That prophetic little quote from “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” pretty much sums up where our industry is today with residential ECM circulators. So many myths, many of them downright crazy, make it nearly impossible to make clear-headed and smart decisions for your customers.
One of the “delights” of designing hydronic systems is looking for synergistic opportunities, where one device provides multiple functions or benefits that would otherwise require two or more separate devices.
When designing hydronic circuits, most of us focus on what’s necessary for that circuit to absorb thermal energy at a heat source, carry it along like a conveyor belt and release that energy at one or more heat emitters.
There are hydronic design concepts in which flow must pass backward through a non-operating circulator, perhaps thousands of times over the life of the system.