Radiant & Hydronics Columns

Dan Holohan: Good help is hard to find

dan@heatinghelp.com (Dan Holohan) — Tue, 03 May 2022 00:00:00 -0400

My neighbor, Tony, loves his house. We live in a low-crime neighborhood on Long Island but Tony is always on guard against miscreants. He has a Ring camera on every side of his house, mounted high so they’re protected from spray paint. Some of the cameras turn on klieg lights and alarms if I step outside at night to toss the trash in the can.

John Siegenthaler: Combining an air-to-water heat pump with a heated floor slab

hydronicpros@gmail.com (John Siegenthaler, P.E.) — Tue, 03 May 2022 00:00:00 -0400

Over the last few years, I’ve written several columns describing how air-to-water heat pumps can provide heating, cooling and domestic hot water for homes. Many of the systems involve buffer tanks to help stabilize heat transfer from the heat pump to a zoned distribution system.

John Siegenthaler’s Top 25 most-read articles

hydronicpros@gmail.com (John Siegenthaler, P.E.) — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 00:00:00 -0400

We’re celebrating John Siegenthaler’s 25th anniversary as a Plumbing & Mechanical columnist.

Dan Holohan: The magic of the simple air vent

dan@heatinghelp.com (Dan Holohan) — Fri, 01 Apr 2022 00:00:00 -0400

John Siegenthaler: Comfort is not a commodity

hydronicpros@gmail.com (John Siegenthaler, P.E.) — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 00:00:00 -0400

Aside from the fact that they are all used in hydronic heating systems, what do the following items have in common?

Dan Holohan: Frozen steam coils

dan@heatinghelp.com (Dan Holohan) — Wed, 02 Mar 2022 13:00:00 -0500

Frozen steam coils always seem to happen at the worst of times, don’t they? You’re busy because it’s cold enough to freeze coils. The place with the frozen coil contains people who are doing things that are so important they can’t possibly be without that particular coil. Not even for a minute. They’re on the phone, and they’re not being reasonable.

John Siegenthaler: Peak performance

hydronicpros@gmail.com (John Siegenthaler, P.E.) — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 00:00:00 -0500

As interest and incentives build to transition space heating and domestic water heating systems away from fossil fuels and toward electricity, a somewhat predictable but only marginally quantified problem is developing. Two words describe it: Peak demand.

Ray Wohlfarth: Installing a trouble-free condensing boiler

ray@fireiceheat.com (Ray Wohlfarth) — Mon, 07 Feb 2022 00:00:00 -0500

On the older hydronic systems, replacing the existing boiler with a new one was pretty straightforward. The installer connected the new boiler to the existing flue, piping and electric. The newer high-efficiency boilers are much different and require some additional planning.

Dan Holohan: So easy to blame the boiler

dan@heatinghelp.com (Dan Holohan) — Tue, 01 Feb 2022 00:00:00 -0500

A homeowner posted a question on The Wall at HeatingHelp.com about a drumroll sound that was coming from his brand-new steam boiler. What could it be? He included a video so all could hear, and sure enough, it sounded like a snare drum.

Dan Holohan: Who gets to work on steam?

dan@heatinghelp.com (Dan Holohan) — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 00:00:00 -0400

How’s that for a title? I’ll give you the answer right up front: Everyone! And the best part is you don’t have to know what you’re doing; you just have to show up.

John Siegenthaler: The 'net' effect

hydronicpros@gmail.com (John Siegenthaler, P.E.) — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 00:00:00 -0400

The Coefficient of Performance (COP) of a heat pump is essentially the same concept as the thermal efficiency of a boiler (e.g., the desirable output divided by the necessary input).

Dan Holohan: Creepy crawl spaces

dan@heatinghelp.com (Dan Holohan) — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 00:00:00 -0400

October, being the month for ghosts and goblins, seems like the perfect time to reminisce about those tight spots few want to visit, but many must.

John Siegenthaler: Game changer

hydronicpros@gmail.com (John Siegenthaler, P.E.) — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 00:00:00 -0400

With systems dating back into the 1800s, hydronic heating has been around a long time. As with many technologies, a modern hydronic heating system bears little resemblance to one based on the earliest design techniques and hardware.

Dan Holohan: What's inside?

dan@heatinghelp.com (Dan Holohan) — Thu, 02 Sep 2021 00:00:00 -0400

This one goes back a bunch of years. The contractor was a good steam man, but he had run out of ideas with this job. It was a typical, five-story, New York City tenement building. Its one-pipe steam system had served generations of tenants for more than 100 years.

John Siegenthaler: Freedom of (fuel) choice

hydronicpros@gmail.com (John Siegenthaler, P.E.) — Thu, 02 Sep 2021 00:00:00 -0400

I recently provided guidance on a unique residential retrofit project. The house, a modest 2,500 square-foot, two-story, was located in a semi-rural area near Albany, New York.

John Siegenthaler: What I look for

hydronicpros@gmail.com (John Siegenthaler, P.E.) — Thu, 29 Jul 2021 00:00:00 -0400

I've had lots of opportunities to review plans for pending hydronic heating systems. I've also been on "forensic" visits to sites with improperly performing systems. Of the two, I much prefer plan review over forensics.

Modern Hydronics Done Right Volume 5

hydronicpros@gmail.com (John Siegenthaler, P.E.) — Tue, 10 Dec 2019 00:00:00 -0500

We are proud to present this fifth and final edition in the "Siggy" eBook series specifically for the hydronics market. Brought to you by Plumbing & Mechanical, PM Engineer and Supply House Times, this FREE eBook is a collection of columns and articles from John Siegenthaler, P.E., a well-respected hydronics expert.

Dan Holohan: Collectors

dan@heatinghelp.com (Dan Holohan) — Fri, 06 Dec 2019 00:00:00 -0500

When I knocked on the doctor’s front door, a dog on the other side went nuts. And this being my one and only visit to the doctor’s house, I took a healthy step back.

Dave Yates: Dominoes

dyates@consultyates.com (Dave Yates) — Mon, 11 Nov 2019 00:00:00 -0500

As a designer/installer of any hydronic radiant system (especially one that incorporates hydro-air, old preexisting standing cast iron radiators and an indirect water heater), you have dozens of steps involved that are not unlike setting up a winding row of dominoes.

Dan Holohan: Thankful

dan@heatinghelp.com (Dan Holohan) — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 00:00:00 -0500

When our daughters were small, we would wake them before dawn on Thanksgiving morning and drive into Manhattan to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade from a spot on Central Park West, just across the street from The Dakota (the apartment building where John Lennon lived and died).

John Siegenthaler: Low temperature leverage

hydronicpros@gmail.com (John Siegenthaler, P.E.) — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 00:00:00 -0500

Because they generate heat intermittently, renewable energy heat sources such as solar thermal collectors and pellet boilers require thermal storage tanks. So do storage-based systems using off-peak electricity, or micro combined heat and power (MCHP) generation.

Dave Yates: Honesty

dyates@consultyates.com (Dave Yates) — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 00:00:00 -0500

Honesty is such a lonely word (from the song, “Honesty” by Billy Joel). It never ceases to amaze me when folks we deal with are not honest.

Dave Yates: The doctor is in

dyates@consultyates.com (Dave Yates) — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 00:00:00 -0400

How to become a psychologist and therapist in one easy lesson: Open a mechanical contracting firm!

Dan Holohan: When minds close

dan@heatinghelp.com (Dan Holohan) — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 00:00:00 -0400

A guy I don’t know emailed me a question. I get a lot of that because I’m easy to find on the internet.

John Siegenthaler: Expansion etiquette

hydronicpros@gmail.com (John Siegenthaler, P.E.) — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 00:00:00 -0400

When water is heated, the space required for each molecule increases. Any attempt to prevent this expansion will be met by tremendous forces.

Modern Hydronics Done Right Volume 4

hydronicpros@gmail.com (John Siegenthaler, P.E.) — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 13:30:00 -0400

We are proud to present the fourth of five eBooks specifically for the hydronics market. Brought to you by Plumbing & Mechanical, PM Engineer and Supply House Times, this FREE eBook is a collection of columns and articles from John Siegenthaler, a well-respected hydronics expert.

Ray Wohlfarth: Consider a hybrid heating system

ray@fireiceheat.com (Ray Wohlfarth) — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 00:00:00 -0400

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.

Dan Holohan: Thermostat adventures

dan@heatinghelp.com (Dan Holohan) — Mon, 09 Sep 2019 00:00:00 -0400

Twenty-five years ago, I wrote a story for this fine magazine. I titled it, “Only Gus Touch.” Over the years, many people have told me they still remember that tale and ask if I can send them a copy. Sure, why not?

John Siegenthaler: Bidirectional Btu

hydronicpros@gmail.com (John Siegenthaler, P.E.) — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 00:00:00 -0400

Over the years, our office has received requests for design assistance for systems involving two hydronic heat sources, each in different buildings, where the expectation is to have either heat source supply heat to either building.

Dan Holohan: Windows

dan@heatinghelp.com (Dan Holohan) — Wed, 07 Aug 2019 00:00:00 -0400

No more double windows!” That was the title of an article I read in the Chicago Evening Post. The year was 1911 and the page was yellowed with age.