Welcome to the winter edition of the Radiant Comfort Report! This second edition of the RCR has a great piece by Dave Yates — take some time to check it out on page 8. By the time you read this, the RPA will have participated in its second year of co-sponsoring the PHCC CONNECT event in Indianapolis in October. Our educational lineup included the following:

  • “Radiant Heating Do’s and Don’ts,” presented by Steve Swanson, Uponor;
  • “Benefits of Manifold Flow Meters in Modern Design,” presented by William Werthman, Legend Valve;
  • “Maximizing System and Pump Efficiency of Hydronic Systems with Air/Dirt Separation,” presented by Dino Pioli, Spirotherm;
  • “The BEST Way to Compare HVAC Systems in the Early Project Design Phase,” presented by Greg Cunniff, Williams Comfort Products;  
  • “Plastic Piping Systems for Geothermal/Geoexchange,” presented by Lance MacNevin, Plastics Pipe Institute; and
  • “Radiant System Design – Best Practices,” presented by Bo DeAngelo, Viega.

Visit www.radiantpros.org to find PowerPoint presentations for all of these sessions and more.

In radiant news, recent conversations I’ve had with member contractor companies have told me the biggest issue facing many companies today is a labor shortage. This is not necessarily confined to the radiant business, but more broadly to the construction industry as a whole. For radiant and hydronics specifically, there are not enough individuals with basic skills entering the industry. Basic skills are defined as having at least two years piping experience, specifically involving the installation of pumps, valves, expansion tanks, etc.

The RPA is helping to address this shortfall by offering the ASSE 19210 Hydronic Heating and Cooling Installer training and certification program, which has recently been converted from a 3-day in-person training to a 2-day online, one-day in-person format. See pages 12 and 13 in this publication for a detailed description of the content. A prerequisite for this training is a minimum two years of experience in piping. I hope to see you at one of our trainings soon!