

Fountain Valley, CA 92728714/839-6700

Fax: 714/[email protected]

Direct subscriptioninquiries to:Cynthia LewisCreative Data Services519 E. Briarcliff RoadBolingbrook, IL [email protected] 630-739-0900 x203Fax: 630-739-7648

TMB Publishing, Inc.

Tom M. Brown Jr., President

plumbing & hydronic contractor news

Departments

Governor takes tour — pg. 15Governor takes tour — pg. 15

Doin’ it right — pg. 20Doin’ it right — pg. 20

ColumnsDan Holohan: Wacky things going on out there . . . . . . . . .18Bob ‘hot rod’ Rohr: Dedicated solarheat adherents show the way for more than 20 years . . . . . .20Paul Rohrs: Math? Oh, no; we have to do MATH? . . . . . . . . . . . . .22Ellen Rohr: If you weren’t a plumber, what then? . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24Richard DiToma: Bad habits are bad business . . . . . . . . . . . . .26Bristol Stickney: Taming solar-system heat buildup . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Field ReportsRheem tankless water heaters prove a gold mine for Des Moines contractor . . . . . . . . . .40

In the NewsMoos new PHCC exec; Addario’s Plumbing green certified . . . . . .6PIC offers families aid . . . . . . . . .8The Pulse: Carbide grit-edge saws; WaterSense updated; fuel, metal prices on the rise . . . . . . . . . .10Major water-heater manufacturers form Energy Star® coalition . . . .12Viega bestows ‘Top Gun’ awards . .13PHCC awards excellence; Charlotte Pipe to star in ‘This Old House’ .14Missouri governor tours Watts; sees need for sustainable growth . . .15Movers & shakers; the Wall . . . . . .16Franchising: 1-800-PLUMBER offers visibility, professionalism . . . . .58Product, tool news . . . . . . . . .52-56

From the EditorsSolar energy is on the way; do we have the will to embrace the bright future it portends? . . . . .62

32 Tankless reportHere’s a big section devoted to tankless water heating;full of information about the latest in tankless waterheaters a busy contractor will appreciate.

42-50 Piping ReportPiping & Equipment Inc. report shows activity steady toslow; Morris Beschloss explains where PHCP piping isheaded; is CPVC a good choice for under-slab joints?;mechanical grooved systems eliminate flame-relatedproblems on the job; consider lightning protection wheninstalling metallic piping systems.

Features

On the Cover

Get the latest info regarding the piping industry from the 2009 Piping Report. Contractors from Mechanical Inc., Freeport,Ill., oversee an industrial piping project.

See story on page 42.

http://www.phcnews.com

mailto:[email protected]





6 Phc News — JUNE 2009

ANN ARBOR, MICH. — New lead con-tent requirements for plumbingproducts have been added to Cali-fornia’s Health Safety Code(Section 116875; commonlyknown as AB1953), whichgoes into effect January 1,2010. After this date, anypipe, fitting, or fixture in-tended to convey or dispensewater for human consumptionthrough drinking or cooking mustmeet a weighted average lead con-tent of 0.25%. The requirement ofthis law was incorporated as anannex into the American National

Standard for health effects of drink-ing water system components:NSF/ANSI Standard 61.

Recently, however, therehave been misleading state-ments from some industrysources indicating NSF 61;Annex G does not providefor compliance with the re-

quirements of AB1953. East Bay Municipal Utility District

(EBMUD), which provides water toover 1.3 million residents in theeastern San Francisco Bay Area, wasone of the original sponsors ofAB1953. Representatives from

NEWPORT NEWS, VA. — Ferguson, aleading wholesale distributor of heat-ing and cooling equipment, recentlyhonored local HVAC/R dealers fortheir commitment to providing qual-ity products and services to theircustomers. Ferguson’s Fargo, N.D.branch recently awarded 6 plaquesto local York and Luxaire dealers.

This is the inaugural year of Fer-guson recognizing these honors.

• Most Improved for York: Con-nole and Sommerville Heating;Minot, N.D.

• Most Improved for Luxaire: Val-ley Plumbing; Fargo, N.D.

• Comfort Expert for York: Paul’sElectric; Wyndmere, N.D.

• Comfort Expert for Luxaire:

Crossroads Electric, Inc.; Wynd-mere, N.D.

• Dealer of the Year for York: EsserPlumbing and Heating; Perham, M.N.

• Dealer of the Year for Luxaire:Paschke Heating and AC; Fargo, N.D.

“Dealers were presented theawards on multiple efficiency im-provements, including increases insales and outstanding service andcommitment to the product,” saidTrent Lee, general manager for Fer-guson’s Fargo branch. “We are hon-ored to work with all of our dealersand honor these six business part-ners for their work.”

For more information on the Fer-guson location nearest you pleasevisit www.ferguson.com.

EBMUD worked with other utilities,regulators, plumbing industry andproduct manufacturing representa-tives to develop NSF 61, Annex G.

Richard Sykes, Manager of NaturalResources, EBMUD said: “Annex Gof NSF/ANSI 61 — 2008 was devel-oped with input from California’sDepartment of Public Health andCalifornia’s East Bay Municipal Util-ity District and establishes a conser-vative protocol to determine productcompliance with the 0.25% maxi-mum weighted average lead contentrequirement of California HealthSafety Code (Section 116875). TheDPH has stated to us (EBMUD) thatcompliance with Annex G ensurescompliance with this requirement.”

Richard Sykes explains: “I madethe request to the NSF DrinkingWater Additives Joint Committeewith oversight of the standard to in-clude the annex to allow manufac-turers the option of being certified toCalifornia’s reduced lead content re-quirement. The annex was devel-oped with input from stakeholders inCalifornia and care was taken to as-sure full compatibility with the law.The adoption of Annex G last De-cember fulfills the request made bythe Joint Committee.”

The NSF 61 committee is currentlyconducting a series of round robintesting with manufacturers, productcertification organizations and theCalifornia Department of Toxic Sub-stances to validate a referee analysismethod for alloy lead content whentesting of materials is required. Whencompleted, the method will be incor-porated into the standard.

The annex was developed to estab-lish an American National Standardto determine product compliancewith the 0.25% maximum weightedaverage lead content requirement ofthe California Health Safety Code, aswell as a standard for other states toreference if they are developing sim-ilar regulations. A similar law hasbeen enacted in Vermont and isscheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2010.

Although the California law doesnot go into effect for several months,NSF is presently certifying productsto NSF 61, Annex G. Certified prod-ucts will bear the above marks signi-fying compliance with the standardand the new California requirement.

For more information, log on towww.nsf.org/business/water_distrib-ution/faq.asp.

BOSTON — Addario’s Plumbing,Heating, Cooling & Electrical, LLCrecently announced its partnershipwith GreenPlumbers, a globalbrand formed by Australian-basedMaster Plumbers & MechanicalServices Association.

With the demand for Earth-friendly technology quickly on therise, Addario’s is committed to edu-

cating Massachusetts consumers onhow to “go green.” As an installer fortankless water heater manufacturerRinnai, Addarios has taken the firststeps to give homeowners new on-demand water options to decreasethe amount of gas and water usagein the home.

In 2008, after 10 years in busi-ness, Addarios expanded its servicesto meet all home service needs. Asa partner of some of the largesthome improvement retailers in thecountry, as well as heating systemgiants National Grid, Trane andBurnham, Addarios believes this isthe logical next step to building a fu-ture around new plumbing andheating technology.

Addarios is a leader in Massachu-setts with the GreenPlumbers’Urban Dam project, a three-phaseprogram to identify residential waterand energy savings goals on a house-by-house basis. Each homeowner re-ceives a comprehensive 50-pointaudit and installation opportunityproviding immediate water and en-ergy savings, followed by applianceand fixture change-outs and solar,gray-water and rain-water alterna-tive technologies. The goal is toachieve and sustain water conserva-tion through behavioral change andimplementation of new technology.

Steven Addario, Jr., Owner of Ad-darios, said, “We are thrilled aboutdoing something really positive forour company, our customers andmost of all, our planet.”

GreenPlumbers is national train-ing and accreditation program thatassists plumbers in understandingtheir role in the environment andpublic health. The program will re-sult in increased water and energysavings for consumers and busi-nesses, and will create a positiveimage for thousands of plumbers.

Sponsor of AB1953 supportsNSF/ANSI Standard 61, Annex G

Industry news

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. — The Board ofDirectors of the Plumbing, Heating,and Cooling Contractors of Califor-nia (CAPHCC) has appointed HarryMoos as their new Executive VicePresident. Moos has served as theacting EVP since February, 2009.

He replaces Steve Lehtonen, whoserved the Association in various ca-pacities for over 30 years. Lehtonenannounced his resignation fromCAPHCC to concentrate full-time onthe continuing development ofGreenPlumbers USA.

Moos is familiar with the plumb-ing industry, having worked withNoveon and Sterling PlumbingGroup, besides being active in theBuilding Industry Association andcode organizations. He can bereached at [email protected].

“We are embarking on a new eraof high efficiency products and we

will need more trained techniciansand more knowledgeable contrac-tors,” said President Jerry Hotarek ofLutz Plumbing in San Francisco.“Harry Moos will be an asset toPHCC because he has representedmanufacturers and has been activewith associations. He is a teamplayer who will help our board andassociation succeed.”

Moos appointed as California PHCC exec

SANTA FE SPRING, CALIF. — QuietsideCorporation recently announced itsPVC vented-on-demand and dual-purpose tankless water heaters areaccepted into Energy Star USA andEnergy Star Canada. Energy Star’sstandard for qualification is an energyfactor of .82. With energy factors over.92; the Quietside ODW and DPWhave exceeded these specifications.

Quietside tankless unitsqualify for Energy Star

Ferguson honors local HVAC/R dealers

California lead content requirements for plumbing products effective Jan. 1, 2010

NSFOR

Addario’s is firstcertified greenplumber in Mass.

http://www.ferguson.com

http://www.nsf.org/business/water_distrib-ution/faq.asp




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ST. LOUIS — Fifty-five families bene-fited from the time, talent and dona-tions of local union plumbingcontractors as part of the Annual Re-building Together St. Louis event heldon Saturday, May 2nd, 2009. Plumb-

ing Industry Council (PIC) contrac-tors, supplier members and membersof Plumbers’ and Pipefitters’ Local#562 joined together in providingplumbing repairs and home renova-tions for elderly, low-income and dis-

abled residents in the St. Louis area.Rebuilding Together St. Louis 2009

is a special event the Plumbing Indus-try Council and Plumbers’ & Pipefit-ters’ Local #562 are proud to take partin as way to give something back to

the community. Contractor membersof the Plumbing Industry Council do-nated fifty plus service trucks loadedwith tools. A wide array of plumbingproducts (sinks, faucets, toilets, etc.)was also donated by Plumbing Indus-try Council affiliate (supplier) mem-bers. Finally, over 250 members ofPlumbers’ and Pipefitters’ Local #562donated their time and talent to assistthose in need.“The generosity of the local union

plumbing industry is an integral partof the success of Rebuilding TogetherSt. Louis,” said Lynne Rajani, Exec-utive Director of Rebuilding To-gether St. Louis. “It is inspiring toknow that we can count on themevery year to step up and help.”The homes for Rebuilding Together

St. Louis are selected after being re-ferred to the program by churches,neighborhood and community serv-ice organizations. Individual home-owners can also request services ofthe program. Applications are priori-tized based upon needs and qualifica-tions before final selections are made.“Rebuilding Together is so much

more than just cosmetic work —some of the people we help are livingin unhealthy and unsafe conditions,”said Marty McClimens, journeymanmember, Plumbers’ and Pipefitters’Local #562, coordinator of the plumb-ing portion of Rebuilding Together.“Our members readily volunteer theirtime, and in some cases when thework is not completed on RebuildingTogether Day, they go back and makesure the project is finished.”G. Raymond Hefner, Executive

Vice President of the Plumbing Indus-try Council echoed McClimens senti-ments stating “this is just anotherway that licensed, union plumbingcontractors give something back tothe community by providing qualityrepairs and installations to those whoare in some cases living in unsafeconditions. We are proud to partici-pate in this worthwhile event and as-sist those St. Louisans who wouldotherwise not be able to afford qualityplumbing repairs.”Rebuilding Together is made pos-

sible by the extensive volunteerwork of many contractor membersof the Plumbing Industry Counciland Plumbers’ and Pipefitters’ Local#562. Initially, retired tradespersonsgo to the properties and evaluate thesituation and identify the needs ofthe homes chosen for the event. Atradesperson is then assigned toeach home being renovated as thecaptain. The captain is charged withbuying the materials for the work,ensuring it is delivered on time andsupervising the volunteers complet-ing the repairs and renovations.

Plumbing Industry Council assists local families with plumbing repairs

8 Phc News — JUNE 2009Industry news

www. f l o wa ide .com 1 -800 -321 -8358

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Who Says It’s Not Easy Being Green?

Fujitsu makes it hard not to be green with a Federal Tax Credit of 30% and utility bill savings of up to 50%.

With today’s economy in turmoil, green is the “in” color. Most people don’t realize that as much as half of the energy used in their home goes to heating and cooling. Fujitsu’s energy efficient ductless mini-split heat pumps can save homeowners up to 50% on their heating and cooling bill.*

Homeowners can claim 30% of the equipment and labor costs (up to a $1,500 limit) in 2009 and 2010 on qualifying Fujitsu systems: 9RLQ, 12RLQ, 9RLS, 12RLS, 15RLQ. Fujitsu has the most efficient heat pump in North America — 26 SEER, plus 10 Fujitsu systems are ENERGY STAR® qualified in 2009. Fujitsu not only manufactures green equipment, but we have reduced our factory’s carbon emissions to below 1990 levels while doubling production.

*Savings may vary based on model selected, hours of operation and geographical location. Example given based on 26-SEER system versus 13-SEER system.

To find out how you can become a Halcyon Dealer and how being green can

make you more green, visit

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Tool Tips feature trade tipsfrom Lee “HACKMAN” Breton,marketing services manager

for LENOX, team HACKMAN eventmanager and car cutter extraordi-naire. Every month, HACKMAN

shares insight from his 25+ yearsin the tool industry.Fiberglass, ceramic wall tile, cul-

tured marble, clay, brick, laminate,cement board and other abrasivematerials can quickly wear down theteeth of standard bi-metal recipro-cating saw blades. Instead of using

the wrong bladeon these abra-sive materialsand quickly

working through your supply of bi-metal blades, it might be time to tryout a carbide grit edge blade and/orhole saw. You’ll definitely find thatyou will get more work from yourtools if you use the proper tool forthe material.

To make their job easier andtheir hole saws last longer, fiberglassboat manufacturers use a carbidegrit edge hole saws. Spa and hot tubmanufactures and installers alsouse grit edge hole saws to getthrough the many abrasive materi-als they encounter on the job. Elec-

tricians find them handy for in-stalling recess lighting fixtures. Acarbide grit blade can smoothly get

through the tough materials that re-sist chip-forming. Carbide grit edge reciprocating

saw blades provide high perform-ance in abrasive materials and are a

great option for cutting fiberglass,ceramic tile, cultured marble, claypipe, brick, manmade stone and

many other abrasive materials.Carbide grit edge reciprocatingblades provide smooth, quickcutting without snagging or bind-ing. If you use a carbide grit edge

reciprocating saw blade, jig sawblade or hole saw to cut abrasivematerials, you will get a smoothcut every time and avoid the riskof premature blade failure.

If you have any questions or com-ments for HACKMAN, email him [email protected] or visitwww.lenoxtools.com.

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Phc News — JUNE 2009 11

They wouldn’t make the toilet traps straighter...


What we’re hearing

WASHINGTON — The average newlybuilt, single family home in the U.S.can waste 10,000 gallons of waterannually. EPA’s WaterSense pro-gram soon will make it easier forbuilders to construct and differen-tiate homes that use water about20% more efficiently, once its draftspecification is final.WaterSense has refined its draft la-

beling specification (initially re-leased in May 2008) for single-familynew homes based on comments re-ceived from the public and addi-tional research. The revisedspecification addresses efficientplumbing fixtures, hot water deliverysystems, appliances, landscape de-sign and irrigation.The revised specification will en-

sure that future WaterSense labeled

homes still use 20% less water thansimilar new homes, while reducingthe burden and cost to the builders.The modifications to the previousdraft specification have built insome additional flexibility; thechanges include:• Hot water delivery systems —

New performance standards nolonger require specific types of hotwater delivery systems or insulationof hot water pipes.• Landscaping — The revised

landscaping criteria allow for a widervariety of landscaping options.• Irrigation systems — Additional

requirements for minimum distribu-tion uniformity values and rain shut-off devices increase the efficiency ofnewly installed irrigation systems.• Water budget tool — An im-

WaterSense on pace to help builders save money

Inside the trade

Current prices

U.S. average 252.4

East Coast 246.3

New England 250.3

Central Atlantic 248.9

Lower Atlantic 243.0

Midwest 258.5

Gulf Coast 238.7

Rocky Mountain 242.3

West Coast 268.2

California 275.6

Fuels

Metals

Copper $2.30/lb. Aluminum $0.65/lb.

fifi

fifi

fifi

fifi

fifi

Gasoline diesel

Area ¢/gal. Change

U.S. average 235.2

East Coast 236.9

New England 243.8

Central Atlantic 245.7

Lower Atlantic 232.6

Midwest 232.2

Gulf Coast 232.3

Rocky Mountain 234.3

West Coast 246.0

California 250.2

fifi

fifi

fifi

fifi

fifi

Area ¢/gal. Change

fi fi

Prices valid as of 6/1/09. Fuel information courtesy of the U.S. Department of Energyhttp://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/gdu/gasdiesel.asp. Arrows indicate change from previous issue.* Copper prices according to NYMEX.com. ** Aluminum prices according to metalprices.com.

proved resource, the water budgettool, reflects growing seasons andplant water requirements.• Inspection guidelines- An op-

tional sampling protocol adds flexi-bility and streamlines the inspectionprocess for production builders.Once the specification is finalized,

homes built and inspected to thespecification will bear the Wa-terSense label. Homeowners who in-vest in WaterSense labeled homeswill not only save water, but alsomoney on utility bills.WaterSense labeled new homes

should be achievable by builders andaffordable to consumers without

compromising water savings. TheWaterSense new homes specifica-tion will also align with existinggreen building programs to ease thecost and obstacles to achieving othergreen labels.The updated specification for sin-

gle-family new homes will be avail-able for public comment throughJuly 7, 2009. EPA anticipates releas-ing the final Water-Efficient Single-Family New Home Specification inlate 2009.EPA welcomes input on the revi-

sions made to the specification,and encourages all interested par-ties to view the most recent docu-ments and provide comments. Inaddition, epa plans to hold at leastone public meeting on the revisionsin June 2009.For details on the specification,

upcoming public meetings, andother program information, visitwww.epa.gov/watersense.

The

Pulse

Heliodyne intros online solar hot water trainingRICHMOND, CALIF. — Solar hot watermanufacturer Heliodyne is now of-fering interactive, web-based solarinstallation courses for trade profes-sionals interested in installing solarthermal systems.The beginner’s course is intended

to educate professionals on solar

hot water theory along with properinstallation techniques, and in-cludes topics such as solar hotwater fundamentals, sales and quot-ing, sizing, installation, and serviceand maintenance.Interested attendees can register

at www.heliodyne.com.

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/gdu/gasdiesel.asp

http://www.epa.gov/watersense

http://www.heliodyne.com

BOSTON— Four leading water heatermanufacturers — Bradford WhiteWater Heaters, Rheem Water Heat-ing, Rinnai America Corporation,and A. O. Smith Water Heaters —have joined forces with the Consor-

tium for Energy Efficiency (CEE) tobecome part of the Coalition for EN-ERGY STAR® Water Heaters. Beginning January 1, 2009, man-

ufacturers were allowed to apply theENERGY STARmark for the first time to

their qualifying models. For a gas-fired water heater to be eligible forENERGY STAR, it must have a mini-mum energy factor (EF) of 0.62 forstorage water heaters, a minimumEF of 0.80 for condensing storage

water heaters, or a minimum EF of0.82 for tankless water heaters. TheENERGY STAR criteria for gas-fired stor-age water heaters will increase to0.67 on Sept. 1, 2010. Criteria havealso been established for heat pumpwater heaters and solar water heat-ing systems. To increase awareness of ENERGY

STAR water heaters and demand inthe market by reaching out to allpoints on the distribution system,CEE formed the Coalition for ENERGYSTAR Water Heaters. The group iscomprised of industry associations,efficiency program administratorsand water heater manufacturerswho are among those offering a vari-ety of ENERGY STAR models. ENERGY STAR models will continue

to advance energy efficiency and willhelp reduce energy consumption andsave money through reduced utilitybills. Water heating is typically thesecond largest home energy expen-diture behind heating and cooling.Because it can account for as muchas 15 to 17 percent of overall energyuse in an average household, switch-ing to an ENERGY STAR water heatercan provide homeowners with signif-icant savings. According to the U.S. Department

of Energy projections, Americansusing ENERGY STAR qualified waterheaters are expected to save ap-proximately $780 million in utilitycosts while avoiding 4.2 milliontons of carbon dioxide emissionsafter the first five years of the EN-ERGY STAR program. For more infor-mation on the Coalition for ENERGYSTAR Water Heaters, please visitwww.eswaterheaters.com

Leading water heater companies serve as partners in the Coalition for ENERGY STAR® Water Heaters

12 Phc News — JUNE 2009Industry news


ROCKVILLE, MD. — The MechanicalService Contractors ofAmerica (MSCA) announced that W.E.Bowers, Inc., a full service mechanicalconstruction, service and plumbingcompany located in Beltsville, Md.,was awarded the association’s “Shoot-ing STAR” Award. The award is givento MSCA STAR contractors who havesuccessfully used the standards-basedqualification to promote business suc-cess. MSCA STAR contractors havecompleted a qualification program inorder to MSCA STAR Qualified. “W.E. Bowers is an exemplary

member of our industry,” said MSCABoard of Managers chairman JeffMcCoy. “The Shooting STAR Awardrecognizes the company’s excellentefforts toward demonstrating thatevery employee understands MSCASTAR criteria and works to utilize thecompany’s STAR designation.”

W.E. Bowers named2009 ‘Shooting STAR’

http://www.eswaterheaters.com


So we made our cable more flexible.


Industry news

WICHITA, KAN. — At Viega’s NationalSales Meeting each year, the timecomes to recognize the sales peoplewho have ventured beyond tradi-tional boundaries to drive results.This year, nine sales individualswere recognized for their leadershipand sales performance at a Viega TopGun Awards dinner. On Saturday, April 18, 2009,

more than 200 Viega employeesfrom across America, Canada andMexico attended the awards dinner.Viega’s vice president of sales, DaveGarlow, presented the awards. “I amso proud of the quality of sales peo-ple we have at Viega. Their commit-ment and hard work makes itdifficult to only select nine recipi-ents of a Top Gun award, but thesenine Top Gun recipients have reallywent above and beyond my expec-tations,” said Garlow. 2008 Top Gun recipients:• Olivier Roberge, Canada• Darrell Markley, Inside Sales• Josh Dimacchia, Northeast Ter-

ritory• Wendy Toth, National Accounts

• Ted Atkinson, West Territory• Jon Miller, Southeast Territory• Bill Sloan, Industrial Accounts• Dennis Harvey, Central TerritoryTara Kemen, national accounts

representative, received the high-

Viega honors salespeople with ‘Top Gun’ Awards

est award of the evening – the Na-tional Top Gun award. Kemen hasworked at Viega for four years.“This may have been a year full ofchallenges, but more importantly,a year of accomplishments. Tara’s

focus on customer service and mo-tivation to drive sales never wa-vered during these times ofeconomic challenges. I can’t thinkof anyone more deserving of thishonor,” said Garlow.

STERLING, VA. — Sears Commercialand Hot Water Products, LLC, a divi-sion of JED Mechanical Contractors,Inc., have entered into a distributor-ship agreement for Kenmore® waterheaters and water treatment prod-ucts. This marks Sears Commercial’sand Kenmore’s entry into the whole-sale marketplace.Roughly half of all U.S. households

has a Kenmore appliance. As such,this agreement responds to the re-quests of commercial customers in-

cluding plumbing contractors, whodesire Kenmore products for theircustomers.Through Hot Water Products’ dis-

tribution network, water heaters andwater treatment products will beavailable to commercial customerssuch as property managers and mu-nicipalities, plumbing contractorsand building trades. “Hot WaterProducts was chosen by Sears Com-mercial as a Kenmore distributorbased on the company’s well-re-spected position in the WashingtonD.C. area. They are well known forhaving a wide customer base, highstandards of business integrity andsuperior levels of customer service,”said Betsy Owens, vice president ofthe Kenmore brand. Robert J. DiPalma, JED Mechani-

cal owner, said “We are honored torepresent the Kenmore brand andlook forward to supplying Kenmoreproducts that so many of our cus-tomers have asked for. We are ex-cited about this new venture andlook forward to a long and successfulrelationship with the Sears Com-mercial and Kenmore teams.” JED Mechanical, which is head-

quartered in Sterling Virginia, hasbeen in the plumbing and gas busi-ness since 1949, serving the Wash-

ington, DC metropolitan area.DiPalma purchased JED Mechani-

cal in 1986 and formed Hot WaterProducts, LLC specifically for thisdistribution enterprise. DiPalma is a

master plumber and gas fitter. As the commercial marketing arm

for Sears Holdings, Sears Commer-cial is a complete appliance andlifestyle product resource designedspecifically to meet the needs oftoday’s commercial customer.

Sears Commercial selects new distributor

Robert J. DiPalma, JED Mechanicalowner. JED will distribute Kenmore®water heaters and water treatmentproducts for the commerical trade.


FALLS CHURCH, VA. — Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors—Na-tional Association president JoeSchmitt presented the Chapter Ex-cellence Awards during the SpringPHCC Leadership and LegislativeConference ’09.The awards recognize outstanding

achievement in both managementand service to PHCC members, andemphasize performance in five keyareas — Programs/Education, Man-agement, Membership Development,Communications, Advocacy andConsumer Awareness.

Top honors this year went to:• APHCC of Texas for state associa-

tions with more than 200 members;• Greater Indianapolis PHCC for

local associations with 26 to 50

members; and• St. Joe Valley PHCC (Indiana) for

local associations with less than 25members. In addition, Indiana PHCC received

special recognition for innovativeprograms and services. Also, FloridaPHCC, Indiana PHCC and Pinellas PHCCearned PHCC ’s Distinguished Chap-ter designation for 2009.The awards included both a per-

manent plaque for the chapter and atoken of appreciation to the state orlocal executive director for overallachievement. The 2009 panel of judges was

comprised of chapter relations exec-utives from various construction-re-lated trade associations. For more information, please visit

PHCC online at www.phccweb.org.

Engineers from top N.Y. engineering firms visited American Standard’s New ProductCenter recently to get the full experience of what it takes to make high perform-ance, high efficiency plumbing products from start to finish.Representing five different New York-based plumbing engineering companies, 13

engineers were shown how testing is done to ensure that toilets flush and faucetsflow to end user satisfaction. The visitors were all given a free FloWise showerhead to test at home. Four has

installed the showerheads with the first month, to unanimous enthusiasm wasoverwhelming. One of the engineers from Lilker said, “You hit a home run withthis!” Another engineer from Syska & Henessy Group said he saw a different Amer-ican Standard and that the brand is “back in the commercial business.”

PHCC Chapter ExcellenceAwards announced

Industry news


Top engineers visit American Standard

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When popularPBS home improvement series ThisOld House tackled its first-ever NewYork City project, the contractorschose Charlotte Pipe and Foundry’scast iron pipe and fittings for theplumbing. Cast iron

is a re-s i l i e n tp r o d u c tthat hasbeen inuse, and insome casesstill is inuse, forover 100years. It ismanufac-tured from100 percent post-consumer recycledscrap iron and steel, and at the endof the life of a building the piping canbe recovered and recycled to makenew cast iron products.The This Old House episode fea-

turing Charlotte Pipe and Foundryshows plumbing and heating expertRichard Trethewey, a long-time, loyalCharlotte Pipe customer, meetingelectrical contractor Vinny Verderosa

Charlotte Pipe featured on This Old Housefor a look at how the new electricalservice is set up for the three-familybrownstone in Brooklyn. Tretheweyalso meets local plumbing and heatingcontractor Randy Gitli for a look attheir progress on the cast iron wastepiping, and the home’s mechanical

room, which contains two completeheating systems, one for the groundfloor apartment, and another for thetop three floors. For more informationabout this episode (#2824), visit theThis Old House website www.thisol-d h o u s e . c om / t o h / t v / h o u s e -project/overview/0,,20238790,00.hmland to find scheduled air dates checkwww.thisoldhouse.com/tvschedule oryour local listings.

http://www.phccweb.org

http://www.thisol-dh



http://www.thisoldhouse.com/tvschedule

suppliers that monitors and recordsthe actual Btus produced by a solarthermal system.The tour concluded in the train-

ing facility where a wide range ofinnovative radiant heat and coolingtechnologies were on display. Of

particular interest were Watts Ra-diant’s HydroNex panels, which en-able contractors to rapidly installpre-engineered and tested controlpanels that can combine solar, ge-othermal and biomass sources withradiant delivery systems.


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Industry news

SPRINGFIELD, MO.— The newly-electedGovernor of Missouri, Jay Nixon, re-cently visited the 143,000 s.f. manu-facturing and office facility of WattsRadiant in Springfield to support hisprogram of promoting sustainable,Missouri-based manufacturing. Nixon’s tour was guided by John

Kolson, Watts Radiant’s new vicepresident and general manager, whocaptured the Governor’s attentionwith compelling insights into parentcompany Watts Water Technology’sdeep involvement with innovative“green” building systems that includezero-waste reverse osmosis, lead-freestainless steel backflow preventionand salt-free anti-scale water treat-ment requiring no backwash.Nixon, a Democratic governor,

was elected on a platform that con-sisted of, among other things, jobcreation, support for higher educa-tion and development of renewableenergy resources.

Accompanying the Governor wasthe new director of the Departmentof Natural Resources, Mark Temple-ton, who has close connections tothe Obama administration, and isalso a strong supporter of renewablemanufacturing jobs. The Governor learned about Watts

Radiant’s pursuit of zero waste, aprogram that has resulted in a 90%reduction in waste removal, duechiefly to improved designs, in-creased reuse of materials and inter-nal and external recycling. An example of this is the firm’s

manufacturing of bright orange pal-let corners from PEX waste, gener-ated when the extrusion line isstarted. All cardboard, office paper,shrink wrap, pallets, and metal arealso reused or recycled.The Governor showed great in-

terest in Watts Radiant’s new lineof solar thermal pumping stations,and the new solar control for OEM

Missouri governor visits Watts Radiant, recognizes sustainability

JANESVILLE, WIS. — After months ofefforts contributed by Grice Engi-neering, Inc. and Underwriters Lab-oratories, Inc., the Soffi-Steel®

System has added further creden-tials. Effective early April, The Soffi-Steel System is now listed by

The Soffi-Steel® System awarded UL ListingUnderwriters Laboratory, Inc. as adecorative cover system for sprinklerpiping. This is addition to the ten-year limited warranty provided withevery purchase and the Factory Mu-tual Approval rating it already holds.The Soffi-Steel System is an adap-tive, interior soffit that effectivelyconceals exposed fire sprinkler, hy-dronic and plumbing piping, alongwith HVAC and wiring. Light to heavyapplications, material is customizedto your project’s requirements anddelivered within 2-3 weeks of order-ing nationwide. Visit the websitewww.soffisteel.com or call 800/800-3213 toll-free for free information,samples and pricing.

Newly-elected Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, tours Watts Radiant’s Springfield manu-facturing and office facility to support his program of promoting sustainable, Mis-souri-based manufacturing. John Kolson, Watts Radiant’s new vice president and generalmanager, guided Nixon’s tour.

MONTICELLO, N.Y. — Schmidt’sWholesale announced the comple-tion of the first phase of the panel in-stallment of a new, Buderus SolarHeating Systems Display outside its

Schmidt’s Wholesale powers up with Buderus Monticello headquarters. “We had itinstalled last month,” said ChrisSchmidt, vice president of Schmidt’sWholesale. “The work was done at no charge

by Combined EnergyServices and Small’sPlumbing & Heating,both Monticello-based companies,”said Schmidt. “Nowthat the panel is in-stalled, we’re workingon the second phaseof making it a fullyfunctional live solarwater heating and

storage system.”Buderus Solar Heating Systems

are comprised of key componentsthat effectively convert the sun’sfree energy into practical heat fordomestic hot water and space heat-ing applications.“We are very excited to say we’re

now in the solar business, and that

we will be selling the Buderus linefor DHW Solar,” said Schmidt. “DanWoodruff, our HVAC manager, waskey in the decision to offerBuderus’ solar heating line. We’reresponding to the demand for moreefficient and environmentally con-science heating alternatives for ourcustomers.”

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DORCHESTER, ONT. — EnerWorks an-nounced the winners of two new em-ployee awards, one of which isnamed inhonor off o u n d e rMike Noble.The “MikeN o b l eAward” waspresented toDavid Thomson, Production Super-visor, in recognition of his outstand-ing contribution to EnerWorks overthe past year. In addition, “The Pres-ident’s Club Award” was presentedto Doug Kless, director of businessdevelopment, Southeast UnitedStates, as the top performing salesrepresentative. Kless’s efforts repre-sented approximately one-third ofEnerWorks’s total revenue for 2008.


FOUNTAIN VALLEY, CALIF. — The Roe-mer Agency and McKee-Nix and As-sociates, two of the leadingmanufacturer’s reps for tanklesswater heaters in the United States,will now carry the Noritz line of tan-kless water heaters exclusively.Yoshi Asano, Senior Marketing Man-ager of Noritz America Corp., saidthe new alliances became effectiveon May 1, 2009.

Industry Movers

Dan Holohan’s Web site, HeatingHelp.com, features a message boardcalled “The Wall” where hydronic heating professionals post ques-tions and offer answers of all kinds regarding hydronic heating

systems. Dan has kindly allowed Phc News to reprint some of the more in-teresting postings here each month. This section will surely whet your cu-riosity, so log on to the web site and click on “The Wall” for a treasure troveof useful and just plain interesting information.

Q: I, along with a number of otherpeople, have been unable to get aBuderus GB boiler to fire on genera-tor AC power. They work fine on gridpower, and even on an inverter, butfail to fire when powered by a gener-ator. This of course comes as a greatsurprise to people who install abackup generator with a goal ofmaintaining heat during a poweroutage. I’ve tried various forms ofpower conditioning, frequency con-trol, grounding and isolation, etc.with no success. Is anyone out therewho has been successful running aBuderus off a generator?

— TwistedtreeA: The frequency is the thing that

screws up electronics. All the inter-nal “clocks” in circuit boards lookfor that 60 cycle AC and when it’s offby even 2-3% they are often pro-grammed to shut down. You need toget the RPM on the generator dialedin to 3600 exactly and then hope ithas a good enough governor to main-tain it as loads vary. Often times aportable genset such as found in big-box stores isn’t going to cut it. If theowner doesn’t want to pop for ahome standby unit like a Generac hewill have to buy a UPS that is capableof handling the load of the boiler andwire that between the genset and theboiler control. I’ve run your problembefore and that solution works.

Problem is the UPS may cost himmore than he spent on the gensetdepending on the amp draw of hisboiler system.

— S-Ebels

Q: How can u tell if u have a faultyT&P relief valve?

— Ken WagnerA: If it leaks when both temp andpressure are below the valve specs.Do you have a pressure gauge?

— Robert O’BrienA: Just change it. They cost peanuts.Ultra cheap insurance.

— Bob YoungA: The worst way to find out is whenyou see your water heater on thelawn and a big hole in your roof.

— Tony

Q: I have a house now with 2 steamboilers in it totally piped separately.We have to replace one of the boilersdue to a leak and I am consideringreplacing both with 1 and running

the two systems separately with azone thermostat. They heat 2 differ-ent floors in the house (bedrooms/living area) We usually have thesteam come on upstairs at night andthe 1st floor living area during theday. Please give me some opinionson 1 system vs 2. The house is inScranton and fairly large.

— Yosef Guttman A: The problem would be sizing.Steam boilers are sized to the radia-tion and in a zoned system the radi-ation changes as zones open andclose. You would have to size for theboth zones meaning that most of thetime it would be severly over sized.

— JK A: I think you will be better off, andget better heat, with two boilers,nicely sized for their respective cir-cuits. A single boiler is going to behorribly oversized for either circuitalone, if it’s properly sized for thewhole thing.

— Jamie Hall

2 major reps to carryNoritz tankless exclusively

G.T. Water Products namesCohen general managerMOORPARK, CALIF. — G.T. WaterProducts, Inc. announced that DougCohen took the position of GeneralManager as of February 4, 2009.Cohen has morethan 20 years ex-perience in theplumbing whole-sale and retailmarket segments.He most recentlyserved as nationalsales managerwith Waxman In-

dustries; and prior to that was direc-tor of sales/marketing with Cobra/Speedway.

Cohen

Thompson Kless

Enerworks awards employees

Oventrop appoints sales mgr.EAST GRANBY, CONN. — Oventrophas appointed Thomas J. Fullertonsales manager. Hewill work withOventrop’s manu-facturers’ rep re -sentat ives andcoordinate thecom pany’s hy-dronic group. Hewill be based inRaymond, N.H. Fullerton

John Guest USA names Artmansales, marketing presidentFAIRFIELD, N.J. —John Guest USAhas appointedStan Artman asPresident of theirSales and Market-ing Group locatedin Fairfield, NewJersey. Artmanholds an MBA in Artman

Marketing Management from CityUniversity of New York-Baruch Col-lege, and for the past 20 years hassuccessfully led both domestic andinternational sales organizations inthe building products industry.

Ewing appointed Watts Mid-Atlantic regional sales mgr.NORTH ANDOVER, MASS. — WattsWater Technologies, Inc., has ap-pointed Stephanie Ewing Mid-At-lantic regional sales manager for theWatts Wholesale Division. She hasheld various lead-ership, sales, andbusiness develop-ment positionsthroughout her ca-reer. Most re-cently, she heldthe position ofManaging Direc-tor-ResidentialStrategic BusinessUnit with Dormont ManufacturingCompany (based in Pittsburgh, PAand acquired by Watts Water Tech-nologies in 2005).

Ewing

SAINT JOHN, N.B. — NY Thermal Inc(NTI) has appointed Greg Keys re-gional sales manager. Keys, a gradu-ate of the University of SouthernColorado, most recently was SalesManager with a major boiler OEM

NY Thermal names sales mgr.

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18 Phc News — JUNE 2009HeatIng Help

How are things in Heatingland?

BY DAN HOLOHANcontributing writer

Some wacky things in the news have made me won-der about the current state of Heatingland. For in-stance, there’s a brand-new, 108-bed, National

Health Services hospital in Wales (Heatingland extendsbeyond the shores of the U.S.) that recently opened witha pristine hydronic-radiant-floor heating system. At firstglance, this may seem like a wonderfully modern additionand a welcome omen for things to come, but hang on. Thefolks in charge at the hospital haven’t been able to moveany patients into the new place because the floor surfacetemperature is 104° F, and no one seems to know what todo about that. The patients have to remain in the delpi-dated, Victorian-era hospital over in the next village forthe time being. They wait, coughing, hacking and suffer-ing, as the brand-new radiant floor pumps out more heatthan Shakira. Leighton Adrews, a Welsh Assembly mem-ber said, “This was meant to be one of the most environ-mentally friendly hospitals because of the nature of theheating system, but the under-floor heating has made thefloor too hot to walk on.”After all these years of radiant design throughout Heat-

ingland, this really shouldn’t be happening. But maybethey got a great price.And how about this? Last April, the folks in charge of

the Harrisburg, Penn. schools decided to close them allfor two days because it got hot outside. Who knew?It was going to take them at least 48 hours to switch the

two-pipe system from heating to cooling and that was justtoo long for the children of Heatingland to take. Can’thave uncomfortable little ones, can we? Of course not.I hark back to the days when I was a young citizen of

Heatingland (and I know this is going to make me soundlike an old fogey). When I was a pup, my school’s air con-ditioning was an opened window, if I was lucky enough tobe sitting near one, and the cover of my marble composi-tion notebook, which I used for a fan. Heating was a steamradiator that pumped out enough heat to make me vomit(a good reason not to sit near the window).Oh, and the cracked-opened window was our zone

valve. The vicious teachers were our thermostats. Weweren’t supposed to be comfortable in school. That’s whatschool was for — to make us miserable. But it’s no sweat in Harrisburg. If a kid is uncomfort-

able, he or she is liable to get on a cell phone and callmom at work. Mom will drive down in the Hummer topick up the sweaty little brat, but not before consultingher attorney. Heatingland isn’t what it once was.But change isn’t bad. Last year, the government of Scot-

land, working through the Warm Deal Programme, installedinsulation in 6,018 private homes where the elderly andpoor live. This was up by more than 1,000 over the previ-ous year, and by 2015, they will have insulated all thehomes. The government covers the cost of this. Heating isa right for the poor and elderly in Scotland.As part of the Central Heating Programme, the govern-

ment of Scotland also installed 14,430 new heating sys-tems for the poor and the elderly, and this was a 61%increase over what they had installed during the previousyear. How about that?Meanwhile, last winter in Bay City, Michigan, a 92-year-

old, WWII veteran by the name of Marvin Schur froze todeath in his bedroom. The authorities found him on thefloor. He was wearing four layers of clothes.How did that happen? The local power company had

installed a limiting device on his electric meter. This thingblows like a fuse if you use more than a certain amountof power. It’s supposed to get your attention. You have toreset it by hand. They did this because Mr. Schur, who in

his 90s couldn’t think clearly, owed the power company$1,000. They let him know they were doing this not byknocking on his door and telling him, but by leaving anote taped to his door. The neighbors said Mr. Schurrarely went outside, so he didn’t see the note.When they came to get his body, they found the money

clipped to the bill on his kitchen table. Got elderly parentsliving in Heatingland? Check on them.Speaking of which, in Cumberland, Rhode Island, a

bunch of high-school kids got together and decided toform the Cumberland Youth Commission. They do allsorts of things to raise money so they can help the poorand the elderly pay their oil bills. They do this by grantingvouchers, which they then give to the oil company thatserves the person in need. Most of these kids don’t evenhave driver’s licenses but they are the good citizens ofHeatingland and they make me feel great about the fu-ture. Tough times bring out the best in some people.And then there is this from Reuters, which appeared

last February: “A study of more than 20,000 people inChina has shown that exposure to burning solid fuel in-doors for heat and cooking may cause the lung ailmentknown as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).The finding, published in the European Respiratory Jour-nal, is significant because COPD has long been associatedwith smoking, and very little research has been done tofind out why non-smokers also suffer from the disease.COPD includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema.”So I guess you’re not supposed to have an open, solid-

fuel cooking fire going inside your house when the win-dows and doors are closed during the winter. I wouldthink that the citizens of Heatingland should have figuredthat out, but some of our citizens are pretty wacky.Margaret Write of Ogden, Utah is one of the wacky

ones. Margaret is 55 years old. She is a smallish womanand she had a house with old, rather large heating ducts(can you see it coming?). It was a Sunday morning andMargaret decided to vacuum inside the ductwork. I thinkthis is a job for a professional, but, hey, what do I know? Margaret removed the register from this old, 24-inch

wide, six-foot-deep, vertical duct and then reached wayin with the vacuum. Way in.They found her 30 hours later, with just her little feet

waggling from the hole in the wall, but she’s okay. Andthat duct sure was clean!How about this stinker? Stephen Office lives in England

and the courts just sentenced him to a good long stretchin the slammer. How come? Because Stephen found hismother Margaret, aged 74, lying unconscious at the bot-tom of her basement stairs (it’s a tough year for the Mar-garets). Instead of helping her, Stephen turned off theradiator so that she might freeze to death.Death by radiator. That’s cold, Stephen.Speaking of criminals, The Sofia Central Heating Com-

pany (that’s in Bulgaria) just got caught stealing a bunchof cash from their customers. Sofia has a hot-water, dis-trict-heating system, a remnant of the Soviet days. Thecompany was ripping off 20,000 levs (that’s about$14,000) every month from each block of apartmentsthroughout Sofia. They were doing this by lowering (byabout 9° F) the temperature of the hot water they sup-plied to the radiators. They figured no one would notice,but the Federation of Consumers busted them. The Fed-eration looks out for the citizens of Heatingland, and forthat, we can be grateful.And perhaps you can use that story the next time

you’re trying to sell outdoor-temperature reset controls.Lower the water temperature. Save levs! �

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Under the definition of south-ern gentleman you shouldfind the name Clarence

Beaver. Clarence resides in the beau-tiful and historic area of North Car-olina known as Salisbury. I’ve knownClarence for as many years as I havebeen a member of the Radiant PanelAssociation. I’ve known BeaverBrothers as a hydronic and radiantshop, as well as an HVAC installationand service operation. Over theyears, we’ve chatted casually aboutwet heat and business in general. A

world traveler, Clarence and his wifeBarbara stopped by our Missouri shopwhile on their way to a Veterans ofForeign Wars (VFW) gathering. Theyvisited and toured my shop, and heinvited me to stop by Salisbury if everI traveled that road. So I did. I was ona solar tour visiting dealers across the“First in Flight” state.Over the years, we spoke of solar

thermal and its history. BeaverBrothers was founded in 1919 byClarence’s dad and uncle. Driving upto the Beavers Brothers’ shop, visi-tors are greeted by a large solar ther-mal array at the entry. This 14-flatpanel collector array, installed whenthe shop was built 20 some yearsago, still supplies most of the energyfor the radiant slab heating system.Simple and efficient, this drainbacksystem has the bare minimum ofcontrols, piping and complexity. Ithas been virtually untouched sincebeing installed. The age of the radi-

ant system was apparent bythe polybutylene tube comingout of the slab!As with many radiant con-

tractors, designers and suppli-ers, Clarence realized theperfect match of solar withthe low operating tempera-tures radiant systems require.His location provides a gooddeal of sunshine to power theheating system.Turns out, North Carolina

is a fairly progressive state in

the thermal solar discipline. TheNorth Carolina Solar Energy Associ-ation was formed in 1978, withClarence as one of the foundingmembers. Located in Raleigh, N.C.,the association is known now as theNorth Carolina Sustainable EnergyAssociation. The associationis now managed under theNorth Carolina State Uni-versity’s College of Engi-neering at Raleigh, N.C. Clarence’s sons Mike and

Trip, third-generationplumbing and HVAC con-tractors, handle most of theday-to-day operations now.Mike leans toward the hy-dronic and solar side, whileTrip handles the HVAC sideof things.Clarence took me on a

tour of Salisbury. Turns outSalisbury is chock full of hydronicand steam systems. As one of thefirst settlements in N.C., Salisbury ishome to many historic mansions,one dating back to 1753!As we drove through the oldest

section of town, Clarence pointedout homes and buildings he hadworked in with his with his dad, mid-1950s. Not surprisingly, we went bya number of homes with solar ther-mal systems installed by BeaverBrothers, dating as far back as 1970s.My favorite part of the tour was of

Clarence’s own home. Built in 1986,it has a very well planned and exe-cuted solar thermal component.Drainback panels are flush mountedinto a step down section of the roofframing. Very low profile. The pipingexits the sides of the array into theside of the rafters. This provided notonly a clean mounting for the pan-els, but a system with no exposedpiping, or problems with leakingpenetrations.

The mechanical room houses acustom built 300-gallon pressurizeddrainback tank. The tank, like theone in the shop, is tall and skinny totake advantage of stratification. No-tice the connection ports, with heat-ing supply taken from the very top,and warmest portion of the tanks.The collector fluid, plain tap water,is stored in the tank, as is the drain-

back “space.” Pressurizing the drain-back tank provides some NPSH for thehigh head pump and raises the boil-ing temperature of the fluid. Heat forDHW and radiant is taken from thetank via a plate heat exchanger. Anupgrade several years ago includedsome more up-to-date variable speedmixing methods and upgraded toTekmar control components.A Hobart generator fueled by nat-

ural gas is located in the mechani-cal space. A tube and shell HX onthe exhaust adds thermal energy tothe solar storage tank whenever itis operating.A mix of generously sized base-

board and radiant floor zones keepsthe home comfortable with a solarfraction in excess of 65%. A smallmod con boiler provides back upinto a primary secondary loop pip-ing layout.I admire Clarence most for his

love of hobbies and the time hemakes available to partake in them!A large HO railroad layout greets youas you descend into the basement.RC model airplanes hang from theceiling joist, some dating back toClarence’s days in Korea as part ofthe 32nd Engineering Group.Next room above is headquarters

for a ham radio. Clarence keeps intouch with many of his service bud-dies with ham and also embraces thenewer version of communication,Skype. A nice blend of new and old,which is a lot like Clarence himself.I love learning about cool solar and

hydronics systems…especially theolder ones…because I get to meetthe cool people who created them.With Clarence, I spent time withclassic systems and a classy guy! �

The busiest ‘beaver’

20 Phc News — JUNE 2009AlternAtive energy


BY Bob “hot rod” Rohrcontributing writer

Clarence built his home in 1986, installing a well-thought-out solar thermal system.

A tall, narrow, custom-built, 300-gallonpressurized drainback tank takes ad-vantage of stratification.

Beavers Brothers’ shop sports a 14-flat-panel col-lector array installed 20 years ago that suppliesmost of the energy for radiant slab heat.

At the onset ofany hydronic job

I always do the math.

NIBCO makes a C5C5FIP tee that will make it very easyto solder in and then screw in a boiler drain. If you are aProPress shop, Viega and others make a Press5Press5FIPtee that installs even quicker. We are not going to look atcost savings of ProPress versus sweat fittings in this articlebecause that couldbe an article untoitself. So responsi-bly adding thesefittings can en-hance a system sothat you can purgevery easily. In avery basic zonevalve system, withthe zone valve onthe supply and adrain and ballvalve on the re-turn, you can purge each apartment from the mechanicalroom. Manually close the zone valve, close the ball valveon the return, and open the boiler drain to successfullypurge each unit.Okay, let’s look at the math for our 4 unit apartment

complex. For a baseline, I am going to use $100.00 anhour for labor. This was on a service call so we also billfor our trip charge:

Now with three of the four units purged in one hour andstill one more unit to go, this set up is starting to lookmore and more attractive. Now factor in the next servicecall at this location when a zone valve goes bad or we havean issue in an individual unit. This has now more thanpaid for itself in reduced labor costs in the eyes of theowner, and they will be thanking you.We can look at this from another angle, as well. You will

note that properly designed floor heat systems do nothave bleeders on individual loops like radiators or fin-tubebaseboard emitters. What to do? We incorporate ourpurge drains on the supply and return with isolationflanges on our zone pumps and ball valves on each returnas illustrated in Figure 2. In addition to providing a posi-tive form of air removal in individual zones, the addedbonus is that we have isolated the boiler loop with its typ-ical 30psi relief valve. This means that we can use linepressure to fill and purge our floor heat zones, which takesa lot less time. This was new construction so it was easyfor me to include this in my proposal.Before any hydronic system is commissioned on start-

up, it is air-bound. It is hard to put a price tag on frustra-tion, but the hours of trying to purge a system can easilybe calculated as labor rates dictate. Do the math for yourown company in adding a few extra purge fittings, factor-ing in your specific labor rate and trip charge, materialcosts and the amount of time you estimate for bleedingair from systems. I suspect you will find that the math willbe justifiable and your end users will appreciate the extraattention to detail that has enhanced their systems. �

Paul Rohrs welcomes your comments. Contact Paulat [email protected].

Ask me what my least favorite class was in schooland without hesitation I would answer math! (Yet,here I am 25 years later doing math.) At the onset

of any hydronic job I always do the math. I start with theheat loss, boiler sizing with minimum and maximum ra-diant loads, what my labor and materials costs are andwhat to charge for the project. Math, pure and simple. Itwould be hard to complete a successful boiler change out,let alone a new install without some form of math beingsuccessfully completed. Okay, let me modify that laststatement a bit: It would be tough to be profitable withoutdoing the math.So, what now Paul? I can hear the snickering, “That

Rohrs guy is on his soapbox about math. Big whoop.” Icouldn’t agree more; but what if we can add a couple ofcomponents that will save us time and money? Bear withme and let’s do the math together.I hate air in hydronic systems. My disdain for air-

bound systems ranks right up there with, well, math. Iknow several articles from multiple authors have dis-cussed air-removal and air-separators, but let’s talkabout components that we can incorporate that will giveus an immediate payback. Before I get to the math, letme pose a scenario to you:Have you ever been in an apartment complex with fin-

tube baseboard heat-emitters? You finish the install, re-pipe, or change out and then need to bleed air from eachapartment zone. You get your empty plastic Folgers coffeecontainer and your radiator keys and head up to start thebleeding. With no apartment manager on-site, you knockon the first apartment door. Grandma Jones answers andwelcomes you in and offers you cookies, tells you abouther arthritic knees and tells you that her kids never call.Before she gets to the grandkid stories, you politely kneeldown at the first fin-tube access cover to NOT find the ra-diator 90 with integral bleeder, or the radiator vent. Onto the next room in search of the elusive bleeders. Rightbehind Grandma Jones’ stash of Elvis Presley albums, youfind the first bleeder and you are well on your way to fin-ishing the first apartment. Twenty minutes — not bad —and three more apartments to go.Apartment 2, I knock. “Who’s there?” comes from be-

hind the door. “Orange,” I say. “Orange who?” “Orange you going to let me in so I can bleed your base-

board emitters and get you heat!” After exchanging pleas-antries with thetenants, I knock outunits 2 and 3. Onemore apartment togo. No one home inunit 4. Now what?Call the apartmentowner/manager againto get access or comeback later when theyare home. You getthe picture, and after

one hour of bleeding apartments 1-3, you are unable to fin-ish your task and get on to the next service call.I have spent an hour bleeding fin-tube and I am still not

done. Why not consider changing the game plan? Let’sadd some ball valves, fittings and boiler drains so that wewill never again have to enter a tenant’s apartment andwe can purge all air from the mechanical room. Figure 1shows some essential fittings that can be easily incorpo-rated into most hydronic heating systems.

BY PAUL ROHRScontributing writer

Doin’ the mathradIant InsIder

4- 3/4" C�C ball valves @ $7.00 each = $28.00

4- 3/4 �3/4�1/2(NIBCO #712 Tee C�C�FIP) @$6.50 = $26.00

4- 1/2" boiler drains @ $4.90 = $19.60

Material Total = $73.60Labor Total at 30 minutes ($100.00 hr as rate)= $50.00

Total for Labor & Materials = $123.60 (add for trip charge)

Fig. 1: A few fittings can ultimatelysave time and money.

Figure 2 shows an example of purgevalves on the supply and return, sup-porting air bleeding on radiant floorheat systems.



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24 Phc News — JUNE 2009Bare Bones Biz

If you were not a plumber…

BY ELLEN ROHRcontributing writer

“Opportunity is as scarce as oxygen; men fairly breatheit and do not know it.”

— Doc Sane

What if you weren’t a Plumber, and you couldlook at this industry with fresh eyes? What ifyou weren’t bound by what you know and the

inertia of business-as-usual? Here’s what you might see…

Mega-opportunity #1: The roof is the place to be“Green” is the big buzzword. Folks are making them-

selves crazy trying to define the word “green.” Within theindustry, blood pressure is rising as the debate rages. Stepaside. What is really important here? You and your cus-tomers can agree that it makes sense to have the sun heatsome water for you, for a bath, the washing machine orthe infloor heating system. And you can’t know exactlywhat the payback is going to be because we just don’tknow how often the sun will shine. Intuitively and logi-cally, solar heated water makes sense. So, give peoplewhat they want.Most of the time, the solar panels are going to go on the

roof. Now the roof is an interesting place. There is spaceup there to do lots of cool things. The HVAC team puts theirequipment up there. Smart roofers are working with light,reflective, super durable materials. And, if you travel likeI do, you’ll notice that an urban landscape has a lot of roofspace. Flying into any city unveils a sea of topside oppor-tunity.What if you laid claim to the roof? You could configure

an energy and resources system that includes…• Rain collection for a gray water system• Thermal solar and PV solar collection• Integrated Plumbing and HVAC systems…done the

right way, without compromise• Wind generated power• Skylights, “solar tube” lights• Gutters, parapets, privacy fencing• Living space with a view…gardens…pergolas…sitting

areas…workout equipment…artwork…sanctuary! If you weren’t a plumber (or an HVAC or roofing pro) you

could see the opportunity on the roof.

Mega-opportunity #2: ConsolidationOver and over, an “outsider” has looked at a highly-

fragmented industry and thought, “I could consolidatethese mom and pop shops, create some ‘economies ofscale’ and make a lot of money.” Waste Management, Inc.was started by a couple of fellows on a homeowners’ sub-division board who were trying to create a sound way toremove the trash from the subdivision each week. Theydiscovered lots of waste haulers…and very few doing thejob really well. So, they bought mom-and-pop shops andconsolidated the industry. From my vantage point, theywere well served…and so were hundreds of thousands ofconsumers. The folks who sold their companies had op-portunities to move on to something else, and some real-ized some wealth for their precious efforts.The PHC industry hosts over a hundred thousand com-

panies and most of them are 1-3 truck operations. Thereis nothing wrong with being a small shop, if that is yourdesire and intention. However, if you are trying to GROWyour company, I suggest you start buying companies. Itis easier than you may imagine. And it is the best, mostcost effective way to grow. Aim only for win-win-windeals…for your company, the seller’s and the customers.Acquisition is so much easier than you may imagine.Check out www.growbiginarecession.com

Mega-opportunity #3: Virtual command centerIn the book, “The World is Flat,” author Thomas Fried-

man tells of McDonald’s using drive-thru service repre-sentatives located in India taking orders at restaurantslocated in the United States. Whether or not you supportthe idea — maybe it’s happening and you can’t tell yourorder is not being taken by the angsty teen at the window— it’s fascinating that it can be done. What an amazingtime we live in.Brian Scudamore of 1-800-Got-Junk has created a pow-

erhouse franchise capitalizing on the world flattening ef-fect of technology. Franchisees pay about 17% !! of totalsales in exchange for a rockin’ call center and dispatchsystem. All calls to 1.800.Got.Junk are answered inCanada by a fairly accent-neutral person who does a won-derful job lining up service. If there is not a franchise inyour area, they offer you a shot at applying to become afranchisee. And the benefit to the franchisee: No need fora person in the office. That may be worth 17% or MORE tosomeone who wants their own shot at business successwithout the headache of managing an office team.There will always be a selling advantage for the Plumb-

ing pro who markets himself as a real life local profes-sional. However, for someone else, someone from outsideour industry, this business model could change every-thing.

Mega-Opportunity #4: A real career ladderOne of the benefits of consolidating companies is that

you will meet some really cool people. You may befriendsavvy managers, great service techs and rockstar instal-lation crews. Not everyone wants to – or can – be a suc-cessful business owner. If you were to take advantage ofMega-Opportunities #1-#3, you could be in a position toreally expand Mega-Opportunity #4. Generally, there is nowhere to go, to grow, in the PHC

world. The only choice for an ambitious go-getter is tostart his own business when the shop he works for isn’tgoing anywhere. Seven generations and only two trucks?This fellow may hang up his shingle with high hopes andthen discover what a ball-and-chain your own businesscan be. (Sound familiar?) He can gain the business acu-men he needs to be successful. Or he can partner up withan owner who intends to expand career and ownershipopportunities for extraordinary team members. YOU couldbe the one expand in a hub-and-spoke way, offering profitsharing and, perhaps, ownership opportunities to high-producing team members. For inspiration and ideas forstructuring an industry-revolutionizing career laddercheck out Jack Stack’s book, “A State in the Outcome.”Or email me to discuss. The hub-and-spoke businessmodel has my full attention. [email protected]

Mega-opportunity #5: Pop culture celebrityIf you lay claim to one or more of these opportunities,

you might want to spread the word. Hey, it’s of service toknow who is doing cool things with earth friendly, energyefficient living systems. It’s interesting to know that thereare businesses booming in economically challengingtimes. It’s worth mentioning that you are developing ca-reers for your team members, instead of indentured servi-tude. Why not expand your reach with online videos? Youcan use a Flip camera http://www.theflip.com and docu-ment the right way to install a disposer or put on shoecovers. You could use the videos as part of your training.You could film what really happens on a service call. (Iadvise you to get the customer’s written permission be-

Someone is going toturn the PHC industry onits ear. Someone is goingto lay claim to the rooftopand make a whole lot ofmoney doing it. Someoneis going to leverage thehuman potential of this

industry and growa massive empire.

(Turn to Ellen Rohr, page 30.)

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26 Phc News — JUNE 2009PlumBing Business

Bad habits make for bad results

BY RICHARD P. DiTOMA, L.M.Pcontributing writer

Good habits make your tasks easier to do. Theycan also help you to be more profitable. I’m surethat earning the reward you deserve for your tal-

ents was the main reason you went into business. Unfor-tunately, bad habits will lead you down the road to highstress and frustration levels while keeping you away fromyour just reward. Analyzing the cost you incur after you perform any

service for your clientele is a great habit. By doing so, youcan compare that which you thought it would cost you todo any job before commencing service with the actualcost you incurred to do that job. Once you start compar-ing your true cost and quoted selling price of every job,you will have the data needed to know if the quoted sell-ing price for each job was right or wrong. If your price was right, you can pat yourself on the

back. But, if your price was wrong you should amend orchange the methodology you used to arrive at the sellingprice of that job. Every time you use wrong numbers youwill get wrong results. If you don’t analyze each job’s costto you, you have a bad habit which will destine you to re-peat your mistakes. And, you will miss the opportunity torecognize those jobs for which you properly calculatedyour selling price. Obviously, the first step needed to quote proper prof-

itable selling prices requires the correct identificationand calculation of all your true costs, and, the use of aprofit margin that will give you the opportunity to attainyour goals. Next, you must realize that as a human you have the

propensity to fool yourself into thinking you can do anyjob quicker than the task really takes. That’s a bad habit.You probably also tend to use methods which will increaseyour use of your time. That’s a good habit. But, when theinclination to fool yourself meets with the tendency tospeed up your work habits, the probability of error rearsits ugly head.

Rules of thumb can present problemsQuoting prices based on the “by the fixture” method is

an example of this occurring in the plumbing industry.Rule of thumb methods can result in inaccuracy as wellas teach the next generation to not only perpetuate theerroneous rule of thumb method, but also, extend its po-tential to do harm with more flawed concepts. I understand the “by the fixture” method can be helpful

when correctly utilized as part of the total estimatingprocess. But, being lazy and not realizing that the “by thefixture” method is only a part of the total estimatingprocess is not only a bad habit, it is the wrong thing todo. It will cause you to omit labor, overhead and materialcosts which must be considered to correctly arrive at aproper profitable selling price. The plumbing industry is not the only industry that

adopts flawed methodology. A very close friend of mineis a second generation roofing contractor. The roofing in-dustry utilizes a “by the square” method for estimatingits costs and selling prices. In a conversation with him re-garding his use of the “by the square” method, I askedhim to allow me to prove why this method was as wrongas plumbers using the “by the fixture” method. He as-sured me that if I proved it, he would admit that the “bythe square” method was wrong.I asked him to quote to me a price to redo a 10,000

square foot hot tar roof. He took a calculator and imme-diately multiplied his selling price per square foot by10,000 square feet. He then gave me his selling price for

the job.I told him he had the job and asked him if he would like

the address of the building. He said yes and I gave himthe address of a skyscraper in New York City. The look onhis face alone told me that I had made my point. And, tothat he agreed.There is a great deal of difference between doing that

roofing job on a one story strip mall in the suburbs of NewYork City or doing it on the roof of a skyscraper highabove the streets of a busy metropolis like New York.For plumbers, there is a great deal of difference between

doing the plumbing for a three-bath home when the bath-rooms are closely clustered or in a sprawled out ranchwith the bathrooms at different ends of the building.Every job must be inspected for the circumstances

surrounding that particular job before a price can bequoted correctly. The differences between jobs whichare calculated “by the square” or “by the fixture” canbe vast. The cost to the contractor who omits labor,overhead and material costs needed to completely dothe job can be devastating.

Denial makes matters worseBut, that’s not the only problem caused by contractors

who utilize these rules of thumb. Those who implementthese methods create a concept in which other contrac-tors, who are equally or more unmindful of reality, cometo believe that this is the proper way to estimate jobs.Thus, begins the slippery slope which leads contractorsinto the abyss of low and/or no profits, doing jobs for lessthan it costs to do them, and/or, working many morehours than estimated to finish the task.Another bad habit is denial. It too causes contractors

to repeat their errors over and over. A contractor seekingmy counsel regarding his bathroom remodeling estimateswas getting the jobs and moving money, but, his bottomline showed he was not making money on those jobs. Iasked if he had done a cost analysis of each remodelingjob after completion. He said no.I analyzed the cost and found the same problem in each

instance. The scope of the jobs in each case was identical.The problem did not revolve around the estimated mate-rial. The problem was the estimated time to complete thetask. He kept estimating the labor time at 90 hours. Yet,each bathroom took 100 to 120 hours.When I brought this to his attention, he said his tech-

nicians were working too slowly. Whose fault is that? Hewas supervising those technicians on those jobs. Althoughthe jobs took longer than he estimated, he refused tochange the time he spent to adjust to the reality.An old adage says that the only way to eat an elephant

is one bite at a time. So, I asked him to sit down at hisdesk with a pad and pencil and write down each individ-ual step in a bathroom remodeling job from start to finishas a separate task. Then, I told him to put his estimatedtime to complete each task next to each step.After completing this exercise, I told him to add up

those individual times. He came up with 120 hours. I wassure my point was made. But, when I asked him if hewould consider the 120 hours instead of his 90 hour es-timate, he remarked, “No! It shouldn’t take that long.”Denial blinded him from seeing the facts as the reality. Italso kept him from making money. As another adagestates, “You can lead a horse to water, but, you can’tmake him drink.”Everyone is ignorant of something because no one

The differences betweenjobs which are calculated“by the square” or “by thefixture” can be vast. Thecost to the contractor

who omits labor, overheadand material costs

needed to completely dothe job can be devastating.

(Turn to Purging bad habits, page 30.)

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28 Phc News — JUNE 2009solar solutions

Solar overheat protection

BY BRISTOL STICKNEYcontributing writer

good job. Reliability, in my opinion, is the most importantfeature required for market acceptance and customer sat-isfaction, which is why it is listed as “Principle #1.”

Past approachesIn the early days of active solar water heaters, the focus

was on producing solar heat, not cooling issues. So, whencooling problems cropped up, the reactionary responsewas an afterthought rather than part of the original design:• The solar pump shuts off when there is no need for

heat and bigger and bigger expansion tanks are added totry to contain the stagnation pressure.• When the solar water tank gets too hot, the T&P

blowoff is used to cool it with make-up water. Cross yourfingers and hope the T&P valve stops leaking later.• Seasonal covers are fabricated to shade the collectors

during the hot season. These must be manually installedand removed along with the screens and storm windows,and the annual swamp cooler or air conditioner covers.• Manual valves or controls are added for night siphon-

ing or heat dumping which must be activated by handwhenever overheating is expected.While all of these approaches can be made to work,

none of these are acceptable under the principles thatguide us here, especially Principles 1, 3, & 4. None ofthese cooling strategies is ultimately Reliable enough,Compatible with customer expectations, or Elegantenough to be widely accepted in today’s market.

Improving what you already haveTo improve the overheat protection on an existing gly-

col (flat plate) solar water heater you might first considerusing what you have to better effect. If you already havean instant hot water circulator pump, make sure it turnson before the hot water storage tank gets too hot. A ther-mal snap disk control or set-point thermostat can be usedto do this automatically. This can dissipate excess heatfrom the tank remarkably well. This type of control canalso be used to run the flat plate solar collector coolantpump at night automatically. It is not a bad idea to install an oversized expansion

tank to help prevent glycol loss if and when the collectorexperiences minor stagnation. The liquid acceptance vol-ume in the tank should be at least equal to the fluid vol-ume of the solar collectors themselves. Keep in mind thatrepeated stagnation will always result in premature sys-tem component failures.Some newer solar DHW controllers (differential ther-

mostats) have night cooling capability (vacation mode)so make sure yours is programmed to take advantage ofthis, or consider upgrading your older controller. Keep inmind that night coolant pumping is not effective withmost evacuated tube collectors since they are not de-signed to work in reverse.The solar coolant pump is the most critical component

needed to provide overheat protection to the collectors,so consider making it non-interruptible. We do this byusing PV (solar powered) solar circulators, but batterybackup systems also could be used like those made forcomputers. If the solar pump continues to circulate evenwhen the other heat storage and distribution pumps havetemporarily stopped, you can gain a vital time delay be-fore the system stagnates.

Our most common strategiesIn the past decade I have designed and installed hun-

dreds of solar water heaters and “combi” solar home heat-

Steam and extremely hot

glycol will tend to ruin

the rubber seals in the air

vents, relief valves, pump

gaskets and expansion

tanks, resulting in

the inevitable glycol leak.

Solar overheat can be problematic. Even a fully func-tional closed-loop glycol solar heating system canoverheat. This is most likely to happen when there

is plenty of sun, but the heat is not being used. This canhappen for many reasons, but most commonly when theheat is not needed because all the heating loads are satis-fied, or because of a pump failure (or power failure) in theheat storage or distribution system. Heat begins to buildup in the solar collector loop when it is not carried awayto a useful heating job. Flat plate collector temperaturesexceed normal design limits and then eventually reachmaximum stagnation conditions unless overheating canbe controlled or at least slowed down. The conditions thatcan initiate overheating may happen only once a year oreven less often, but when it does happen, the results canrange from annoying inconvenience at best to major heat-ing system failure at worst.

Minor overheatingA minor episode of overheating is often accompanied by

the sound of steam hammering in the solar heat collector,the propylene glycol starts to cook and may begin to turnbrown in color, a plume of steam may appear at any openfloat vent and the pressure relief valve may begin to dripor spurt glycol and the temperature and pressure (T&P)valve on the water storage tanks may begin to dribble. Thevolume of liquid glycol that is displaced by the steam inthe collector will try to seek refuge in the glycol expansiontank. If the expansion tank is large enough and was in-stalled with the proper air pressure, this may preventmuch of the glycol from leaking out the pressure reliefvalve. After sunset when the steam condenses, and the airpressure forces the glycol back into the solar loop, the sys-tem may actually continue to run normally, so long as theelectric power, pumps, valves and controls are not dam-aged and the glycol pressure has not dropped to zero. This type of overheating is not uncommon behavior for

older solar water heaters when their owners are on vaca-tion. When nobody is using the solar hot water from dayto day, there is no cold makeup water provided to coolthe water storage tank, which can overheat after a fewdays of clear, sunny weather.

Major meltdownIt is important to design solar heating systems to pre-

vent these small overheating events because it only takesa few minor events to add up to a major failure. Everytime the glycol cooks at stagnation temperatures it be-comes a little more acidic. If it is allowed to cook thor-oughly, it can turn to the consistency of brown molasses,which can clog the collector tubing. Steam and extremelyhot glycol will tend to ruin the rubber seals in the airvents, relief valves, pump gaskets and expansion tanks,resulting in the inevitable glycol leak. If cheap plasticfoam pipe insulation is used anywhere near the over-heated solar pipes, it will melt and flow off like candlewax. Nearby electrical wires and sensors often are ruinedby the high temperatures, and gauges can be ruined aswell. If the overheating episodes are allowed to continue(even intermittently), it is only a matter of time beforethe glycol leaks out, the circulator pumps seize and thecatastrophic failure is complete.The glycol fluid in this system is just as critical as the

Freon in a refrigerator. Systems must be designed and in-stalled ideally so that the fluid never leaks out and the flowis never blocked by steam or air. If we make our solar waterheaters as reliable as a typical refrigerator, we are doing a

Bristol’s six principles of good solar hydronic design

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iega

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mon strategies described above,there are other approaches to over-heat protection.Most of these issues are not inher-

ent to drain-back systems sincedrain-back collectors fill with liquidonly when the solar pump is run-ning. The use of a drain-back systemis a valid solution for the installerwho wishes to avoid most overheatprotection problems altogether. (Seeprevious articles for my reasons forchoosing closed loop glycol systemsexclusively.)Ask your preferred solar equip-

ment supplier what is new in cooling.Solar manufacturers have beenthinking about this for a while now,and along with new controls, somehave come up with other interestingproducts. For instance, Apricus, But-ler Sun Solutions and Zomeworkseach manufacture passive heat dissi-pation equipment that works bythermal expansion fluid diversioninto a cooling fin system. They areeach very different from one another.The Zomeworks product, called the“Tide Tank,” has a long successfultrack record for use in home waterheaters, and a new stainless steel ver-sion is now available.Also, collector manufacturers are

beginning to think about cooling.Some vacuum tube collectors (e.g.Thermomax) have a high limit tem-perature shut-off built into each tubeand EnerWorks provides a flat platecollector model that includes a heatactivated ventilation system builtinto the frame.In general, when choosing critical

components for the solar loop likefloat vents, pressure relief valves andexpansion tanks, use only “solar”components rated for high tempera-ture glycol and high pressure sur-vival. Some common hydroniccomponents may leak after the firstexposure to solar stagnation.Choose cooling methods that can

be adjusted to keep all valves, seals,pumps and fluids below their maxi-mum operating temperatures. Do notassume what those temperatures are.Look them up in the manufacturer’sliterature. Use only high temperatureresistant brands of propylene glycolmanufactured specifically for solarheating systems. Not all glycol is cre-ated equal. �

Bristol Stickney, partner andtechnical director at Cedar Moun-tain Solar Systems in Santa Fe,N.M., has been in the solar heatingindustry in a variety of roles formore than 30 years. His new start-up, SolarLogic LLC, is developingthe next generation of solar heat-ing controls.

Ellen Rohr(Continued from page 24.)

Overheating solar systems

Purging those bad habits

industry news

fore posting that on You Tube!) Youcould record team members dis-cussing why your company is differ-ent and better than any other placethey have worked. As you documentyour business you may capture awonderfully funny or silly or movingslice of life. It may create a wild-fire,virtual pass-along sensation…star-ring you. You can leverage 15 min-utes of fame into even moreopportunity. Someone is going to turn the PHC

industry on its ear. Someone is goingto lay claim to the rooftop and makea whole lot of money doing it. Some-one is going to leverage the human

potential of this industry and grow amassive empire. Someone is going tobecome the face of all the amazingthings that the PHC industry does tosupport the planet and the surviv-ability of mankind on the planet. If you weren’t a plumber, it could

be you. Think outside the pipe. �

“If we are to achieve a victoriousstandard of living today we mustlook for the opportunity in every dif-ficulty instead of being paralyzed atthe thought of the difficulty in everyopportunity.”

— Walter E. Cole

Ready to embrace a Mega-Oppor-tunity? Are you doing so already?Reach me at 417.753.1111 or [email protected].

knows everything. Therefore, igno-rance is nothing of which to beashamed. But, once this contractorsaw his own individual estimatedtimes he was no longer ignorant. Fear of losing the jobs probably

added to his flawed estimating tech-nique. His inflexibility also causedhim to buy jobs at any cost ratherthan sell jobs at a profit. Ego obvi-ously kept him from having thecourage to admit the error of hisways. In the end his bad habits willalways give him the same bad re-sults. He turned his ignorance intostupidity. And, that is something ofwhich to be ashamed.

Logic & an open mind helpsNot looking at the total picture is

also a bad habit. Another contractor,who is a client of my consulting busi-ness and who had already gonethrough the process of identifyingand calculating his true costs calledbecause he was losing some jobs toothers because his bids were toohigh. After speaking with him andasking a few questions I found hisproblem.Before becoming one of my clients

and finding out his true hourly tech-nician labor/overhead cost, he wouldarrive at his selling prices by usingan hourly technician labor/overheadcost that was based on which waythe wind was blowing rather thancalculation. Then, he would multiplythat hourly cost by twice as muchtime as he knew the job should taketo do. I guess that was his way of

making up for his guessed at hourlytechnician labor/overhead cost. Thewhole process was not only a badhabit, it was absurd.But, after I showed him how to

identify and calculate his real hourlylabor/overhead cost of one techni-cian he still kept part of his badhabit. He multiplied his real hourlytechnician labor/overhead cost bythe same doubled time to do the job.I explained to him that since he

now knew his true cost he could usethe true estimated time to calculatehis prices. This contractor is muchsmarter than the other guy becausehe doesn’t blind himself to his reality.When he has a problem he gives mea call. His open minded demeanor al-lows him to easily solve his problems.If you would like to set aside igno-

rance, fear, ego, and denial; developsome good habits; and, solve yourbusiness problems, give me a call at845-639-5050. I would be glad tohelp get you on the right track. I havethe solutions, theories and methodsthat can solve your contracting busi-ness problems. I wish you goodhealth and good fortune. �

(Continued from page 26.)

ing systems. Most of these were in-stalled in recent years by my com-pany, Cedar Mountain SolarSystems. All of these systems useclosed loop propylene glycol pipingsystems employing photovoltaic (PV)coolant pumps and flat plate solarheat collectors. The combi systemstypically include a solar domestic hotwater tank and some radiant heatedmass floor zones all heated with thesame solar collectors (and the samebackup hydronic boiler. See previousarticles for diagrams). Many of thecombi systems also include hydronicbaseboard radiator zones, hot tub orheated pools, ice melt zones andother heating loads all connected tothe same solar heat collectors.

1. Night collector cooling is usedon nearly every glycol water heater,sometimes augmented with instanthot water circulator heat dissipationcontrol. A small DC power supply isswitched on to power the PV pumpfor night circulation. If you lose 20degrees (e.g. dropping from 170°Fdown to 150°F) overnight, you arenot likely to overheat the next sunnyday. Temperature set points and dif-ferentials can be adjusted to fit theuser’s situation.2. Collector tilt is considered on

every combi solar home heating in-stallation, sometimes augmented bya carefully designed roof overhangfor summer shading of vertical wallmounts. Seventy-five degrees is atypical south-facing solar collector

tilt for a full combi home system(with no heated pool) in northernNew Mexico. This steep tilt favorswinter collection and rejects muchof the mid-summer heat.3. Heat banking controls are in-

cluded on every combi solar heatingsystem, as well as heat dissipation(a.k.a. dumping, shedding) controls.Heat banking controls allow extrasolar heat to be stored in the massfloors, water tanks or heated poolsonly as long as a high-limit comforttemperature is not exceeded. Heatdissipation controls maintain thecollectors at a safe high temperatureeven when the heat is not needed forany useful heating job. Garage floorsor ice melt zones are often used forheat dissipation.

Other survival strategiesIn addition to our three most com-




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Drawing off the success of lastmonth’s boiler report, PhcNews offers its Tankless Re-

port in a similar format.The reportlends itself to an easy-to-read format,perfect for the busy contractor.

Phc News spoke to the majorplayers in the tankless industry andreceived their perspective on what isnew and topical, the economy andcontractor misconceptions regard-ing tankless. From sizing to scalingto venting, some of the biggest con-tractor concerns were answered.

Also, with most tankless products,a Federal Tax Credit will be issued toconsumer installing such units —with some installations garneringUSGBC LEED points.“Space heating and domestic water

heating are the largest portions of allenergy bills, and therefore energyusage. WaiWela products, for exam-ple, when installed and maintainedproperly, may reduce carbon emis-sions and energy usage,” said NeilGreenzweig, CEO, WaiWela brand.Vendors appear in no particular order.

Tankless RepoRT

Navien America, Inc.1371 Santa Fe DriveTustin, CA 92780 (800) 519-8794www.navienamerica.com

Brief history: In 2006, Navien America, Inc.was established to open new markets in theUnited States and Canada for their Seoul,Korea parent company KyungDong NavienCo., Ltd. (KD Navien). Since 1978, KD Navienhas been a global leader producing the mosttechnologically advanced products to morethan 30 countries worldwide. Navien America,Inc. provides a variety of HVAC products andservices to North America.What’s new: Navien America, Inc. has re-

cently expanded their North America offices,warehouse, training and tech center to anewly renovated 28,000-square-foot facility,located in Tustin. Besides providing the indus-try’s only 98% efficient condensing gas tank-less water heater, Navien America will be expanding its product offering laterthis year with the first dual purpose boiler. Navien’s new condensing dual pur-pose boiler will be another industry first. The new NCN-30; NCN-35; NCN-40 &NCN-50 models will provide ultra-high efficient condensing dual heating for do-mestic hot water supply, as well as space and radiant floor heating.Tax relief: Thirty percent of cost, up to $1,500. All of Navien America’s 98%

efficient gas tankless water heater models meet and exceed all criteria for EN-ERGY STAR requirements of gas tankless water heaters.Contractor misconception regarding tankless:Tankless water heaters provide

instant hot water. Dispelling the myth: Navien America, Inc. produces the onlytankless water heaters available with a built-in circulator pump for instant hotwater delivery and a built-in buffer tank to eliminate “cold water sandwiching.” The skinny: Navien America’s 98% efficient condensing gas tankless water

heaters are known in the industry as being the easiest tankless water heater toretrofit from a tank to tankless. Navien’s tankless water heaters can be installedusing inexpensive Schedule 40 PVC venting, with vertical or horizontal runs upto 100 feet. Navien America’s 98% efficient condensing gas tankless water heaterswill save more money and use less energy than any other tankless water heateravailable on the market.Other unique features of Navien America’s 98% efficient gas tankless water

heaters include the ability to cascade up to 98 water heaters together with a sim-ple communication quick-link cable. This system will allow for sequencing, fullmodulation and redundancy. Navien America is the only gas tankless waterheater available that provides built-in leak detection as a standard and an op-tional built-in circulator pump with a buffer storage tank. Quotables: “Contractors and wholesalers must try and maintain their margins

in order to survive during these tough economic times. Navien has establishedits business model for this purpose. In order to try and help our contractors andwholesalers maintain margins, Navien America will only sell to contractorsthrough the traditional plumbing and HVAC wholesale channel,” said RichardPonce, owner of GPW Sales, Southern California and southern Nevada manu-facturer’s sales rep agency for Navien America, Inc.

Navien’s “Condensing 98%” is themost environmentally friendly tank-less water heater, eliminating morethan 85% of the flue gas that stan-dard tankless water heaters waste, re-ducing CO2 emissions by at least 420lbs. less per unit per year.

Takagi Industrial Co. USA, Inc.5 Whatney, Irvine, CA 92618(949) 770-7171www.takagi.com

Brief history: Having made tankless waterheaters for more than half a century in Japan,and more than a decade in the United States,Takagi has built a legacy of innovation and de-pendability with its tankless water heating tech-nology. Takagi provides the U.S. water heatingindustry with highly energy efficient tanklesswater heaters that exceed anything else on themarket today. Takagi carries a complete resi-dential and commercial line, which consists offive residential models and three commercialunits, six of which are ENERGY STAR rated. Tak-agi’s units are also the only ones of its kind toreceive the Southern Coast Air Quality man-agement District (SCAQMD) approval for theirlow emissions of CO2 and NOx. Takagi is dedi-cated to creating valuable products that will keep up with the market’s constantlychanging demands and continuously bring comfort to people’s homes.What’s new: Takagi has had quite a few exciting things happening:• Six of Takagi’s tankless water heaters recently received ENERGY STAR rating:

the T-H1, T-K3, T-K3-OS, T-K3-SP, T-K Jr. LP, and the T-K3-Pro.• Takagi just launched the new T-K3-Pro, which is a light commercial, heavy

residential version of its hottest selling model, the T-K3.• Takagi just announced the launch of our new T-H2, a condensing high effi-

ciency (over 93% efficiency) tankless water heater with PVC venting capability,which will be available in the Fall 2009.• Takagi has a new president, Kimio Mochizuki, appointed in March, 2009.• Five of Takagi’s new commercial tankless water heaters recently received cer-

tification by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) that they are safe for usein the food industry. The Takagi models that received this certification are Takagi’snew T-M50, the T-M50 ASME, the T-M32, the T-M32 ASME, and the T-K3-Pro.• Takagi also has a new Dallas-Fort Worth office that opened up earlier this

year, which brings Takagi to more than eight regional offices in major marketareas around the country to better serve our customers. Tax relief:With the new Energy Bill, homeowners will be able to receive 30%

of the full purchase and installation price, or up to $1,500 total Federal Tax credit,if they purchase and install highly efficient appliances like a whole-home tanklesswater heater in 2009 and 2010. Takagi has seven models that qualify for thiscredit: the TH1, TK3Pro, TK3, TK3SP, TK3OS, TK Jr. (LP Only), and TM199.Contractor misconception regarding tankless: Tankless is no different from

tank type water heaters. Some contractors do not pay close attention to how tan-kless products are built and how they work. Many of them still think it’s the sameand that a simple swap out is all that is needed. Dispelling the myth: Proper in-stallation and sizing are two of the most crucial aspects for any tankless installa-tion. When tankless is installed ‘correctly’ they do work beautifully and it shouldlast a long time. Therefore, training and educating plumbers and contractors isvital to our industry. Takagi provides high level training at no cost to the installers.. The skinny: Takagi produces a complete line of commercial tankless water

heaters for applications ranging from light commercial to heavy duty. The lineconsists of our new T-K3-Pro, T-M32, and T-M50. They feature thermal efficienciesranging from 82% to 84%. The heat exchangers are made with HRS35 copper alloy,which is the most advanced copper alloy on the market. This heat-resistant cop-per alloy is eight times stronger and harder than the standard copper used in mosttankless units, so it makes the unit much more resilient against erosions andleaks. This heavy duty copper is now a signature trademark for all of Takagi’scommercial products. Our commercial units can also be linked to multiple unitsfor even larger commercial applications. .NSF is available on all commercial prod-ucts and ASME models are available on the T-M50 and T-M32..Quotables: “During hard economic times, it’s important that Takagi’s cus-

tomers know they are there for them, and they care about their business. Takagiprovides its contractors and wholesalers with the support and tools they need tobe successful, to increase their sales and to better service their customers. Con-sumers are getting smarter about their purchasing decisions so its important thatcontractors and wholesalers working with them are well equipped to answer anyquestions,” said Koji Matsumura, general manager, Takagi.

A new light commercial version of theT-K3, called the T-K3-Pro, incorporatesall the popular features of the revolu-tionary T-K3, but with commercial-grade quality materials so it canwithstand light commercial conditions.

http://www.navienamerica.com

http://www.takagi.com

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34 Phc News — JUNE 2009Tankless RepoRT

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A Member of Our FamilySince 1996


Quietside8750 Pioneer BlvdSanta Fe Springs CA 90670 (562) 699-6066www.quietside.com

Brief history: Founded in 1998, with head-quarters in California, Quietside is the masterdistributor of Samsung Mini Splits, SamsungDVM system, Quietside Mini Splits and Qui-etside water heaters to HVACR wholesale dis-tributors throughout North America.Quietside focuses on energy efficient productsthat are accepted worldwide, yet are nichemarkets in North America. Currently, Quiet-side operates from three locations in the U.S.:Santa Fe Springs Calif.; Carlisle Pa.; and a newfacility in Fort Worth, Texas.What’s new: Quietside recently launched

the ODW tankless water heaters and the DPWdual purpose water heaters; later this year willsee increased capacity DPW units being released. Quietside also is opening a newfacility in Fort Worth, Texas, which also will include a classroom and local techsupport capability. Tax relief: Quietside ODW and DPW units recently were included in the new

Energy Star program, and with our Energy Factors on the ODW being >0.9, unitseasily qualify for many local rebates in addition to the Federal Government Taxcredit program.Contractor misconception regarding tankless: Bigger is better. Dispelling the

myth: A correctly-sized unit will offer better performance and efficiency than aunit that is oversized.The skinny: The Quietside ODW is able to vent in Schedule 40 PVC due to its ex-

clusive use of the S Line heat exchangers. A condensing heat exchanger is mountedabove the standard heat exchanger and further extracts heat from the flue gas ofthe unit, increasing its efficiency levels and reducing the flue gas temperature below130F, allowing the use of the Schedule PVC vent pipe.Quotables: “Quietside staff and our independent sales reps work hard to ensure

the wholesaler/contractor have all the tools necessary to both sell and support theproducts we carry. Our training program has been increased this year to provideadditional opportunities. We also have increased the value provided with our unitby including a set of isolation valves free of charge with every ODW and DPW pur-chased,” said John Miles, vice president of sales and engineering, Quietside.

Tankless units are approximately 50%less expensive to operate compared toconventional tank-types. The Quietsideunit is one of the most efficient tanklessproducts available in North America,with Energy Factors greater than 0.9.

Stiebel Eltron, Inc.

17 West St.

West Hatfield, MA 01088

(413) 247-3380

(800) 582-8423

www.stiebel-eltron-usa.com

Brief history: Stiebel Eltron was founded in 1924 by

Dr. Theodore Stiebel in Berlin. Initially, the company

concentrated on the manufacture of electric water

heaters for the German market. In the decades that

followed, Stiebel Eltron branched out into additional

products and pioneered the development of tankless

electric water heaters starting in the 1950s. Today,

Stiebel Eltron is the largest manufacturer of tankless

electric water heaters in the world. The sales and service operation for the North American

market is located in West Hatfield, Mass. There, Stiebel Eltron maintains a sales, service,

distribution and spare parts facility. It has been located in North America since 1980.

What’s new:The next generation Tempra® and new Tempra® Plus tankless electric water

heaters include: water output temp to 140°, upgraded heavy-duty electronics, single flow

sensor, easy access hinged cover, larger inlet filter screen. Tempra® Plus models have a digital

display for °F or °C readout and Advanced Flow Control™ to automatically adjust the flow

rate in order to maintain set-point temperature. Tempra® series is an ideal backup for solar

thermal systems.

Contractor misconception regarding tankless: Tankless water heaters cannot provide

enough hot water. Dispelling the myth: Correct sizing of the tankless heater is key. Use

the TEMPRA sizing chart that is on our website and in the TEMPRA literature. Once you

know which model you need, check with your electrician to make sure the size of the elec-

tric service is sufficient. In some cases, the size of the electrical service has to be increased

to accommodate the additional load that is created by the electric tankless unit.

Quotables: “If contractors research the proper sizing for the application at hand, they

should be perfectly content with a tankless water heater. As tankless water heaters are heating

cold water as it passes through the unit from a city or well source, there is logically a finite

gpm flow rate in order to heat the water to your target temperature — usually 110F. Tankless

units are dependent on the amount of water flow (gpm), and the amount of temperature rise

required (difference between incoming water temp and outgoing temp from unit). The larger

the temperature rise required, the fewer number of gpms can be heated to the set-point tem-

perature,” said Bill Riley, sales and marketing specialist, Stiebel Eltron.

New Tempra® Plus includes: output to140°; upgraded heavy-duty electronics;single flow sensor; easy access hingedcover; and a larger inlet filter screen.

Bosch Thermotechnology Corp.

50 Wentworth Ave.

Londonderry, NH 03053

(800) 354-4838

www.BoschPro.com

www.BoschTaxCredit.com

Brief history: Bosch has been selling and manufacturing

tankless water heaters for over 75 years and has 30 years

experience in the U.S. Bosch is a leader in manufacturing

of heat exchangers and is driving the innovation and effi-

ciency in condensing technology for tankless water heaters.

What’s new: The new Bosch GWH 920ES series is a

225,000 Btu condensing tankless water heater with high

output capabilities (9.2gpm). The new 920 offers high effi-

ciency (94% Thermal Efficiency) and is fully certified by

ASME. Bosch’s condensing technology has allowed Bosch to

be the only manufacturer to satisfy the 2012 SCAQMD Emis-

sions (California’s South Coast Air Quality Management

District) for NOx levels below 20ppm, which is the bench-

mark in efficiency for the U.S. Because of the unique up-

fire negative pressure combustion system and superior heat

exchanger design, Bosch’s condensing technology is able to

capture 10% more latent heat in the exhaust. The second-

ary heat exchanger is constructed of aluminum and copper which is completely unique

to Bosch and represents the forefront of integrating heat transfer and durability.

Also, new for the 2009 is the ENERGY STAR program for tankless water heaters. Bosch has

a total of six units that are ENERGY STAR qualified. The importance of the ENERGY STAR program

for the entire tankless market is that it legitimizes the technology as being an established

and highly efficient option for water heating. Many Bosch tankless models are designed to

work in conjunction with solar or geothermal systems as a back up solution that would also

provide energy efficient hot water when the main system is not capable of meeting demand.

The GWH 920 comes in resi-dential (ES) and commercial(ESC) configurations. The 920ESC Commercial unit can reachoutput temperatures of 180°F.Both the GWH 920ES and920ESC are vented with 3” or4” PVC pipe with zero clear-ance to combustibles. Ventingoptions include: Single pipeexhaust, direct vent dual pipeor concentric and outdoor.

http://www.quietside.com

http://www.siouxchief.com


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Noritz America Corp. 11160 Grace Ave. Fountain Valley, CA 92708(866) 766-7489www.Noritz.com

Brief history: Noritz started in 1951 in Kobe, Japanand since then continue to design and manufacturehigh quality tankless water heaters, and other gas ap-pliances. Noritz America established its first U.S. of-fice in 2002 at Lake Forest, Calif., and has expandedto five showroom locations across the U.S. — South-ern California, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, New York.Each location features a state-of-the-art facility,plumber training centers, showroom area showcasingpossible installation locations and working units.Southern California headquarters location has a R&Dfacility where new products are designed and tested.Noritz has only been in the United States for a shortperiod of time and it already has gained a significantmarket share in the tankless water heater segment.What’s new: Noritz America is innovating and

constantly offering new and improved tankless tech-nology to the home owners. Currently, Noritz hasthe largest tankless lineup in the industry and offersthe most selection of tankless with ENERGY STAR cer-tification. Noritz recently introduced a more afford-able version of the popular 94% condensing tankless,

which can be vented with schedule 40 PVC. Noritzcontinues to offer training classes to local contrac-tors, installers and plumbers in all five showroom lo-cations. There are different levels of training class,from basic installation to troubleshooting. Recently,a new Hands-On Workshop has been created to fur-ther educate installers who already completed level1 training; however, all installers are welcome to jointo learn more about Noritz products. The Hands-Onwork shop covers various spectrum, from marketing101 to venting options to component breakdownsand proper heater installation. At this type of train-ing, installers are able to see more, in detail, and ac-tually install a heater. Noritz also is involved incharitable contributions helping people in need —Extreme Make Over 2008 - 2009 season, Brad Pitt’sMake It Right Foundation in Louisiana and LeonardoDiCaprio’s Greenburg in Kansas. Tax relief: Currently, there is a great Federal Tax

Credit for anyone installing tankless water heaters.It is part of President Obama’s restructuring plan byoffering tax credit to energy efficient products. AnyNoritz’s tankless that is under the 200,000 Btu rangequalify for this program. The tax credit is 30% of thetotal invoice cost (unit(s) + installation) from the in-staller up to $1,500. It is a dramatic increase fromthe previous $300 tax credit in 2007. Contractor misconception regarding tankless: All

tankless manufac-turers are thesame. Contractorsassume all tech-nology and func-tionality areexactly the same,therefore havingthe same perform-ance. Dispellingthe myth: NoritzAmerica dispelsthe difference byestablishing thefive state-of-the-artshowrooms andtraining facilitiesto educate con-tractors, plumbers,and homeowners— the differencebetween Noritzand the rest. Sec-ondly, Noritz continues to develop better qualityparts, such as using K-copper heat exchangers in res-idential models, re-designed dual flame burner forbetter thermal efficiency to eliminate cold watersandwich and provide a stable and comfortable tem-

perature. All gas powered tanklesshas similar technology; however, it isthe quality of parts and craftsman-ship that sets Noritz apart from therest. Noritz America is here to be thedominant player and leader in thetankless market.The skinny: Noritz has a full line of

commercial tankless that are ASMErated. Noritz is the first tankless man-ufacturer that offers a true tanklessline-up with the largest unit in the in-dustry at 13.2 gpm. Besides the ASMEcertification required to be a truecommercial rating, all Noritz commer-cial units are in stainless steel casingto differentiate the look and quality ofNoritz commercial tankless. Quotables: “Noritz has always val-

ued the importance of installers;that has been the motto since thefounding fathers of Noritz, and it hascarried over to the States, sellingonly through professional distribu-tions — not through the retail chan-nels or Internet. Because of therelationship between Noritz and in-stallers, Noritz has created the Pro-Card program. The program isdesign to track installations, and, atthe same time, offer rebate checksto installers based on a points sys-tem. For every heater installed —depending on the model — pointswill accumulate, and a rebate checkwill be mailed back to the installer.“By offering specialty training and

a rebate program, as well as referralsfrom visitors to the five showrooms,Noritz generates loyalty among itscustomers,” said Jerry Pan, market-ing coordinator, Noritz.

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Currently, there are many chainrestaurants, hotels and resorts thatare currently using Noritz Tankless fortheir hot water needs. Noritz commer-cial units can be linked side-by-sideup to 24 units to generate 316 gal-lons per minute. Noritz commercialtankless meets all demands.

http://www.Noritz.com

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Phc News — JUNE 2009 37Tankless RepoRT


Efficient Technology Sales, LLC5350 Joliet Street #2Denver, CO 80239(303) 339-4900(800) 605-6542www.waiwela.com

Brief history: ETS began selling tankless water heaters in 1977 in Camden,Maine, at the time of the oil embargo. ETS pioneered the use and developmentof tankless water heaters in the United States. Currently, ETS is involved withWaiWela gas tankless and its integration with solar thermal.What’s new: ETS will begin construction of a mezzanine within its current

25,000-sq.-ft. warehouse this month to provide classrooms and a training facilityfor solar installers and technicians. This addition will feature roof access whereit will install solar thermal equipment for evaluation and to monitor the perform-ance of solar equipment in the Mile High City.ETS recently established a relationship with SunEarth, Inc. of Fontana, Calif.

to provide solar thermal panels throughout the state of Colorado.Tankless supplier is Paloma Industries of Nagoya, Japan. Paloma will introduce

a high efficiency condensing tankless gas water heater by year end. It will carrythe WaiWela brand name. New to the WaiWela family of products is the 6.6 Seriesgas tankless water heaters.Tax relief: All of the 5.3 Series, 6.6 Series and 7.4 Series tankless water heaters

are ENERGY STAR rated and qualify for a federal tax credit of up to $1,500.Contractor misconception regarding tankless:Contractors believe tankless water

heaters do not — or cannot — provide enough hot water for large projects. Dis-pelling the myth: ETS works with contractors to design hot water systems that are

capable of producing endless hot water for almostany application. WaiWela tankless water heatersare unique in that they can combine up to 20units with one controller to do most residentialand commercial apps. Units are serviceable, soin the event one unit needs service, the otherunits in the systems are still operational, produc-ing enough hot water.The skinny: All market participants offer

competitive pricing so it is important to distin-guish ourselves through the exceptional serv-ices we provide. The relationship ETS createswith our customers is one of exceptional, indi-vidualized service. ETS understands that “timeis money” to the contractor/wholesaler so weoffer personalized engineering and technicalsupport before and after a sale, in addition tofree lifetime technical support.Quotables: “Recognizing the need to actively

reduce carbon emissions, ETS is stepping for-ward as a leader in green building products.Specifically, the WaiWela Mini Tanks to con-serve water by reducing the wasteful run while waiting for hot water at a sink.Space heating and domestic water heating are the largest portions of all energybills, and therefore energy usage. WaiWela products, when installed and main-tained properly, may reduce carbon emissions and energy usage,” said Neil Green-zweig, CEO WaiWela brand.

At 11,000 to 180,000 BTU/hourrange, the 6.6 Series carries a 12-yearwarranty on the heat exchanger, fiveyears on parts and one year on labor.A digital remote is included with eachunit.

http://www.waiwela.com


Rheem Water Heating101 Bell RoadMontgomery, AL 36117-4305(866) 720-2076www.rheem.com

Brief history:Rheem is a privately held manu-facturing company that began operation in1927 as a supplier of packaging to the petro-leum industry. In the 1930s, Rheem beganmanufacturing water heaters, and in 1947began manufacturing warm air furnaces. In1959, the company acquired Ruud Manufac-turing Company, a pioneer in the industry witha well-regarded product line and a distributionnetwork throughout North America. In subse-quent years, Rheem entered the heating andair conditioning market and expanded in thelate 1960s and 1970s with the rapid growth ofthe central air conditioning industry. In 1985,the company acquired Raypak, a leading pro-ducer of copper tube boilers used for swimming pool heating and commercial hotwater supply and hydronic heating.Today, Rheem is a leading North American producer of (tankless) water

heaters, central warm air furnaces and air conditioners, and swimming poolheaters and commercial boilers.What’s new:Rheem currently offers 30 natural gas atmospheric products that

meet the Phase I EnergyStar criteria for tank water heaters providing the plumb-ing industry an economical green replacement product for their customers, in-cluding our new 40-gallon short high EF (.62) atmospheric tank water heater.Rheem also introduced a new solar water heating product line that includesboth active and passive systems. Rheem continues to offer some of the besttraining and support in the industry: local field training, new solar training pro-gram, or Commercial Institute and Tankless Business College.Tax relief: There are two Federal Tax Credits.Contractor misconception regarding tankless: Untrained in tankless technol-

ogy, contractors often try to size the system based on the Btu input of the systemthey are replacing or GPH recovery, and neither of these play a part in the sizingor applications of tankless water heating. In addition, not understanding howtankless systems are promoted between manufacturers’ can often lead to under-sized systems. Many contractors also try to install it like a tank, and thereforethey and their customers miss the many advantages tankless technology canoffer them. Probably the biggest misconception is simply that it is not a tank andit cannot be installed like a tank. Dispelling the myth: Tankless require differentventing, and, more than likely, they will require a higher peak fuel demand. Also,don’t wait until you get a call for a failed tank. Be proactive and get into the con-sumers’ home or business before a tank fails.Quotables: “As an industry, we are changing; and as an industry we must rec-

ognize these changes and we must embrace them to ensure the success of ourindividual companies. Tankless water heaters are an excellent example. “We must always remember that even in a down market, 70-75% of all water

heaters sold are in the replacement market, and that is a great opportunity fortankless water heaters and the contractors who pursue it,” said Walter B.“Butch” Aikens, tankless resource manager, Rheem.

RTG-66 - 180,000 Btu tankless prod-uct now offers a field conversion kitto allow it meet the demands ofsmaller commercial applicationswhere larger commercial tanklessproducts may not be the answer.

Eemax Tankless Water Heaters353 Christian StreetOxford, CT 06478(800) 543-6163www.eemax.com

Brief history: Eemax is a U.S. manufacturer ofthe most comprehensive line of “greenfriendly” electric tankless and mini-tank waterheaters available; designed for industrial, com-mercial and residential applications. Eemaxwas founded in 1987, and for the past 20 yearshas achieved industry leadership by providingthe broadest line of reliable and well-engi-neered tankless water heaters. Eemax pioneering sophisticated thermostaticcontrols, easy installation, advanced safety features and large capacities. Eemaxwater heaters range form .5 gpm for code compliant hand washing, to the superpowerful 25 gpm commercial units.What’s new: In September 2008, Eemax Inc. announced that the Riverside

Company has become a new equity partner. Riverside is a private equity firminvesting in premier companies, focusing on high growth, industry-leading man-ufacturers. Riverside currently has over two billion dollars in capital under man-agement. Riverside’s resources will enable Eemax to further build its dominancein the electric tankless market, focusing on product innovation, customer sup-port and business expansion.For summer 2009, Eemax will launch a new full line of premium residential

electric tankless water heaters. Features include: stainless steel cover; adjustabletemperature control with temperature display; and diagnostic interface. Modelswill range from 1.5 gpm to 6 gpm for apartments, condos, pool houses, cabins,vacation homes and whole house heaters with up to three-shower capacity.Tax relief: Electric tankless water heaters do count toward additional LEED

points that can be added to qualify for tax incentives for efficient building design.Contractor misconception regarding tankless: Electric tankess water heaters

are for low volume point-of-use hand washing only. Dispelling the myth: If sizedcorrectly, electric tankless water heaters can provide a variety of high-flow ap-plications, including whole-house and commercial up to 25 gpm. Make sure youget the right heater for the application. Tankless water heaters create hot waterrather than storing hot water as storage tanks do. This is an advantage for tank-less because they only use power when hot water is needed, and there is no stor-age to run out. Make sure that you take incoming water temperature intoaccount, as well as the flow rate (how many fixtures, kitchen faucet, lavatory,washers and shower). Once you determine the capacity, you will need to selectthe correct kW or powered heater you need to meet the demand.The skinny: The Eemax distribution channel is strictly through the plumbing

wholesaler, and Eemax builds on the wholesaler relationship by supportingwholesale “buying groups” and participation in corporate vendor programs.Eemax also supports the ASA and regularly appears in industry shows. Eemaxalso supports the PHCC for contractors and has initiated a “Certified Eemax Con-tractor” program providing training and support.Quotables: “Eemax builds the most comprehensive line of commercial electric

tankless water heaters available with flow rates up to 25 gpm. Tankless eliminatesthe need to reticulate water from a centralized hot water source and provideshot water solutions for all building types,” said Aaron Siegel, vice president salesand marketing, Eemax.

A full line of electric tankless waterheaters for whole house feature themost powerful unit on the market(38kW). Rated 99% efficient,ruggedly constructed to last, save en-ergy, water, space and money.

Grand Hall USA, Inc.3838 W. Miller Rd.Garland, TX 75041(866) 946-1096www.eternalwaterheater.com

Brief history:Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan since 1976, and with the U.S. officeoperating out of Dallas since 1985, Grand Hall serves as the leading manufacturerof innovative gas appliances and components for more than 30 years. Grand Hall’stop award-winning product — the Eternal Hybrid Water Heater — introduced in2006, has received industry accolades.What’s new: Eternal is experiencing rapid growth, even in a down economy,

and has planned to expand its staff accordingly. In addition to growth, Eternalhas a contractor rebate program in place, service contractor program established,and lastly, it has built a new contractor website.

Tax relief: Select Eternal models qualify for up to$1,500 or 30% of total installed cost Federal Tax Credit.Contractor misconception regarding tankless: In

Eternal Hybrid’s case, the biggest misconception is cost.Dispelling the myth:When you consider the high flowcapacity, PVC venting for easy installation, and one ofthe industry’s strongest warranty, Eternal is no moreexpensive than having the use multiple water heaterstogether to achieve the same result as just one Eternal.Quotables: “We back the units with a 20-year, no-leak

warranty on residential jobs and 10-year, no-leak war-ranty on commercial jobs. The heat exchanger is madeof stainless steel with patented self-cleaning to ensurelong lasting, efficient service,” said Paul Home, directorof product and marketing, Grand Hall USA, Inc.

Hybrid units are designed tobe heavy residential or lightcommercial, especially withrecirculation since the unitshave built-in small storage.

http://www.rheem.com

http://www.eemax.com

http://www.eternalwaterheater.com

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sponding to consumers’ rapidly growing de-mand for products and services that conserveon resources and utility expenses. In an uncer-tain economy beset by rising energy prices, con-sumers want eco-friendly decisions to becost-efficient. Offering a reliably high performance and an

energy-efficient design, gas-fired tankless waterheaters provide exactly the kind of environmen-tal and economic benefits homeowners arelooking for. Smart plumbers are getting in on

that action and promoting tankless technologyon their service calls and in their shops andshowrooms. Immediate, positive impact: Cook Plumbing

Corporation of West Des Moines, Iowa, hasbeen an exclusive dealer for Rheem WaterHeating only since autumn 2007, but themove is already paying off. Plumbing contrac-tor John Buttz, who oversees Cook’s residen-tial installations, said offering tankless waterheaters has made a quick and positive impacton the business. “Within the last 12 months, we’ve installed 40

Rheem tankless units in homes,” Buttz said,adding that most of his customers opt in specif-ically for the cost-savings. He believes it’s be-coming more important than ever for theplumbing industry to deliver solutions that re-flect customers’ needs and values, and that in-cludes saving both kinds of green — energy andmoney. Show me the money: “It was the money sav-

ings,” confirms homeowner Kris Vorhees, aCook customer who chose a tankless waterheater when her new home was built this year.“We thought it was a good idea, since we’re gone

for three months over the winter,” said Vorhees,explaining she didn’t want a tank-type waterheater that would heat water even when therewas no demand for it. “So when we picked outour plumbing fixtures at Cook Plumbing, wealso asked for a tankless heater.” The majority of Cook Plumbing’s tankless in-

stallation work has been in new home construc-tion, but more recently retrofit installations –replacing existing tank-type heaters — accountfor about 20 percent of the business. MichaelRiesberg, one of Cook’s retrofit customers, firstheard about tankless technology from radio ad-vertising. “I did a fairly extensive search of all the

brands I could find on the ‘net, along with look-ing at the local retailers,” he said. “I found that

the Rheem unit would give me the needed gal-lons per minute, even in the coldest time of theyear here in Iowa.”Cost savings were the driving factor, Riesberg

said. “Like most people, I had a budget. Johncame to my home and did a great job of ex-plaining the differences among several of thecompeting units and why his brand was the

best water heater for the money. The unit hasdelivered all the hot water my wife and kids anda dog could soak up — and without a hiccup.”Cost-conscious: Buttz is proactive in educat-

ing both new and retrofit customers about tan-kless benefits, and he is careful to explain theneed for proper sizing. He also spells out thedifference in upfront costs, noting that Cook

40 Phc News — JUNE 2009Field RepoRt

Iowa plumber promotes tankless to energy conscious consumersWEST DES MOINES, IOWA — There’s no denying it: theworld is going green, and in a hurry. Home serviceproviders in virtually every sector — from manufactur-ers to builders to contractors to designers — are re-

John Buttz of Cook Plumbing believes it’s more important than ever to give consumers plumbing solutionsthat save both kinds of green — energy and money.

It’s becoming more important than everfor the plumbing industry to deliver solu-tions that reflect customers’ needs andvalues, and that includes saving bothkinds of green — energy and money.

http://www.RadiantPanelAssociation.org


Plumbing’s new tankless installa-tions typically run between $1,400-$1,600, while retrofits range from$1,600 to $2,200. “I try to see if there is a good place

to put the new tankless to make itless expensive for the homeownerand easier for us with the piping,” hesaid of retrofit installations. “I warnthe customer if we must boost thegas pressure, run longer gas or waterlines, or run extra metal flue piping,because all of that adds to the cost.”Buttz also uses his own positive ex-

perience with tankless technology tomake a strong statement to his cus-tomers. “I tell them I have one at myown house and how well it works.”Buttz converted from a tank water

heater to a tankless unit for the samereasons as his customers: to mini-mize energy usage and operatingcosts. “We kept running out of hotwater,” he said, noting that he ini-tially added a 40-gallon tank waterheater and tied in a recirculationunit, but found that it simply wasn’t

cost-effective. So he installed aRheem tankless unit with a flow rateof 7.4 gallons per minute (at a 45°F

rise in water temperature from thecold-water inlet of the water heaterto its hot-water outlet). Today, he

couldn’t be happier. “A little over a year ago, we

hosted seven bikers who were par-ticipating in a race across the state.We have three tub-showers, andthey used them all. We didn’t haveany issues with hot water. That wasa good test!”Feel-good purchase: As a true be-

liever in tankless technology, Buttzactively promotes the benefits to hiscustomers. “They are willing to paya little bit more up front if they feelthey are doing something good forthe environment,” he said. Tankless offers plenty to feel good

about. More energy efficient thanconventional tank heaters, tanklesswater heaters provide a continuoussupply of hot water, but only on de-mand. As a result, no energy isburned to continuously heat storedwater during idle periods. “We’re really happy with Rheem

tankless,” Buttz said, adding thatCook Plumbing has yet to receive asingle callback or complaint. �

Field RepoRt


Isolation valves such as these are used by Cook Plumbing to service tankless units,such as for flushing the system of lime deposits. The frequency of this proceduredepends on the hardness of the water in a locale.


The following report was com-piled by 2009 Piping &Equipment, Inc. This report

is published as a service to the PVFIndustry indicating the direction ofprices, lead times and market condi-tions reported by various domesticand import manufacturers as theybelieve the direction the market isheading each quarter.

STAINLESS STEEL PIPEPricing Stainless Steel Pipe man-ufacturers forecast a decrease of 3%- 5% during the second quarter dueto raw material costs, oversupply,lack of demand, competition, the fi-nancial crisis, and gas/oil prices.

Lead Times: Lead times are fore-cast for 4 – 8 weeks for material notshipping from factory stock. Fillrates are 40% - 50%. Inventories arebuilding at the mill level, as servicecenters are moving as much higherpriced metal out as possible. Re-placement orders are few and far be-tween and generally very small.Exotic alloys are especially hard hitbecause of their higher price point.

Comments: One manufacturercomments that there should bedumping suits because pipe millsthroughout the world are sellinghighly specialized material into theU.S. market at clearly predatorypricing. There is clearly an over-supply situation with most alloyingelements despite significant cut-backs in production. The demanddrop-off has been greater than thecutbacks. Please refer to the dump-ing suits listed under Carbon SteelPipe section.

STAINLESS STEEL WELD FITTINGS, 150 & HI-PRESSURE

FITTINGSPricing One stainless steel

fitting manufacturer indicates pricingto remain stable thru the 2nd quarterof 2009, while another indicates a 3%- 5% decrease due to oversupply, for-eign pressure, and supply. The indus-try is still experiencing soft demandand inventory is substantial.

Lead Times: Domestic fittings areshipping in 2 – 4 weeks with fill ratesfrom inventory of 80% - 90%. Largeod and specialty items are forecastfor 4 to 6 weeks or more.

Comments: Manufacturers com-ment that with the over capacity inthe global markets, dumping is stilloccurring quite regularly in the U.S.2009 will remain a cautious year formost as inventory balancing has af-

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fected prices and lead to a more con-servative and cautious customer. Ac-tivity is moderate to slow at thistime. There is a large supply of ma-terial in stock at the distributor andmaster-distributor level in both im-port and domestic fittings. Projectsare being downsized or cancelled al-together. Limited orders, but exces-sive quoting is taking place in today’smarket. Therefore, from a manufac-turing standpoint, it will be the lastquarter of 2009 before they expectany relief. They plan to pursuethe specials and quick turn-around business until the situa-tion improves. Virtually all of the key global

producers of nickel and theother key inputs of stainlesssteel have radically reducedproduction. Some producerscontinue to cut supplies to getmore in line with demand levelsand/or until the internationalprices become more favorable.

STAINLESS STEEL FLANGESPricing Stainless steel flange

manufacturers forecast price de-creases of approximately 5% onstainless and up to 10% down on spe-cial alloys — 7% due to raw materialcosts, supply, demand, foreign pres-sure, competition, and the ongoingfinancial crisis.

Lead Times: Lead times are fore-cast for 3 – 4 weeks with fill rates of30% to 50% shipping from inventory.High nickel or specialty items areforecast for 6 - 12 week deliveries.

Comments: One flange manufac-turer indicates that sales are down

considerably when compared to theaverage 2008 monthly sale as a re-sult of diminished pricing and lessdemand. Consequently, quoting ac-tivity is good, but fewer quotes areturning into orders. It is a buying op-

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portunity for end users, but theymay be waiting for the bottom beforeplacing the orders. The most volatileissues in the market remains the de-pressed economy, diminished pric-ing and high cost inventories.

CARBON STEEL PIPE — SEAMLESS, ERW AND CONTINUOUS WELD

Pricing: Seamless WeldedCarbon Steel seamless pipe manu-facturers are forecasting no change

for this quarter. However, the bottomhas dropped out on Carbon Steelerw pipe with the price falling from$2,000 per ton to $1,350 per ton.Some mills have been closed andbookings are slim.

Lead Times: Fill rates for carbonsteel is running about 40% - 50% withlead times up in the air due to lackof orders, but it is reasonable to see8 - 12 weeks. We may be experienc-ing some holes in inventory becausefew orders have been placed withmills during the first quarter of 2009.

Comments: The steel industry isexperiencing trouble in the overseasmarkets, as well as the domesticmarket. Raw steel production at U.S.mills has fallen to less than half ofthe 2008 weekly output. Ed Scott re-ported in the March ASA MaterialsMarket Digest that the productionfor the first eight weeks of 2009 was7.6 million tons, less than half of thecomparable 2008 period. And thisyear’s operating rate has yet to top45% of capacity while last yearAmerican mills routinely functionedat 90% or better. U. S. Steel has pad-locked the Lone Star Steel plant inTexas. Tmk Ipsco announced signif-icant cutbacks in its two octg plantsin western Pennsylvania.The Department of Commerce In-

ternational Trade Commissionunanimously found that Chinesepipe imports were injuring domesticproducers of comparable productsinvolving circular welded steel pipe,

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small diameter line pipe, light-walledrectangular tubing and most re-cently, stainless steel pipe. The man-ufacturers in the Oil CountryTubular filing listed below includeUnited States Steel of Pittsburgh,Pa.; Evraz Rocky Mountain Steel ofPueblo, Colo.; Tmk Ipsco of DownersGrove, Ill.; V&M Steel and V&M TCOof Houston, Texas; and WheatlandTube of Beachwood, Ohio. Investiga-tions or Dumping Suits in progressare noted in the chart below.

CARBON STEEL WELDFITTINGS AND FLANGES

Pricing: Fittings and Flanges Some manufacturers indicate a fore-

cast decrease in pricing of approxi-mately 5% - 10% due to raw materialcosts and foreign competition, whileothers indicate pricing to remainstable thru the second quarter.

Lead Times: Lead times for com-modity material is forecast for 1 - 2weeks with fill rates of 90% - 95%.Lead times for non-stock specialsare forecast for delivery in 2 - 3weeks.

Comments: The Asian foreignmanufacturers, in conjunction withtheir master distributors and privatelabeling networks have continued tobe an issue in the market place. Themassive inventories complied withsoftening sales volumes have createda deflation scenario with the importfittings. By using price as a leadingmarketing tool to sustain inventoryturns, deflation has occurred. Thesepractices have prompted the reduc-tion in domestic pricing. Demand is softening somewhat

yet raw material costs for seamlesspipe and raw forgings have remainedstable enough to hold current mar-ket levels. The market for commod-ity carbon steel fittings and forgedsteel flanges continues to remain ata steady pace while showing softnessin various market places. This is dueto a backlog of projects that havebeen initiated and that are fundedthrough the thirrd quarter of 2009.Liquidity in the financial marketswill be playing a significant role as to

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(Turn to PVF Industry, page 44.)

Most activity slow for near futurepiping RepoRt

Preliminary Phase Investigation Start Date End DateOil Country Tubular

701-TA-460-461 4/08/2009 6/02/2009Goods from ChinaFinal Phase Investigation Circular Welded Carbon

701-TA-455 and 9/09/2008 1/07/2009 CVDSteel Line Pipe from

731-TA-1149-1150 5/06/2009 ADChina and KoreaSteel Threaded Rod 731-TA-1145 10/08/2008 4/06/2009from ChinaWelded Stainless Steel

701-TA-454 andPressure Pipe

731-TA-1144 7/10/2008 3/02/2009

from China

The steel industry is experienc-ing trouble in the overseas

markets, as well as the domestic market. Raw steel production at U.S. mills has

fallen to less than half of the2008 weekly output.

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how the commercial constructionmarket will respond in the fourthquarter of 2009 and into 2010. Gov-ernment stimulus spending will be afactor as we move through the yearand see how well the mechanicalcontractors will be impacted. Thebig issue is the ability to obtain ade-quate financing for projects that areplanned and need to have the fundsto proceed.

FORGED STEEL FITTINGSPricing Forged steel fitting

manufacturers forecast reductions of5% - 10% for the second quarter 2009due to foreign pressure.

Lead Times: Fill rates remain inthe area of 90% - 95%. Deliveries are

forecast for 1 - 2 weeks for commod-ity forged steel material not in stock.Specials are forecast for 2 - 3 weeks.

Comments: The continued de-

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cline in oil patch has restricted vol-ume of forged steel fittings. The rigcount has dropped from nearly2,000 to a current level of 1,043. Thedepressed natural gas and oil prices,as a result of lower demand, are fore-cast to continue through the thirdquarter of this year. The abrupt de-cline in the oil patch caught distrib-utors with high inventories. Thedistributor continues to work theseinventories down, reducing replen-

ishment orders. The high invento-ries combined with depressedbusiness levels have resulted in a 20- 25% decrease. Manufacturers re-port reduced production in an effortto decrease inventories and parallelmanufacturing with the current levelof demand. It’s a continuous battleto adjust inventories and productionrates to new demand levels.

STAINLESS STEEL GATES,GLOBES, CHECK VALVES

Pricing Manufacturers ofstainless steel gate, globe and checkvalves forecast for a 1% - 2% decreasedue to raw material costs.

Lead Times: Deliveries for com-modity items continues to be fore-cast for 6 – 12 weeks with fill ratesremaining at 60% - 70%. Non-stock

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specials are forecast for 12 - 20weeks or more.

Comments: Producer Price IndexIndustry Data and released by theBureau of Labor Statistics releaseddata for 2008 through February 2009for industrial valve manufacturing forgates, globes and checks (P is pre -liminary data subject to revision 4months after original publication.)Series ID:PCU3329113329111/ In-dustrial Valve Manufacturing:

BRONZE AND IRON GATES,GLOBES AND CHECK VALVES

Pricing Bronze and Iron valvemanufacturers forecast their pricingto remain stable thru the secondquarter of 2009.

Lead Times: Orders continue toship in 4 – 6 weeks for bronze andiron valves. Fill rates remain con-stant for bronze valves at 60% - 70%,and iron valves at 80% - 90%. Non-stock specials are forecast for 12 - 20weeks for iron valves and 8 - 16weeks for bronze valves.

Comments: The scrap raw mate-rial costs on iron valves is stable inthe market.

CAST STEEL GATES, GLOBE AND CHECK VALVES

Pricing Manufacturers ofcast steel valves are forecasting adownward trend of 1% - 2% in pricingdue to raw material costs and othersindicate no change in pricing.

Lead Times: Fill rates are 60% -

70% for commodity cast steel valveswith deliveries forecast for 4 - 8weeks on commodity cast steel withspecialty cast steel valves still run-ning 16 —20 weeks or more.

Comments: See the ProducersPrice Index noted above for Stainlessgate, globe and check valves. Thosenumbers include the cast steel com-modity as well.

FORGED STEEL GATES, GLOBESAND CHECK VALVES

Pricing Pricing is forecast to re-main stable in the forged steel valves

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market for the 1st quarter of 2009.Lead Times: Forged steel valves

are shipping in 4 - 8 weeks. Fill ratesare running 60% - 70%. Deliveries ofspecial non-stock forged valves areforecast for 12 – 20 weeks or more.

QUARTER TURN VALVES — BALL AND WAFER

Pricing The steel quarter turnvalve market is not forecast tochange during the second quarter

’09. Manufacturers commentthat they are doing their best toprotect the pricing situation inview of business being down inspite of the overwhelming fac-tors presented to them such asthe financial crisis, gas and oilprices, labor rate, capacity, andcompetition.

Lead Times: Fill rates remain at20% - 30% for commodity materialwith lead times of 2 – 3 weeks. Non-stock specials are forecast for 12 –16 weeks or more depending on thematerial.

Comments: The ball valve manu-facturers are dealing with the de-clines in day-to-day business in allmarket areas. The declining oilprices, reduction in the petro-chem-ical and chemical business, and aslump in the downstream industriesare all factors concerning valve man-ufacturers. The Producer PriceIndex Industry Data and released bythe Bureau of Labor Statistics has re-leased the following data for 2008thru February 2009 for IndustrialValve Manufacturing of ball valves(all metals, pressures, and types): (Pindicates preliminary data subject torevision four months after originalpublication.) Series ID:PCU3329113329111C / IndustrialValve Manufacturing:

• • • • • • • • • • • •Printed by permission 2009 Pip-

ing & Equipment, Inc.Unauthorized reproduction of

any portion of this document is for-bidden without the written permis-sion of P&E.

This report is published as aservice to the PVF Industry indicat-ing the direction of prices, leadtimes, and market conditions re-ported by various domestic and im-port manufacturers as they believethe direction the market is headingeach quarter.

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PVF Industry

44 Phc News — JUNE 2009piping RepoRt





Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

2008 208.0 214.7 214.9 215.0 215.6 218.3

Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 222.0 219.9 219.1 219.3 223.4 P 223.1 P

2009 Jan Feb 220.8 P 220.9 P

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

2008 174/9 176.6 175.7 175.9 180.3 180.7

Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 182.7 183.2 183.9 183.9 184.3 P 184.3 P

2009 Jan Feb 184.3 P 183.4 P

The ball valve manufacturers aredealing with the declines in day-

to-day business in all marketareas. The declining oil prices, reduction in the petro-chemical

and chemical business, and a slump in the downstream industries are all factors.



Phc News — JUNE 2009 45piping RepoRt

Despite the ravages of the on-going deep recession, whichhas hit the construction sec-

tor especially hard, the role of ex-panded piping systems continues tostrengthen its importance as part ofthe mechanical contractor’s contribu-tion to the current and future devel-opment of construction as a whole.With accelerating technological de-

velopments imparting such diverseend-use factors as power generation,residential-commercial-industrialheating and cooling, transmission ofoil and natural gas, as well as the re-fining and blending of gasoline, theposition of the mechanical contractorwill increase in relative importance tofuture projects and their subsequentmaintenance and enhancement.Despite the impact of the ongoing

credit crunch on much of currentcommercial development, the greatercomplexity of piping systems canonly be resolved by the expertise ofthe mechanically savvy industry con-tractor, as these systems become im-perative as part of the overall projectdevelopment.The expertise of the plumbing-

heating-cooling-piping contractor isincreasingly being recognized by anexpanded segment of the PHCP sector.Whereas the industry’s mechanical

contractor’s role was rarely recog-nized in the wider scope of industrialapplications, especially energy, in thepast, an increasing number of suchwell-trained experts, emanating fromthe commercial end of our business,are finding their capabilities soughtafter by a broadening gamut of indus-trial project developments.Part of this is due to the decrease

of current opportunities in availablePHCP projects. But the reputation ofour industry’s mechanical expertise,and its practitioners is being in-creasingly appreciated by suchmajor turnkey constructors asFluor, Bechtel, Brown and Root, andHalliburton.The respect reflected in the work

already performed in the industrialarena by mechanical contractorshas opened doors, previously notavailable due to the limited under-standing of the sophistication andengineering knowhow that thesehighly trained mechanical expertsbring to the table.As the economy in general evolves

out of its current morass, the expan-sion of renewable energy programs,in addition to a comeback in conven-tional fossil fuels, will put an even

greater demand on the capability ofour industry’s mechanical experts.The current malaise from which

the PHCP sector is suffering may turnout to be the springboard for a morepermanent position of the mechani-cal contractor in the growing expan-sion of energy usage and itsincreasing piping system complexity.It’s a prime example of where a

temporary setback has created op-portunities for the superb mechani-cal knowhow of our industry andexpanded it into arenas where theirprevious involvements had been fewand far between.

Global electricity usage decline first since 1945

Global electricity usage, whichhad been playing catch-up early inthis decade, will fall by 3.5% in 2009,according to the Paris-based Inter-

national Energy Agency.Even China, the world’s leading

growth economy this year, will expe-rience a 2% fall in electricity by 2% incomparison with 2008. This is in faceof an 8% total economic expansionthis year, as reported by Beijing’s offi-cialdom. Russia, experiencing a majorletdown anticipates a severe electricalcutback of 10%. Simultaneously,countries in the Organization for Eco-nomic Cooperation & Developmentwill experience a fall of almost 5%.Seventy-five percent of the global

decline in consumption is accountedfor by industrial, rather than house-hold demand, reflecting China’sdrop in industrial activity for export.India, which is on a solid uptick, isactually increasing its consumptionby more than one percent this year.Despite the volatile nature of oil

demand, and that of other commodi-

ties during times of severe recession,a reversal in electrical usage hasnever occurred since the end ofWorld War II. In fact, forecasts ofelectricity usage before the currentlocal crisis had been projected at anincrease of 32.5% between 2006 and2015. World electricity increase ac-tually grew by 25% between 2000and 2006. In 2007, it rose 4.7%, andbefore the current financial crisisbroke out, it had enough momentum

(Turn to PHCP... page 46.)

PHCP Industry piping systems expand into broader markets

BY MORRIS BESCHLOSS,PVF and economic analyst emeritus


46 Phc News — JUNE 2009piping RepoRt

to end the year with a 2.5% increase.The International Energy Agency

is on board with the renewable en-ergy concept, but believes that plansin that direction by the world’s G20nations are totally inadequate. TheIEA is particularly disappointed thatconcern about greenhouse gas andCO² emissions by most developingnations is not even in the embry-onic stage. The Agency believes that United

Nations renewable energy targetshave no chance of being met underpresent conditions. It also predictedthat a new oil supply squeeze willmake itself felt by 2012. It cited adrop in availability, currently at twomillion barrels per day and another4.2 million barrels per day delayedby at least 18 months.

Clean Energy and Security Actreadied for congressional actionAt a time when the American

economy is struggling to extricate it-self from its recessionary morass,Congress is moving to push throughan ill-conceived, ill-considered en-ergy bill, whose end result could be-come catastrophic.Echoing Obama’s Chief of Staff

Rahm Emmanuel’s admonition,

“never miss an opportunity to takeadvantage of a crisis,” the President’sAdministration is moving aggres-sively forward to turn America’s en-ergy industry upside down toaccommodate the environmentalistsand would-be climatologists.Key to this misbegotten bill is the

odious cap-and-trade initiative,

which would drive businesses andpower generators to use less oil andcoal to slash emissions. According tothe Waxman-Markey Bill (namedafter its Congressional authors), itwould make businesses acquire pol-lution permits to cover their emis-sions and sell any spares.

No less a leading economic expertthan Harvard professor Martin Feld-stein, has voiced his concern regard-ing the ultimate effect on theconsumer’s pocketbook.A Congressional Budget Office

analysis of climate change policy es-timated that price increases associ-ated with a 15% cut in carbon

dioxide emissions would cost the av-erage U.S. household about $1600 ayear. The CBO analysis said low in-come householders would shouldera larger burden, as would families incoal dependent regions such as theOhio Valley.Additionally, the Waxman-Markey

Bill is more than just cap and trade.The proposal would establish re-quirements that utilities buy at least12% of their electricity from renew-able sources such as windmills, solarpanels, and geothermal technology.Another section of the bill pro-

motes ‘large scale’ programs to spurdemand for electric vehicles with in-centives for buying plug-in cars andbuilding charging stations.The act, if approved, would order

the Department of Energy to amendbuilding codes, making new build-ings 20% more efficient by 2010, and50% more efficient by 2016.If the bill is approved in its present

form, get ready to pay handsomelyon your future electric bills. Wouldyou believe a possible 50% increase?

Energy conference exudesguarded optimism

A short, but productive, three-daysojourn in the world’s energy capital,Houston, culminated in a gatheringof 200 manufacturers, distributors,turnkey contractors, specifiers andfabricators. this was one of fourmeetings a year of the Pipe-Valve-Fitting Roundtable, of which I havejust been selected as board memberemeritus.The key event of the evening was

the induction of two leading manu-facturers and one outstanding dis-tributor into the PVF Hall of Fame.This illustrious industry hallmarkhas chosen relatively few prestigiousindustry companies and individualsto focus on the significant stridesmade by this energy-related sector,serving all aspects of energy develop-ment, transmission, refining, con-struction, and maintenance. TheHall of Fame was founded sevenyears ago by the Wholesaler Publica-tion, of which I am chief economistand industry analyst.The theme running through the

intense networking preceding theRoundtable Hall of Fame awards,and a comprehensive presentationon export procedures and regula-tions, was guarded optimism regard-ing the increasing activity in powergeneration, as well as the expectedcomeback in oil and natural gas ex-pansion by early next year.Inventory heavy master distribu-

tors who service conventionalwholesalers and the national gamutof pipe-valve-fitting specialists

PHCP expansion(Contiued from page 44.)

Despite the impact of the ongoing credit crunch on much of current commercial development, the greater complexity

of piping systems can only be resolved by the expertise of the mechanically savvy industry contractor, as these systems become

imperative as part of the overall project development.

The Easy Pipe Support System

09-PHC1P003


seemed to agree that an uptick inbusiness was drawing more goodsout of inventory than were being re-plenished. Among manufacturers,who admitted to substantial reduc-tion from last year’s record revenuepace, there were practically no plansfor capital expansion, due to the lowcapacity utilization being used atthis time.One exception was a fast-growing

energy industry specialty manufac-turer who has become active in theCanadian oil sands projects. WeldingOutlets Inc. President Sheryl Micha-lak, who had just returned from abusiness evaluation in the oil-richAlberta tar sands region, related astrong outlook for further oil-pro-ducing projects next year. At pres-ent, she commented, currentprojects are being maintained. Butfuture major development awaits ex-pected demand comeback and priceincrease activity, she added.This coincides with announced

anticipation that 25% of America’s

oil needs will be met from Canada’star sands projects within the nextthree years.With India’s expansion facilitated

by favorable political developments,and the new Tata automobile pro-ducer, and China aggressively en-compassing a greater percentage ofits consumer sector into the modernarena, slackening of American de-mand, if it occurs, will be more thanoffset by the two dynamic Asian gi-ants’ purchases.

Capital spending continuesdownward spiral

Despite the green shoots of recov-ery popping increasingly through thedark soil bed of recession, no suchhope is emanating from capitalspending, the real indicator of a solidbusiness turnaround.In fact, most companies are still in

the process of cutting costs as theyattempt to reduce production andoverhead expenses to maintain mea-ger profits, while demand is still in

an embryonic recovery stage.Latest statistics support this ad-

verse reaction. After a long run ofquarter annual gains, capital spend-ing took a 20% plus dive in businessoutlays in 2008’s fourth quarter,and an even worse plunge of a high30’s percentage in this year’s firstquarter.The reduced spending outlays for

a range of products from forklifttrucks on the shop floor to comput-ers in increasingly empty office spaceaccounted for a major portion of the6.1% annualized decline in first quar-ter gross domestic product. It’s esti-mated that the precipitous capitalspending drop since the end of lastyear’s third quarter is the worst sincethe 1930’s Depression days.Hit hardest in the most recent

quarter were expenditures for indus-trial machinery, which came close toa 50% drop on a year-to-year annu-alized basis. Even data processingequipment was not spared, droppingmore than at the time of the technol-

ogy bubble bust in 2001.Also hit hard have been trans-

portation equipment and construc-tion machinery, reaching levels closeto a 50% drop-off from a year ago.Although credit availability has

eased markedly since last fall, busi-nesses are loath to tool up for expan-sion as they face an over capacitythat will take a long time to absorbexisting production capability.Capacity utilization of America’s

industrial plants fell to a record low65.8% in March, far below the histor-ical average of close to 80%. Not in-substantial as part of this currentgloomy capital spending outlook isthe U.S. Government’s warnings ofhigher taxes and a cutback in pro-duction incentives in the monthsand years to come. �

Morris Beschloss, a 49-year vet-eran of the pipe, valves and fittingsindustry, serves as PVF and eco-nomic analyst for Phc News andThe Wholesaler.

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Proven reliability of CPVC join-ing system allows plumbers toenjoy the benefits of joints under-slab with confidence.

The concept of installing jointsunderslab in new constructionisn’t novel for Steve Medland.

Medland, vice president at Advan-tage Plumbing, in Sanford, Fla., hastackled this simple, proven methodof plumbing for slab-based housingusing FlowGuard Gold® chlorinatedpolyvinyl chloride (CPVC) pipe andfittings, which has been in theFlorida plumbing code for over 25years. In fact, his firm does most ofits work in underslab applications.“I’ve always liked CPVC even before

I started using it for joints underslabwork,” says the 20-year-plus indus-try veteran, noting that the fact CPVCpipe and fittings join easily and per-manently with solvent cement is abig benefit of this kind of piping sys-tem for both traditional plumbingand underslab applications.“I don’t like mechanical fittings.

They’re too weak and prone to fail-ure,” he says.For this reason, among others,

Medland says he never would goback to trying to do underslab workusing copper pipe or other piping

materials. He ran into too manyproblems, both during installationand afterwards.

Seeking underslab solutionsJoints underslab installation has

grown in popularity due to newhousing construction trends. Con-struction of basements in Americanhomes is on the decline thanks tohousing booms in the southern andwestern United States, where themajority of homes are built on a slab.Although basements remain popularin the Midwest and Northeast, asmuch as 20 percent of new homes in

these regions are even being built onslabs due to cost considerations..As a result, plumbers face increas-

ingly more of what many in the in-dustry perceive to be the mostchallenging installation — plumbingunder a concrete slab. Numeroushorror stories surround product fail-ures that occur beneath the slab –not only because they’re costly butalso inconvenient.Historically, plumbers have tried

several different installation meth-ods when faced with designing andinstalling systems for slab homes.Many have opted to run plumbing inthe walls and overhead to bypass theslab and any potential problems thatcould occur beneath it. Thismethod, however, results in addedcost because of the dramatic in-crease in labor and material usage.Coils, whether plastic or metal, ini-

tially appeared to be attractive. Manyof them have since proven to be cum-bersome and unyielding. Additionally,contractors experienced spikes in ma-terial waste because, as the coil be-came smaller, the remaining materialoften was tossed in favor of a new,larger and easier-to-maneuver coil.Some underground PEX pipe instal-

lations also have resulted in a ques-tionable track record, largely as aresult of permeation concerns. PEX isknown for its susceptibility to pene-tration from harmful chemicals thatcould be in the ground, such as pesti-cides and other petroleum products.It is for this reason that California,when choosing to revise its plumbingcode to allow the use of PEX in thestate (starting August 2009), requiresthat PEX installed underground mustbe protected in an “approved” sleeve.The other method, joints under-

slab, has traditionally left contrac-tors skeptical about its dependabilityand financial viability. Copper has atrack record of problems due in partto its reaction with the componentsthat comprise concrete. Corrosivesoil conditions, particularly incoastal areas, have led to a signifi-cant increase in metallic pipe fail-ures and costly underslab repairs.Copper is also a prime target for job-site theft, thanks to escalating prices.Despite these problems, many con-

tractors still view joints underslab asa preferred, cost-effective, time-sav-ing installation method, as long as thematerial being installed has a depend-able joining system and is not proneto corrosion or pitting. All majorplumbing codes, including the Uni-form Plumbing Code (UPC) and theInternational Plumbing Code (IPC),permit the use of CPVC joints under-slab. And plumbing contractors usethis method all over the U.S. whereapproved by local code jurisdictions.Why? CPVC is immune to the cor-

rosive effects of both water and soil.It does not pit, scale or corrode, re-gardless of the environment. Con-sequently, it’s ideal for use in soilconditions too harsh for copper oreven with the salty air of coastalenvironments.More importantly, CPVC piping sys-

tems have highly reliable joints. Inmetallic systems, the joint is theweakest link and very often theplace where leaks start. Solvent-ce-mented CPVC joints actually arestronger than the pipe or fittingalone, an important consideration inboosting the confidence of a buildingcontractor deciding to approve theuse of joints underslab.In Central Florida, Shawn Scott of

Ocala-based Mike Scott Plumbing hasbeen installing CPVC joints underslab,

Joints underslab — reliable,economical and time-saving(if you use the right material)

PiPing Field RePoRt

The combined benefits of durable CPVC pipe and fittings make such systems anideal choice for joints underslab installation.

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using FlowGuard Gold pipe and fit-tings, for more than 10 years afterswitching over from copper, whichfrequently leaked under the slab. “We were putting in copper, and it

was making us look bad,” Scott said.“We started looking for an alternativeproduct and moved onto FlowGuardGold CPVC pipe and fittings becausewe didn’t have to solder and realizedthe joint was stronger. Installation wasless labor intensive than with copper.”Medland agreed. “You get a far bet-

ter joint with CPVC pipe and fittingsthan you do with metallic systems,”he said, adding that it’s one of the rea-sons his company does 99 percent ofits work with CPVC joints underslab.Scott said his firm still handles at

least five to 10 re-piping jobs eachmonth where they are replacing cop-per joints underslab because ofleaks. “It’s a copper failure, not aninstaller’s failure,” he said.Besides the strength of the joint,

there are numerous other reasonsfor installing CPVC joints underslab,including:• Material savings. There’s less

material waste during installation ofrigid FlowGuard Gold CPVC pipe. Ad-ditionally, fewer feet of pipe are re-quired for underslab installationcompared to overhead installations.• Labor savings. A one-step join-

ing system using solvent cementeliminates the need to roll, mani-fold, flux and solder. This makesFlowGuard Gold CPVC pipe fasterand easier to install than metal pipeor even CPVC coils.“There’s definitely a noticeable

labor savings with FlowGuard CPVCpipe and fittings,” Scott said.“There’s no sanding, no fluxing andno soldering. That keeps us on thefast track. You can save roughly twohours per job.”• Better insulation. CPVC pipe of-

fers superior insulating propertiescompared to copper pipe. “It requires much less insulation

on the recirculation lines,” Scottsays. “The insulating factor is whatconvinced our builders to let us in-stall FlowGuard Gold CPVC pipeusing joints underslab.”• No conflict with other trades. Be-

fore the slab is poured, there arefewer contractors on the job site.This gives the plumbing crew morespace and flexibility for installation.Once the slab is in, other trades starttheir work, as well, meaningplumbers would have to work aroundelectricians, HVAC professionals andnumerous other tradesmen.Pricing also comes into play. Un-

like copper, which is subject to pric-ing fluctuations, CPVC productpricing is more stable. �

BY LARRY THAU

In 1989, the United Nations definedsustainability as the ability “tomeet the needs of the present with-

out compromising the ability of futuregenerations to meet their own needs.”With buildings consuming an esti-mated 40 percent of all energy used inthe United States today, building own-ers, architects and other stakeholdersare discovering significant economicand social advantages to designing andbuilding for a healthier planet. Sustainable (green) development

starts with the following commitmentson the part of the building owner: tominimize site impact by preservingtrees and wetlands; to conserve energy,water and other resources; to reducedust, noise and air pollution; to use re-newable materials and to plan for theimpact of transportation and parkingon the surrounding neighborhoods.In addition to promoting aesthetic

and social harmony, green buildingsprovide real cost savings for owners,during initial construction, as well asover a structure’s life cycle, throughsavings in energy consumption andmaintenance. Sustainable design in-volves more than just site orientationand energy-saving construction tech-niques. What goes into a building in theway of infrastructure is equally impor-tant. Well-planned HVAC, plumbing andother mechanical engineering systemsare essential to making a building sus-tainable throughout its life cycle. Sustainability is an ongoing process

in which every manufacturer and fab-ricator of building systems plays a keyrole. This article will describe howgrooved mechanical piping systemspromote sustainability and a future ofsafe and efficient operations, frommanufacture and installation throughoperations and maintenance.

Mechanical grooved piping systemsrooted in sustainability

Grooved mechanical piping was in-vented in 1925 and was used duringWorld War I to rapidly deploy essentialresources such as fuel and water to theAllies. Through the years, mechanicalpiping systems were increasingly usedon HVAC, plumbing and fire protectionapplications, due to the time and laborsavings associated with installation.Today, grooved piping systems are anexcellent alternative to soldering andbrazing for potable water distribution,equipment connections on pumps,water softeners and filters, as well asdrain, waste and vent piping.

Grooved systems employ a provenroll grooving process to join piping,valves and other components. Using asimple, two-bolt coupling design, pip-efitters can make rugged, secure jointsquickly and easily, using only basichand tools. With a union at every joint,contractors have maximum field flexi-bility for on-site decision making. All

couplings are sealed for optimum in-tegrity by means of a durable elas-tomeric gasket designed to withstandyears of sustained high compressiveand cyclical loads. Grooved joining technology is

rooted in sustainability; its inherentqualities naturally make it environ-mentally friendly. Even before the evo-lution of the green building trend thegrooved piping system provided amore efficient, cleaner and safer sys-tem versus other pipe joining methods,such as welding, soldering or brazing.

Reducing the need for welding, sol-dering or brazing means better airquality, less particulate matter re-leased into the atmosphere and de-creased fire risk. There also is lessmaterial waste, reducing site impact.Indoor and outdoor air quality are pre-served because there are no fumes orparticulate matter to endanger work-ers or the environment. Finally, highlyrecoverable material content is usedduring the manufacturing of groovedpiping system components.

Products made from natural resources

Most top-of-the-line manufacturershave in place processes that help to re-duce dependency on natural re-sources, promoting sustainablemanufacturing. The manufacturers ofgrooved mechanical piping systemsare without exception. Most groovedproducts use recycled steel, and theproducts are manufactured using thenatural elements of fire, sand, waterand air. Products may be painted usinga dip coating application, which, un-like spray painting, does not atomize,so it is not a source of regulated pollu-tant emissions. In addition, dip coatingeliminates the need for volatile sol-vents that are used to thin paints inthe spray painting process. The manufacture of mechanical sys-

tems requires the use of sand molds.The re-use of sand for the molding of(Turn to Grooved Piping, page 51.)

How to achieve sustainability through mechanical grooved piping systems



PiPing RePoRt

The flame-free installation of mechani-cal pipe joints is inherently safer andeasier to work with, leading to safer jobsites for workers and the environment.





50 Phc News — JUNE 2009PiPing RePoRt

Lightning is a highly destruc-tive force. Even a nearbylightning strike that does not

strike a structure directly can causesystems in the structure to becomeelectrically energized. Lightningstrikes vary in strength from 1,000amps at the low end to 200,000amps peak; a typical strike contains10,000 - 20,000 amps. Despite the damaging nature of

lightning, lightning protection sys-tems are generally not required. TheNational Electric Code (NEC) and theNational Fuel Gas Code do not con-sider lightning protection withintheir scope and, instead, rely on theelectrical grounding system, whichis not designed to handle currentfrom lightning strikes. Differences in potential between

systems may cause the charge to arcbetween systems. In fact, all metallic

systems (the electrical, plumbing andheating and air conditioning, for ex-ample) can be affected by lightning

strikes. Safety isn’t just about howeach system is installed; it’s abouthow each installation relates to othermetallic systems.

Such arcingcan cause dam-age to corrugatedstainless steeltubing (CSST) andother systems.Bonding andgrounding shouldreduce the risk ofarcing and re-lated damage.NEC Section250.104b notestates that“bonding all pip-ing and metal airducts within thepremises willprovide addi-tional safety.” All continuous

metallic systems in a multi-unithome or commercial building shouldbe bonded and grounded for addi-

tional lightning safety. The ownershould confirm with an electrical orconstruction specialist that each con-tinuous metallic system in a structurehas been bonded and grounded by anelectrical professional, in accordancewith local building codes. This shouldinclude, but is not limited to, metallicchimney liners, metallic chimney lin-ers, metallic appliance vents, metallicducting and piping, electrical cablesand structural steel. Care should be taken when in-

stalling any type of fuel gas piping(including CSST, iron or copper) tomaintain as much separation as rea-sonably possible from other electri-cally conductive systems in thebuilding. Refer to section 4.3, Rout-ing, in the Gastite Design and Instal-lation Guide for proper installationtechniques.

Consult local building codesLocal building codes are control-

ling. As a general practice, however,fuel gas piping, including CSST, shouldnot be installed within a chase or en-closure that houses a metallic chim-ney liner or appliance vent thatprotrudes through the roof. In theevent that such an installation is nec-essary and conforms to the localbuilding codes, the metallic chimneyliner or vent must be bonded andgrounded by a qualified electrical pro-fessional. A separation distance, asspecifically permitted by the applica-ble local building code between theCSST and the metallic chimney liner orvent is required. Physical contact be-tween the metallic chimney linerand/or the vent is prohibited. If thisphysical separation cannot be specif-ically identified in the local buildingcode and achieved or if any localbuilding code requirements cannot bemet along the entire length, thererouting of the CSST is required, un-less such installation is specificallypermitted by the local building in-spector. Bonding and grounding should re-

duce the risk of arcing and relateddamage. The builder owner shouldconfirm that a qualified contractorhas properly bonded the CSST gassystem to the grounding electrodesystem of the premises. Ensuring lightning safety is very

important for engineers and design-ers of a HVAC and electrical systems.It is essential to understand that allmetallic systems within a home canbe affected by lightning strikes.Looking at all the systems and howthey relate to each other is the onlyway to ensure lightning safety. �

Dave Burke is applications engi-neering manager for Gastite.

Bonding all metallic systems for better lightning safety

Certain areas of the United States have a higher risk of lightningstrikes. Areas include Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois,Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi,Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania,South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.


products limits the use of additionalraw materials, and sand reclamationprograms significantly reduce theamount of sand being sent to landfillseach year.

Sustainable job sites

During installation, mechanicalgrooved piping systems significantlyreduce or eliminate waste, emissionsand noise pollution on the job site,providing a safer and healthier envi-ronment.The reduced need for soldering re-

duces emissions on the job site.Byproducts of solder fumes can con-tain lead oxide, carbon monoxide,V.O.C. (volatile organic compounds)and hydrochloric acid, in addition tomany other harmful particles andgases. The elimination of these harm-ful pollutants means less airborne pol-lution, providing not only for a moresustainable environment but also for asafer job site during construction,maintenance or retrofit work,A grooved mechanical pipe joint

does not require the use of electricityduring installation, reducing the drawon burdened power resources. Pipesthat are joined by welding or solder-ing require the use of vast amounts of

electricity for prolonged periods oftime consuming up to 4,000 watts ofenergy per hour on an eight-inchjoint.The installation of a grooved me-

chanical joint is cleaner than the in-stallation of soldered joints, thusreducing on-site job waste. Unlike sol-dering and brazing methods, groovedmechanical joints do not require flux

to seal the joint, which must be flushedand cleaned from the system prior tooperation. Additionally, soldered sys-tems often require as much as 35% re-work for failures discovered whenpressurizing and testing the completedsystem, which requires additional re-

sources. Grooved mechanical pipejoints can be visually inspected forproper installation, so re-work is min-imal, saving energy, resources andtime on the job.

Sustainability for the future of a building

Energy costs typically represent30% of a building’s annual budget andare the single largest operating cost(Energy Star). The Energy SystemsLab at Texas A&M University indi-cated that energy use in buildings

could be reduced from 10 to 40% byimproving operational strategies inbuildings, including main tenancestrategies.In a plumbing system, booster

pumps and strainers need routinemaintenance to operate efficiently;less deferred maintenance means ahigher level of energy efficiency. With(Turn to Sustainability.... page 60.)

Grooved Piping(Continued from page 49.)

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Pipes that are joined bywelding or soldering requirethe use of vast amounts ofelectricity for prolonged

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Video inspection systemThe economical Gen-Eye POD™ in-tegral camera sys-tem combines minicolor camera, reel, andmonitor in an all-in-onepackage. Features a 5.6"LCD monitor in apadded case with sun-screen. Monitor ismounted on a 355°swivel gooseneckfor easy viewing.Mini-reel carries125 ft. or 175 ft.of push rod andthe color mini-camerais small enough to troubleshoot 2" to4" lines. Video out connection letsyou record to external device. Anoptional 512 Hz transmitter is avail-able. General Pipe Cleaners, a divi-sion of General Wire Spring.


Sawzall diamond bladesDiamond Grit Torch™ Sawzall®

Blades offer extended life and im-proved performance in cast iron; fea-ture coarse industrial diamond gritembedded in high strength nickelalloy braze. Blades last up to 30xlonger and cut up to 2x faster thantraditional carbide grit blades. A 1"tall profile delivers straight, cleancuts. Available in 9" and 6" lengths.Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp.


Expansion toolsThree special expansion cleaningtools have been added to company’s

accessory kit for mainline machines.The 3-bladed tools are available in 3sizes: 3"-4", 4"-6" and 4"-8" and areconstructed of heavy-duty heat-treated steel for longer life. Bladescan be replaced separately for costsavings and the expansion tools allfeature the snap-lock quick connectcoupling. Electric Eel Mfg. Co.


Fast-acting drain cleanerGreen-Blaster is specifically formu-lated for use by professional plumb-ing maintenance personnel workingin hotels, restaurants, apartmentand condo-m i n i u mcomplexes,n u r s i n ghomes ands c h o o l s .O p e n sd r a i n sclogged bygrease, hairand otherorganic mat-ter, controlsroot growth,and opensgrease trapsfast withoutthe dangersassociated with acid type drainopeners. J.C. Whitlam Mfg. Co.


Handheld pressing toolThe M20+ and the P20+ profes-sional-grade pressing machines arebringing increased productivity, timesavings and ease of job execution tothe skilled plumber and pipe trades-man. VIRAX M20+ is a compact pistolgrip pressing machine the size of acordless drill. Stanley VIRAX.


Bi-metal ship auger bitThis bi-metal ship auger bit has aunique bi-metal construction that al-lows the bit to outlast the competi-tion. Uses the same technology asreciprocating saw blades; its hard,high speed steel screw tip and cut-ting edges give the bit much longertool life in tough applications, in-cluding nail encounters that candamage or break competitive shipauger bits. LENOX.


52 Phc News — JUNE 2009tool CRib

SeeSnake® microDrain™ Inspection System The SeeSnake® microDrain™ inspection system allows for quick inspectionin places previously difficult to inspect, providing accessibility, efficiency andreduced job time. The compact microDrain inspection system features a 30-foot flexible cable and a small 22-millimeter diameter camera head that allowsfor access through many toilet traps and small P traps without the need todisassemble or dismantle plumbing fixtures. RIDGID.


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Waterless urinalThis manufacturer understands theimportance in preserving our naturalresources by using eco-friendly ma-terials, so it has introduced its water-less urinal. The urinal is designed tocombine at-t r a c t i v elooks, van-dal resist-ance andversatility.Constructedof 95% recy-cled stain-less steelma t e r i a l ,the urinalrequires no water and has a remov-able strainer. Options include ADArim height, black matte, white glossor other custom powder coat fin-ishes to match your environment.Acorn Engineering.


Solar X-Pump BlockThe popular, all-in-one X-PumpBlock now meets solar thermal ap-

plicationsas a com-plete solarm i x i n gsystem,c o m -bining a

v a r i a b l es p e e ds o l a rmixingcontrol,

heat sourcecirculator and heat ex-

changer into a single unit. Stainlesssteel, brazed plate counterflow styleheat exchanger isolates the heat cre-ation source side of the system (solarcollector) and the heat sink side(storage tank). Maintains a setpointdifferential between the solar collec-tor and a primary and optional aux-iliary storage tank; it can support abooster pump as part of a drainbacksystem, and features an intelligentheat dump option and freeze protec-tion for open systems. Taco Inc.


Hi output residential gas water heatersThe M-I 60-gallon and M-4 60-gallonmodels offer a 40,000 Btu/hr input

with a 90-gallonfirst hour delivery.These high-vol-ume, high-outputconventional-ventresidential prod-ucts provide morehot water and areavailable in bothnatural and LP gasmodels. They fea-ture the DefenderSafety System®

flammable vaporignition resistanttechnology. Hy-

drojet® Total Performance cleaningsystem helps reduce sediment build-up, increases first-hour delivery,minimizes thermal stratification.Bradford White.


FreeHand™ high efficiency flush valvesEasy-to-operate FreeHand™ high ef-ficiency flush valves promote waterand energysavings byusing an in-frared sen-sor beam toactivate aflush cyclewhen auser is inrange, en-suring effi-cient wateruse and theultimate ins a n i t a r yprotection.FreeHand high efficiency flushvalves also help promote water sav-ings with new low flow rates. Watercloset flush valves feature a flow rateof 1.28 gpm, a 20% savings from theindustry standard of 1.6 gpm. Free-Hand high efficiency urinal flushvalves feature a flow rate of 0.5 gpm,a 50% savings from the industrystandard of 1.0 gpm. Moen Incorpo-rated’s Commercial Division.


Low-VOC solvent cementsIn response to increasing public con-cern, requests from contractors andthe requirements of governmentagencies in some areas of the U.S.,company has added low-VOV solventcements, primers and cleaners to its’line of products, in a variety of for-mulations and sizes, for use with PVC,ABS and CPVC pipe. These low-VOCproducts meet the requirements forLEED accredited projects and areas ofthe country where the use of low-VOC products is required. Rectorseal.


Roof pipe supportC-PORT roof pipe support product isengineered to be installed onto roofswithout any penetration and to sup-

port the load of pipes used with var-ious rooftop equipment. Made fromrecycled tires, which makes them aneasy way to earn LEED points. Therubber composition of the productalso provides vibration damping andlong life. In stock at the company’sChicago head office, in addition toselect distribution centers through-out the country. MIFAB.


Master tempering valve seriesSeries N170-M3, the next generationof master tempering valves for hotwater distribution in commercialand institutional facilities, includesfive valves (3/4", 1", 11/4", 11/2" and2"), and is listed to ASSE 1017 and re-

places the current SeriesN170-M2. Complies with CSA

B125.3 through IAPMOand carries the cUPCseal. Although the

N170-M3 hasbeen re-en-gineered, itmaintains

the exact roughing-in dimensions ofits Series M2 predecessor for trouble-free direct replacement. Watts.


54 Phc News — JUNE 2009PRoduCt news

� Phc News product of the month �

See for yourself with the VIS Series miniature cameraThe pan-and-tilt miniature camera and LED light provide an all-encompassingview of even the darkest spaces. Equipped with a TFT color monitor, the VISSeries will give you brilliant and recordable images of spaces to show yourcustomers and prove what needs to be done. Analyze defects in water pipesand inspect flue-gas lines, chimneys, heating lines, ducts, and more. Wohler.


SloanStone® solid surface lav systemVandal-resistant sinks stand up tohigh-use commercial restroom use.Concave basins with slightly pitched

counter

spacebetween each basinkeep water from pooling; sloped,one-piece molded surface provides asleek, clean, level appearance. Bio-Deck lav styles are made fromground-up corn cobs that replace pe-troleum-based materials. Bio-Linelavatories come with either oval-shaped, drop-in stainless-steel bowlsor undermount porcelain bowls.Sloan Valve Co.


Phc News — JUNE 2009 55PRoduCt news

� Phc News product of the month �

New generation of circulators slashes energy consumptionALPHA is an energy-optimized, 115-volt circulator featuring a permanent mag-net motor design that will cut power consumption by a minimum of 50%, ascompared with other circulators in its class. Designed for hydronic heatingapplications in residential and light-commercial applications, the compactALPHA is equipped with the manufacturer’s unique AUTOADAPT function thatautomatically modulates circulator performance to match ever-changing sys-tem demand. Grundfos Pumps.


Hand washing sinkThe WS-1100 all-in-one hand washingsink is easy to install. Under onemodel number, the kithas an inte-grated back-s p l a s h ,s i n g l e - h o l ef a u c e tmount,d r a i na s semb lykit and wall-mount bracket. Madefor use with the ChekPoint EC-3101electronic faucet and may qualify to-wards credits for LEED certificationthrough water conservation. Idealfor restaurants, hospitals, schoolsand institutions where hand washingis frequent. T&S Brass.

Circle 120 on Reader Reply

UltraPress ball valvesThe UltraPress™ full port brass ballvalves is designed for use in press-

connection systems. The valve isavailable in both Press-to-Press (BA-480B) and Threaded-to-Press (BA-490B) ends. Designed for potablewater, mechanical HVAC and processwater apps, UltraPress offers a fasterinstallation alternative to traditionalsolder or threaded joints. The Ultra-Press ends are designed to work withcompression tools and equipmentcommonly used in the plumbing andHVAC contractor communities. Mil-waukee Valve.


Wall-mounted condensing boilerWall-mounted Vitodens 200 modu-lated condensing boiler offers superbefficiency and reliability. The Inox-Radial heat exchanger surface of

high-alloy stain-less steel and themodulating Ma-triX-compact gasburner make formaximum en-ergy usage withminimum emis-sions and smallspace require-ments. Up to 98%efficient with fullmodulation and

95.2% AFUE on all models and topheat exchanger reliability. Compactand lightweight with multiple vent-ing options; runs quietly, can be in-stalled in living areas. Viessmann.


Extra heavy seamless pipe nipplesCompany has expanded its steelpipe nipple product line; extra heavyblack seamless nipples range from1/8" to 4" diameter, and up to 12" inlength. They meet or exceed all ASTMand ANSI standards, to include ASTMA-106 Gr. B, for material and ANSIB1.20.1 for threading. For high pres-sure industrial applications such ashydraulic, petrochemical and refin-ery operations and other markets forwhich higher pressure applicationsare necessary. Matco-Norca.


Advocate™ Lavatory SystemA personal handwashing station pro-vides an all-in-one experience, sinceaccess to water, soap and hand dryer

are available

withina user’s individ-ual space. Maker’s exclu-sive and contemporary-lookingdesign keeps all handwashing ele-ments in immediate reach, so theuser doesn’t need to move, minimiz-ing dripping water on the floor andwasted paper towels. Bradley Corp.


Hybrid boiler controlThe Mini-MOD-CNC lets owners effec-tively and efficiently control a boiler

system that

utilizes bothcondensingand non-condensing boilers. Auto-matically mixes and matches non-condensing boiler operation andcondensing boiler operation to opti-mize efficiency of a combined sys-tem. It also allows mixed control ofmodulating and staging boilers.Faster ROI; automatically switches tohigh mass boilers when the heat re-quirements approach design loads.Heat-Timer Corp.


Seismic bracing attachmentFast Clamp offers 12" of overall ad-justment for rough-in style installa-tion, taking the guess work out of cutlengths. “Fast Attach” yoke design iseasy to install for multiple hangerrod sizes. Figure 985 fits trapeze-style or single pipe hangers and isavailable in two sizes: 3/8" - 5/8"hanger rod size and 3/4" - 7/8" hangerrod size. Fig. 986 comes in a standard1/2" rod size (other sizes available),and is designed to be the upper orstructural attachment. TOLCO, adivision of NIBCO Inc.


Just-Lift commercial fastening systemDesigned specifically for the hospi-tality and healthcare industries, theJust-Lift hinge enables the seat to bepulled straight up from the open po-sition, creating a 1.5" gap betweenthe seat and bowl for more thoroughcleaning than traditional hingesallow. After cleaning, the seat is justpushed down, making the hingeflush with the bow. The Just-Lifthinge system has been teamed upwith Sta-Tite® Commercial Fasten-ing System™, which delivers fasterinstallation speeds while eliminatingthe need for labor-intensive retight-ening of loose seats. Bemis Mfg.


Automatic explosion proof pumpsHigh head pumps for submersiblesewage or dewatering applications.Motors FM listed for Class 1, Division1, Group C and D environments.Durable cast iron cover, motoradapter and pump housing withstainless steel parts. In 2" or 3" NPTflange discharge. Zoeller Pump Co.


Z-one™ zone valvesUpdated 6-page brochure conveysspecification data including perform-ance, material and dimensional in-formation specific to Z-one™ zonevalves, used to automatically shut-offthe flow or redirect hot and chilledwater in hydronic heating and airconditioning systems. Caleffi.


SYNC™ condensing boilerThe new SYNC condensing boilerequipped with the advanced SMARTTOUCH touchscreen control system.Stainless steel heat exchanger andmodulating/condensing combustiondeliver thermal efficiency as high as98% in low water temperature oper-ations. Lochinvar Corp.


Temperature limiting valves4-page color brochure describestemperature limiting valves. Model170 single outlet mixing valves forlavatories and sinks, and Models 270& 370 for single or multiple outletmixing valves, for lavatories, sinks orsmall hot water heater applicationsare featured. Leonard Valve Co.


Medical industry piping brochureProviding Safe, Reliable and Cost-Effective Piping Solutions for theMedical Industry brochure high-lights the BlazeMaster CPVC firesprinkler system, combination Flow-Guard Gold/Corzan CPVC plumbingsystem and Corzan CPVC chemicalwaste drainage system. Lubrizol.


High-efficiency products brochureProviding high efficiency dual flushtoilets, high efficiency and waterlessurinals and stylish bathroom sinks,this multifold brochure contains allproducts available, water savings po-tential compared to other toilets andan explanation of siphonic versuswashdown technology. Caroma.


Labor Saver® fixture supportFigure number 0710 has been de-signed to speed installation by usinga one-piece rigid frame, pre-assem-bled steel construction. Oxbow sym-metrically designed fixture supportallows room for the waste piping andfeatures horizontal and vertical ad-justability. Jay R. Smith Mfg. Co.


Fire sprinkler piping guideCompany has published its newcomprehensive 72-page CPVC FireSprinkler Piping Installation Guideto provide the fire sprinkler industrywith its most comprehensive printedresource for technical data on in-stalling CPVC fire sprinkler systems.Harvel Plastics, Inc.


Commercial products catalogCommercial Division announces theits 2009 commercial products cata-log, featuring products that are“Built for the Real World.” Compre-hensive, easy-to-use guide detailslook at Moen Commercial productsthat offer durability, vandal resist-ance and energy efficiency. Moen.


RIDGID product catalog The 234-page color full-line catalogincludes new products and reader-friendly features to help guide cus-tomers in choosing products. Avisual product index divides the cat-alog into 13 product categories toenhance the overall navigation of thecatalog. RIDGID.


Hydronic systems & componentsFeatures hydronics equipment andaccessories for residential/commer-cial apps, including circulators; elec-tronic controls, air eliminationproducts, valves, radiant systemsand water recirculation. Also info onthe contractor development andtraining program FloPro. Taco, Inc.


ProRadiant line’s Climate MatPre-fabricated Climate Mat system isa roll-up assembly with tandem sup-ply and return headers and 1/2" tub-ing. Made in two separate 5' sections;may be unrolled one at a time or si-multaneously. Lay 20,000 sq.ft. ofevenly spaced radiant tubing in onlyeight hours. Viega.


56 Phc News — JUNE 2009Literature review

It’s an open-and-shut case for plumbing ef�ciency. The SharkBite® Connection System now offers thermostatic,

regulator, and ball valves with integral or union type push-�ttings, for fast and easy installation in

copper, CPVC or PEX pipe plumbing systems. Just insert the pipe and the stainless steel teeth bite down and grip tight – with no soldering, clamps, unions or glue. Disassembly is just

INTRODUCING CASH ACME VALVES WITH SHARKBITE® CONNECTORS.

From thermostatic mixing valves to pressure regulators, SharkBite connectors make installation fast.

as fast using the simple disconnect tool. So valves can easily be changed and reused. Valves can even be rotated after

assembly for easier installation in tight spaces. The SharkBite Connection System, now with a wide range of easy-to-install push-�t valves. Just another way Cash Acme gives you a grip on increased plumbing sales.

SHARKBITTEN.



BY JENNIFER MALONEY

Securing new business is criti-cal during an economic down-turn. With traditional means

of marketing and advertising becom-

ing less effective, plumbing, heatingand cooling contractors are findingnew ways to market their businessesand ride out the recession.Jim Pierce, president and CEO of 1-

800-PLUMBER, knew there wouldbe tough economic chal-lenges when he launchedthe new plumbing franchiseon the brink of an economicdownturn. In order to givefranchise partners the bestpossible competitive advan-tage, 1-800-PLUMBER’smarketing team had tothink outside of traditionalad vertising and appeal toconsumers who are con-cerned about stretchingtheir dollars and getting themost value for what they dospend. Here are a few ways

the company suggests staying aheadof the curve. 1. Increase your company’s on-

line presence.The Yellow Pages used to be

plumbing, heating, and cooling con-tractors’ main source for advertisingto both home and business owners.With the world’s online populationgrowing rapidly year after year, how-ever, companies that don’t have anonline presence are missing out on ahuge share of potential customers. Pierce suggests working with a

team of web and search engine spe-cialists to optimize the company’swebsite. A website must be userfriendly for consumers as well as thesearch engines themselves. Searchengines look for certain contentfound in sites to determine howvaluable the site may be to the per-son searching.If a site is not built with search en-

gine optimization in mind, it can bethe most beautiful site online, but itwon't generate the traffic that is nec-

essary to grow a business. Compa-nies should consider dedicating apercentage of their advertisingbudget to online, which can often beless expensive and very effective atreaching target customers. Another benefit of using the Inter-

net as a lead source is the ability toeasily track its effectiveness. Mostonline advertising programs are fullytrackable allowing the company toknow the effectiveness of their on-line investment. In fact, many onlinecampaigns are based on pay perclick or even pay per call basis,which means businesses only pay ifthe program is successful.2. Show long-term value.Every financial decision is care-

fully scrutinized when the economyis unstable. If contractors can findways to save customers money inthe long-run, it’s much easier to jus-tify their services and close a sale.One way 1-800-PLUMBER sug-

gests showing long-term value is touse cameras for drain cleaning in-

Securing new business during the recession

Franchising news

Customers can trust a 1-800-PLUMBER franchisepartner has had a full background check, will arrivepromptly, be upfront with rates and professionallydressed in uniform. The work done by 1-800-PLUMBER is fully guaranteed.


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spections. This allows contractorsto diagnose the true cause of drainfailure; actually show the customerthe problem inside the drain vali-dating that what they are saying iscorrect. This in turn makes it eas-ier to recommend long-term solu-tions that will save clients moneydown the road. Proving value is alsoa great way to get word-of-mouthreferrals. 3. Know your competitive advan-

tage and communicate it.With a large number of qualified

contractors bidding for a finite num-ber of jobs, it’s important for busi-ness owners to know what makestheir company stand out from thecompetition. This is the first step inestablishing a brand.Whether it’s the price point, pro-

fessional service standards, or anability to guarantee work that setsa business apart, carving out aniche can help contractors landcompetitive jobs. Pierce suggestsbusiness owners brainstorm com-pany values.Once contractors know what core

values they want to align themselveswith, they should write them into amission statement. All staff shouldembody the company’s core valuesand communicate them throughtheir actions and language.For example, one of the values 1-

800-PLUMBER chose was profes-sionalism. When a franchise partnerarrives at a job, customers knowthey have gone through a full back-ground check, they will be on-time,upfront with rates and professionallydressed in uniform. In addition, cus-

tomers can rest easier knowing thatthe work done by 1-800-PLUMBERis fully guaranteed. Customers whovalue professionalism and are willingto stand behind their work are morelikely to chose the company forthese reasons. 4. Embrace technology.

Technology is always advancing soit can be hard to know what invest-ments will actually improve effi-ciency and help both a company andcustomer’s bottom line. Pierce sug-gests putting technology invest-ments through an evaluationprocess. Asking questions like: willthis technology improve the overallcustomer experience? Will it give thecompany a competitive advantage?

What is the upfront investment?What is the long-term return? Thissimple evaluation process can helpcontractors determine whether ornot an investment is the right onefor them.Not all plumbing, heating and

cooling contractors have the time orexpertise to keep up with a strongadvertising plan. However there arelots of simple, low-cost, innovative

ways to market a business that canhelp land customers when times areslow. It just takes a little planningand discipline. The contractors whotake the time to execute effectivemarketing campaigns will be at agreater advantage, particularly whentimes are tough. For more informa-tion on 1-800-PLUMBER or to in-quire about a franchise visit:www.1800plumber.com. �



Franchising news

Using technology such as online billingvia notebook keeps 1-800-PLUMBERfranchisees a step ahead.

http://www.1800plumber.com


soldered or brazed piping systems, ac-cessing valves, strainers, pumps andwater softeners is often a time consum-ing and inconvenient process, due tothe necessity of system shutdown anddrainage. The more difficult theprocess, the more likely the mainte-nance will be deferred. Mechanical piping joining systems

provide an optimal way to effectivelymaintain piping systems in structures,thereby reducing the deferral of main-tenance and promoting operating effi-ciency and money savings. Their easeof installation and the ability to disas-semble and reinstall the same compo-nents make them a simple solution forthe frequent performance of both rou-tine and irregular maintenance. Foraccess to a grooved piping system, amaintenance person simply loosensthe two coupling bolts, without havingto shut down the entire system. Tospeed the maintenance process,grooved piping systems can also be in-stalled wet or dry. These systems are asafe alternative in specialty facilities,where open flames could potentiallycreate a hazardous environment.Aside from routine maintenance, it

is sometimes necessary to join twoexisting systems within a structure.In retrofit and adaptability projects,the grooved system is easily re-routed, due to a union at every joint.Grooved mechanical pipe joints canbe installed on wet lines; this savesthe time required to drain the pipingsystem. Because properly placed but-terfly valves provide “dead-end” shut-off service for isolation, operatingefficiency can be maintained duringretrofit work, and systems can re-main live. Additionally, because me-chanical grooved piping re-work doesnot negatively affect indoor air qual-ity or introduce a fire hazard, ownerscan engage in retrofit projects in oc-cupied buildings without having tovacate the space.

LEED: A blueprint forgreen development

To better assist owners and architec-tural design teams in achieving sus-tainable development goals, the U.S.Green Building Council (USGBC) hascodified guidelines through its Leader-ship in Energy and Environmental De-sign (LEED) rating program. LEED is a growing effort worldwide to

promote sustainable development.Under the program, developers canearn LEED rating points in six keyareas: proper site orientation; water ef-

ficiency; energy and atmosphere; ma-terials and resources; indoor environ-mental quality and innovation anddesign process.In addition to promoting sustain-

ability, incorporating grooved pipingsystems into a building’s design canhelp earn LEED points in a number ofways. Since grooved piping system fab-rication requires no welding, fewerworkers are needed for a shorter dura-tion and there is less material waste,reducing site impact. Indoor and out-door air quality is preserved, sincethere are no fumes or particulate mat-ter to endanger workers or the envi-ronment. Simple, rugged designcombined with the ability to resist

seismic moments makes grooved pipejoinery ideal for collection and distri-bution of gray water and for reducingthe possibility of potential contamina-tion of water supplies on or near thesite. Finally, the use of highly-recover-able material content during the man-ufacturing of grooved mechanicalpiping system components can helpcontribute to LEED certification pointsin the Materials and Resources (MR)category.Building owners, consulting engi-

neers and contractors currently usinggrooved piping readily acknowledge itssuperior value and performance in thedesign of sustainable plumbing, HVACand other systems. Many owners arealready reaping benefits through sav-ings in construction time and costs, re-duced waste, advancement ofenvironmental goals and improve-ments in personnel safety and com-fort. Equally important, the resultinglong-term efficiency and maintainabil-ity will continue to pay dividends overthe building’s life cycle. �

Larry Thau is chief technical officerfor Victaulic Company Inc. A practic-ing mechanical engineer for 35 years,he holds more than 35 patents andlectures on piping technology aroundthe world.

Sustainability through grooved piping systems

PiPing rePort

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From mid-August1984 to late ’87 Ilived in the

Phoenix area, knownfor an obvious reason asthe Valley of the Sun.Each year the area sees

about 335 clear days, and during the hot months, andthe relentless sunshine is nearly a physical presence.It’s paradise for all kinds of solar energy projects.However, in ’84 the solar-energy industry still was

getting its footing, and schemes to harness the sun’spower came and went regularly. In an area wherespace heating is a minor factor, DHW was the mainthrust of the solar business. Solar-energy businessessprang up like mushrooms, offering myriad meansof harnessing sunlight, many of them not very wellthought out. As I traveled around the Valley I sawpiled in trash dumpsters the debris and wreckage ofsolar-panel installations that hadn’t worked verywell or failed altogether.Still, many rooftops sprouted solar panels of all de-

scriptions, and Valley residents and businesses madegood use of the sun’s free power. Solar energy wasgrowing out of its early, hippie-like phase and becom-ing a legitimate alternative to municipal utilities. Itstood poised to go mainstream.Now, as Ellen Rohr points out on page 24 of this

issue, solar power of all types is ready to take off andbecome the Next Big Thing. It’s not there yet, butpeople with vision finally see where it’s headed.Thousands of installations across the globe are prov-ing its value.The secret to a pervasive solar-energy industry is

invisibility. As Bristol Stickney has been preachingin our last six issues, a solar installation must oper-

ate as easily and reliably as any other fixture like aboiler or water heater. The consumer ideally should-n’t even know it’s there. The controls and materialsto make this a reality now are coming onto the mar-ket, and an intelligent contractor can provide cus-tomers with solar heating that quietly andunobtrusively does its job.I believe we’re seeing the beginnings of a solar rev-

olution. The sun’s constant supply of thermonuclearenergy provides vast and, for the most part, untappedpower. Solar energy accounts for a minute fraction oftotal usage, but its potential is unbounded. In an eraof diminishing energy resources, the sun is the mostlogical replacement.When even Middle-Eastern nations floating on

crude oil are pursuing nuclear power generation,you know something is up. It signifies they see theirsupplies of easily available energy drying up. Sure,there is plenty of crude oil left in the world, but thedays of simply sucking it from the ground are lim-ited. As it becomes harder to obtain, it becomesmore expensive. It’s time to leave it all behind andgo for something new.We know how to harness the sun for space and

water heating, but using it for electrical power hasits limits. Obviously, the sun doesn’t always shine,but a proposed national electrical grid and prelimi-nary storage schemes promise to alleviate much ofthe problem. Efficiency still lags, but researchersnow see ways of improving photovoltaic efficiencymany times over. Prototypes are operating that re-quire lead as a component, but alternative materialsare in the works.Electric storage also needs improvement, but re-

cent experiments are showing how to greatly improveboth capacity and charging time for batteries. Thetalk is to marry electric cars, charged by PV panels,to the power grid so thousands of individual car bat-teries can store sufficient electric power to carry a

municipality through the night or cloudy days.As I write this, Americans are commemorating the

65th anniversary of the D-Day invasion that markedthe beginning of the end for Nazi Germany and theAxis powers. That effort was a massive undertakingrequiring the coordination of the Army and Navy, un-told armaments and transport plus thousands of men.It seemed impossible, yet nobody who was involveddoubted its success. They had the will, plus the po-litical support they needed to pull it off.Nations again face a D-Day of sorts; a battle against

dwindling energy resources. The technologies areconverging to generate and store most of the energywe need via solar power. Millions of efficient rooftopsolar and PV panels providing heat and electricalpower would eliminate a nation’s dependence on fos-sil energy. We see the way ahead. All we need is theindustrial and political will to do it. �

Size matters?I’m sure by now you have noticed the size of Phc

News. The staff at TMB Publishing hopes you like thenew format. Don’t fret, the editorial content will re-main the same! Considerable thought was put intothe decision, and the consensus was that the new for-mat is tailored perfectly for the busy, on-the-go con-tractor. The new issue makes Phc News highlyportable, and it may even fit into your mailbox!Let us know what you think. Send comments to

editor John Mesenbrink at [email protected].

BY JIM SCHAIBLE,managing editor

Are we willing to harness the sun?

next issue...

• 10-year Anniversary Issue• Pump Innovations• Geothermal

62 Phc News — JUNE 2009in our oPinion

Phc News (USPS number 022-074) is published 12 times yearly by TMB Publishing Inc., 1838 Techny Ct. Northbrook, IL 60062; tel. 847/564-1127; fax 847/564-1264. No part of this publicationmay be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, electronic recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of TMB Publishing Inc.Phc News is delivered free of charge to qualified subscribers in the U.S. and Canada. Others: U.S., U.S. Poss. and Canada, $100/yr.; two-year annual subscription rate U.S. and Canada, $155; othercountries, $200/yr. or $300 for two year (U.S. funds) plus $20 surface postage. Single copies, $15.Application to mail at Periodicals Postage Rates is pending at Northbrook, IL and additional mailing offices.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Plumbing & Hydronic Contractor News, Creative Data Services, 519 E. Briarcliff Road, Bolingbrook, IL 60440. [email protected] mail agreement No. 41499518: Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to PO Box 503, RPO West Beaver Creek, Richmond Hill ON L4B 4R6

American Standard.........................7www.americanstandard.com

Anvil Intl. ........................................3www.anvilintl.com

Bare Bones Biz ..............................58www.barebonesbiz.com

Bavco.............................................48www.bavco.com

Benjamin Franklin Plumbing .......64www.thankyoubenjaminfranklin.com/phc

Buderus/Bosch Group...................63www.buderus.net

Cash Acme ....................................57www.cashacme.com

Chicago Faucets............................25www.chicagofaucets.com

Crete-Heat.....................................20www.crete-heat.com

Dormont........................................36www.dormont.com

Dunkirk .........................................19www.dunkirk.com

Eemax ...........................................14www.eemaxinc.com

Fujitsu .............................................9www.fujitsugeneral.com

General Pipe Cleaners, a div. of General Wire Spring...................27www.drainbrain.com

John Guest ....................................35www.johnguest.com

Heatinghelp.com...........................59www.heatinghelp.com

Liberty Pumps...............................33www.libertypumps.com

Murray Corporation......................12www.murraycorp.com

Navien America.............................43www.navienamerica.com

New Age Casting ...........................45www.newagecasting.com

Pick-Up Equipment.......................50www.pickupequipment.com

Pipe Prop.......................................46www.pipeprop.com

Radiant Panel Association............40www.radiantpanelassociation.org

Rectorseal......................................37www.rectorseal.com

RIDGID .......................11, 13, 15, 29www.ridgid.com

Simpson Dura Vent.......................47www.duravent.com

Sioux Chief .......................34, 44, 49www.siouxchief.com

Sloan Valve....................................31www.sloanvalve.com

Stanley Virax.................................53www.stanleyvirax.com

Stiebel Eltron ................................10www.stiebel-eltron-usa.com

Taco ...............................................23www.taco-hvac.com

Takagi ............................................51www.takagi.com

Ultra-Fin........................................41www.ultra-fin.com

Watts..............................................39www.watts.com

Webstone.....................................4, 5www.webstonevalves.com

Weil McLain ....................................2www.weil-mcclain.com

JC Whitlam......................................8www.jcwhitlam.com

Wilkins ..........................................21www.zurn.com

Wohler ...........................................17www.wohlerusa.com

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THIS LEAKING PIPE DOESN’T CARE ABOUT THEFINANCIAL CRISIS.

© 2009 Clockwork Home Services, Inc.Circle 44 on Reader Reply Card

http://www.thankyoubenjaminfranklin.com/phc

COVER STORY - PHCP Pros Home Page| PHCP Pros · Northbrook, IL 60062 847/564-1127 Fax: 847/564-1264...

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