Plumbing & Mechanical Top Stories - Articles

Ray Wohlfarth: Consider a hybrid heating system

Here is some food for thought.

September 13, 2019

The owner asked for a bid to replace her 35-year-old cast iron boiler which was still operating. She had two requirements: Redundancy in the event of a boiler malfunction and lower fuel costs for the building.

Christoph Lohr: How are personality metrics different?

People analytics: An even deeper dive.

Christoph Lohr

September 12, 2019

From my last couple columns, we had an in-depth conversation with one of the people analytics industry’s leading experts Kelly Reed, Ph.D.

A. O. Smith offers in-depth training opportunities

A.O. Smith hosts grand opening of technical training facility

Renovated facility takes contractor education to the next level.

Mike Miazga

September 12, 2019

How far has water-heater manufacturer A. O. Smith’s training capabilities come?

Matt Michel: 5 ISH trends

Anecdotal impressions of ISH Germany from the Service Nation team.

Matt Michel

September 12, 2019

Every other year, ISH, the world’s largest PHC trade show is held in Frankfurt Germany.

Voltex Water Heater stars in PBS’ “Ask This Old House”

New water heater reduces family’s monthly electric bill.

Brandon Stepanek

September 11, 2019

Richard Trethewey is the heating and plumbing expert on the popular PBS home improvement show “Ask This Old House.” For an October 2018 episode, Trethewey met with homeowner Scott Sanders, who needed to replace an ailing 20-year-old electric tank water heater.

Reverse osmosis removes unwanted contaminants, bad tastes and odors from drinking water

Stop wasting customers' water and money.

Toby Hughes

September 11, 2019

As public drinking water quality has come under more scrutiny in recent years, reverse osmosis (R.O.) systems have become increasingly popular in homes and businesses as alternatives to costly bottled water and water delivery services. R.O. systems remove unwanted contaminants, bad tastes and odors from drinking water by forcing municipal or well water through a semipermeable membrane.

Dave Yates: Heat pump mayhem

Think twice before you act.

Dave Yates

September 11, 2019

Mmanufacturer of air-to-water heat pumps called asking if I would be willing to visit a home to perform a heat loss/gain calculation where two of its heat pump systems had been installed and determine why the home was not heating and cooling to the homeowners satisfaction.

ECM circulator myth-busting

Make the smart decision the first time.

John M. Barba

September 10, 2019

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.

Kenny Chapman: Size and stress levels aren’t related

Building, owning and leading a large company does not have to be more stressful than owning a small one.

Kenny Chapman

September 10, 2019

I’ve been discussing with clients lately about scaling/growing their companies, and they fear that it will just be more stressful and possibly put a damper on their lifestyle and personal freedom.

A custom-designed, prefabricated, pre-pressurized network of Uponor

Hydronic heating provides superior comfort

Industry professionals weigh-in on current market trends.

Nicole Krawcke

September 9, 2019

When John Kopf eventually gets around to designing and building his own house, he will go with hydronic heat instead of a more traditional forced air system. Kopf knows a thing or two about heating, having spent more than 20 years in the industry. He currently serves as boiler product manager for Navien.