Last month, we began discussing the HVAC system installed at my church’s newly-constructed parsonage. In this month’s column, we’ll complete the picture.

Blake Rosenberg is an inspired plumbing and hydronic pro in the Northern Massachusetts area who readily admits that his inspiration and success stem from the influence of a special mentor. Well, two of them.

In March 2010, a nine-month-old boy rolled off his sister’s bed in Jersey City, New Jersey, and got stuck between the bed and a cast-iron, steam radiator that was as hot as it’s supposed to be. The radiator delivered third-degree burns to the infant and left him with permanent scars.

We’ve come a long way since the days of gravity-hot-water heating. The physics haven’t changed a bit, but the systems sure have. 

When troubleshooting a hydronic system, the piping layout is often confusing. To understand the system, I sometimes sketch the piping to help me visualize the flow of water. 

Modern panel radiators are one of my favorite heat emitters.

On Oct. 3, 1854, an industrious young man from New Haven, Connecticut, filed U.S. Patent No. 11,747. Stephen J. Gold called his patent “Improvement in Warming Houses by Steam.” 

How to become a psychologist and therapist in one easy lesson: Open a mechanical contracting firm!

A guy I don’t know emailed me a question. I get a lot of that because I’m easy to find on the internet.

Slant/Fin took its name from founder Mel Dubin’s original design — a slanted, locked fin — that he came up with in response to the era’s inefficient fin-tube radiation designs.