Radiant & Hydronics Columns

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In 1989 when we started our business, The Lovely Marianne asked me what I was going to do to make money for her and our four daughters. I told her I was going to write books, but it would take some time to do that.

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.

I’m 69 years old and my hair is as brown as it was when I was a teenager. A bit of it, mostly around my ears and the back of my neck, sneaks in as gray, but some Russian barber just buzzes those stray hairs away and I’m back to being a young fella again. I like the Russian barbers.

In last month’s Hydronics Workshop column I described five devices that would, in my opinion, improve and expand the North American hydronics industry.  Here’s my “wish list” from that column:

We live on The Isle of Long, which means that if you throw a rock you’ll hit a large, chrome-plated diner. These palaces of gastronomy have just about anything you could want for any meal of the day and the food arrives on the table seconds after you decide what you want, and often even before.

All companies that supply hydronic heating hardware to the North American market strive to offer products that are currently in demand. Some even look farther down the road, anticipating where the market is headed.

What is the proper pressure setting for a comfort-heating steam boiler?

My technical boiler books all use the “lessons learned” theme, and the following are the lessons I have learned about boiler water treatment.

In 2016, when I retired from speaking and traveling just about everywhere, I got involved with the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York. The society has been meeting regularly since 1785. They opened, and continue to operate, the second-oldest membership library in New York City.

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