Plumbing & Mechanical Contractor

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District systems, which have been around for centuries, provide buildings with a product created with technology beyond what an individual can either afford or apply. The primary advantage is the delivery of more cost-effective heating or cooling to the building.

As I write this month’s column, I’m attending Plumbing Manufacturer’s International annual Manufacturing Success conference in Louisville, Kentucky. PMI has done a great job with its programming content this year, especially with keynote presenter Andrew Winston, a corporate environmental strategist and author, who discussed how today’s companies are now expected to take a stand against the world’s social and environmental problems — and in doing so, earn a profit.

The radiant heating market is one that took the industry by storm in the early 2000s. More than two decades later, the acceptance and applications of radiant systems have grown exponentially. Experts describe the radiant heating market in 2022 as “consistent” and “expanding,” citing labor, material and logistic uniformity shortages as the top challenges hindering radiant projects.

 While most plumbers may like to think that they’re mostly serving routine maintenance or installation customers, the most common nature of those calls is likely panicked customers with a burst pipe, a backed-up toilet or another emergency that needs a response ASAP.

As anyone in the profession knows, the plumbing industry is rapidly changing. Demand for plumbing services is reaching unprecedented levels, but so too is competition.

During the late, great Les Nelson’s last AHR conference in Chicago back in 2018, he asked me what our hydronics industry needed the most. He was on a mission to increase the visibility of the Radiant Professionals Alliance and give the industry something that it could really use. 

Common sense runs through our veins and helps us avoid idiotic, absurd edicts handed down by well-intentioned, but seriously misguided politicians. The fact is, I’ve always felt that common sense, along with training and knowledge, often handed down from generation to generation, guides our hands and minds as we toil at PHVAC issues.

Most hydronic systems have the boiler running up to 180° F with water returning from the system at 160°. This rarely happens in real life, but it’s the traditional way we do things.

 All boilers that burn hydrocarbon fuels such as natural gas, propane, oil or wood produce water vapor as a byproduct of combustion.

Because the price of fuel oil has increased dramatically over the last several months, an installer with lots of experience in installing conventional oil-fired boilers is asked to install a pellet-fired boiler.