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Wet Heat applications and tecHnologies

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A sopping wet supplement of mechAnicAl business

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Contents o f

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Busine ss

Wet Heat applications and tecHnologies

august 2014

18 Case study

37 Looking for the latest happenings

in hydronics? Beat the heat this summer by sitting down with an ice cold drink and checking out our Wet Heat Applications & Technology supplement (WHAT for short).

Mechanicals keep Ripley’s in business Yvan Marston and Adam Freill

30 VEHICLE Report -

part 2 Changes coming soon, to a dealer near you Howard Elmer

A sopping wet supplement of mechAnicAl business

78COVER FEATURE

54 FIND THE FIX

Adam Freill

56 Road Warrior: Andrew McIntosh 80 PLUMBING

UV disinfection: Protecting private water supplies John Cardiff

86 HVAC/R

MB specialists 20HVAC Large hoods; tight homes Gord Cooke

Coil replacement as an option Chad Mockerman

24Plumbing Hot water vs Hard water Fred Bretzke

88 Refrigeration

Retrofitting the future, one pound at a time Kevin Gill and Jim Thomas

34REFRIGERATION Following refrigerant Phil Boudreau

92 HVAC Service

Mid-season troubleshooting Matthew Reid

50Hydronics Is that my heat I hear?

Bob “Hot Rod” Rohr

106TOOL TIP: Cutting and strutting

77ask roger Weather: Influencing A/C sales Roger Grochmal 96marketing An event planning primer Doug MacMillan

products 66,68,70,72,74Hydronics 98,100,105HVAC/R 102-103Plumbing 104Stuff you need departments 04From the editor’s desk 06News 16Profile: Paul McDonald 106Crossword 108The Info Page 110By the Numbers CHECK US OUT ONLINE

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­ n the cover: An avid fisherman since childhood, Canada’s Bob Izumi enjoys angling in all seasons, and even has a climate-controlled O fishing hut on wheels for winters on the lake. Photo: Sandy Izumi

FLIR E4 Thermal Imager

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News

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Moen celebrates faucet milestone This year marks the 75th anniversary of the single-handle mixing faucet, developed by Al Moen in 1939. Al began researching the invention in 1937 after scalding himself at a sink with traditional single taps for hot and cold water.

McKeough Supply swings for Camp Trillium

moen.ca

McKeough Supply held its 16th annual charity golf tournament in memory of Bill Porteous on June 5, 2014 at Burford Golf Links in Burford, Ont. The tournament raised $30,000 for Rainbow Lake – Camp Trillium. The donation will make it possible for 37 families with children affected by cancer to enjoy a week at the camp. mckeoughsupply.com

Feeling the buzz at OPIA The Ontario Plumbing Inspectors Association (OPIA) honoured Doug McDonald with the Bumble Bees Can’t Fly Award at its annual meeting and education seminar in Peterborough this past June. The award is presented to an individual within the OPIA Sponsors Organization for their participation and contribution to the plumbing industry. opia.info

Noble knowledge

OPIA Sponsors Organization chair Scott Young (right) and Doug McDonald.

Cindy Campbell, Ontario sales manager for Saniflo Canada, discusses the features of the SaniAccess3 Macerating unit with Noble’s Reg Piercey from inside her company’s new mobile training centre, which made a stop at Noble’s Guelph, Ont., location in June. The mobile training centre is travelling across Ontario this summer. saniflo.ca

Follow Us on Twitter! It’s MB’s Twitter Roundup Caught the twitter bug? We’ve got you covered with tweets about everything that matters to the mechanical trades in Canada. Follow us @mechbusiness.

Coleman HVAC

Vossler Plumbing

NLR Electric

Andy Schonberger

@ColemanHVAC

@VosslerPlumber

@NLRElectric

@BuildSmartAndy

#It’s officially the first day of summer! Is your #HVAC system ready for warmer weather?

#Tip from a plumber: Don’t pour grease down the sink. Grease is the most common reason a kitchen drain needs cleaning. #plumbing

Before buying a new A/C, ask your HVAC tech to perform a load calculation to ensure it’s properly sized for your home.

If someone endorses me for #energyefficiency on LinkedIn, does that mean they think I’m lazy? :)

June 20, 2014

May 1, 2014

June 21, 2014

June 24, 2014

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Ezra Levant talks fracking

Nova Scotia Power offers upgrades to low-income families

Ezra Levant, the outspoken host of Sun News Network’s The Source, was the guest speaker for CIPH Ontario Region’s AGM, which took place in May. Levant discussed his book, Groundswell: The Case for Fracking, and how he believes a global energy war is being fought right now. He believes using fracking to produce natural gas can play a vital role in the well-being of Canada’s economy and help reduce the West’s dependence on foreign oil and gas.

Habitat for Humanity Halton’s executive director John Gerrard also spoke at the event, offering attendees a look back at the 20-year partnership between CIPH and his organization. Gerrard thanked CIPH members for their ongoing support which, to date, has raised more than $10 million in cash and products for Habitat for Humanity Canada.

Nova Scotia Power recently announced it will be donating upwards of $3.4 million a year, for up to 10 years, to fund energysaving upgrades through retrofits for lowincome families with electrically-heated homes. The electricity provider stated they expect the investment to save customers more than $550 annually on their power bills. nspower.ca

ciph.com

ORAC upgrading application website The Ontario Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Contractors Association (ORAC) and the UA Local 787 – Joint Training and Apprenticeship Committee (JTAC) first year Apprenticeship Intake Program is upgrading its application website. The website will be available this fall and will open for applications during the annual intake period, from Dec. 1 to Feb. 28.

For more information, visit the ORAC website. oraca.ca

IPVF Council has fun with fish Members of the CIPH Industrial Pipe, Valves & Fittings Council (IPVF) were treated to a doubledose event in May, with a stop at the Real Sport Bar & Grill in Toronto for a networking lunch before getting a behind-thescenes tour of Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada. Here, Gary Horvath (left), council past-chair Brian Pinnock and current chair Kevin O’Reilly prepare for the tour, which included a look at the pumping and filtration systems at the facility. Fifty IPVF members were in attendance for the event. For more about the aquarium, check out our feature on page 18. ciph.com

“All-ied aboard!”

Allied Air’s Alain Boudreau talks HVAC equipment with around 40 contractors at the company’s most recent dealer meeting, held in Vaughan in May. Attendees received information about the company’s newest products, including two-stage constant torque gas furnaces, variable-speed modulating gas furnaces, programmable Wi-Fi thermostats, and MERV-rated filtration systems. alliedair.com

A T-shirt and an autograph Noble’s annual summer barbecue and T-shirt handoff attracted around 700 people to the company’s Concord, Ont., location in June. In addition to watching some World Cup soccer and sharing some food, those attending had the chance to chat with numerous industry suppliers, as well as former Maple Leafs Captain Wendel Clark. noble.ca M e c h a n i c a l

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App Alert Project organizer Taco’s Project Builder app is designed to allow the user to select products and organize related project schedule files automatically.

Users can create budgets and make quick changes, since the app is always accessible. taco-hvac.com

Smart measures The Fluke Connect system transfers measurement data from test tools to smartphones and cloud storage to allow maintenance technicians field access to maintenance records and measurements in real time. More than 20 Fluke tools connect wirelessly with the app, including digital multimeters, infrared cameras, insulation testers, process meters, and specific voltage, current and temperature models. flukeconnect.com

Saskatchewan’s Jason Eidsness-Hodges hard at work during Skills Canada’s national plumbing competition.

Showing skills Canada’s best and brightest future tradespeople were competing for top spot during the Skills Canada national competition, held June 4 to 6 in Mississauga. The gold medal recipients for mechanical-related trades were Alberta’s Kendrick Howe (plumbing), Quebec’s Marc-Antoine Bettez (refrigeration and air conditioning), Ontario’s Tom Martin (sheet metal) and Saskatchewan’s Pat De La Sablonniere (steamfitter). skillscanada.com

29916_WallHungUtility_CAN_MECHBUS_hp_Layout 1 11/15/13 11:29 AM Page 1

Compact wall hung and utility electric water heaters from Bradford White save valuable floor space and offer installation flexibility when your options are limited. Perfect for point-of-use or intermittent draw applications; both models feature the quality components you expect in a Bradford White water heater.

•Available in eight sizes from 2 – 30 U.S.G. •Vitraglas® – An exclusive enamel lining provides unsurpassed tank protection.

•Wall Mounting Bracket – Factory installed bracket for easier installation allows for secure worry-free fastening to the wall

•Immersed Elements – Copper heating elements transfer heat directly and efficiently to water

•Alternate Connections – Six and 12 gallon utility models have alternate connection tappings on top

•Heat Traps – Reduce potential noise and save energy •Dielectric Waterway Fittings – Factory-installed fittings are plastic lined to prevent corrosion

866.690.0961 | www.bradfordwhite.com ©2013, Bradford White Corporation. All rights reserved.

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Built to be the Best ™

ClimateMaster president wins Rittinger Medal

MCAC heading to the rock

ClimateMaster president Daniel Ellis was awarded the Ritter von Rittinger Medal from the International Energy Agency (IEA) Heat Pump Program during the 11th IEA Heat Pump Conference in Montreal. The award, one of five presented at the May event, recognizes individuals or teams that have distinguished themselves in the advancement of heat pump technology. It is presented every three years by the IEA Heat Pump Program. Other recipients included Canadian Dr. Michel Bernier, a professor at Polytechnique Montréal, who was given the award for his research and teaching contributions; Frédy Burkhalter (CEO of the Swiss Friotherm, Switzerland), Dr. Andrew Pearson (Star Refrigeration, Scotland); and Dr. Koichi Watanabe (professor Emeritus of Keio University, Japan).

The Mechanical Contractors Association of Canada is hosting its 73rd annual national conference at the Delta St. John’s in St. John’s, Nfld. from Sept. 24 to the 27th. The conference, themed “New Found Opportunities,” will feature keynote speaker Rick Hillier, Canada’s former Chief of the Defence Staff for the Canadian Forces. There will also be education sessions on prompt payment legislation, future trends and operational best practices for mechanical contractors. mcac.ca

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News

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Accelerating into Canada

HRAI GTA talks Net Zero homes, Bill 55 and duct sealing

Trane brought its Acceleration Now Tour to Toronto in June, hitting Ontario Place with semitrucks full of the company’s latest chillers, air handlers, controls, terminal and variable refrigerant systems, as well as Jeff Scheniman, a Trane account manager in Toronto, discusses his company’s design information on its aftermarket capabilities with tour visitors. offerings and services. This was the first of two Canadian stops for the tour, which is hitting 70 locations over a 39-week period. The next stop in Canada is coming up on Aug. 20 and 21, at the Double Tree Hotel in Edmonton, Alta. That event will feature displays and seminars on both days. For information, or to register, visit the company’s website or talk with your local Trane rep.

HRAI’s GTA chapter tackled Net Zero homes, Bill 55 and duct sealing during its latest chapter meeting, held in Vaughan, Ont., in May. The meeting was kicked off with a presentation by Building Knowledge’s Andy Oding titled, “Net Zero Homes & HVAC: The Unintended Consequences (and Opportunities).”

trane.com

Sustainability for sinks This past May, the InSinkErator Canada team led a training session called “Sustainable Solutions for Kitchen Sinks” at the first-ever NKBA Green Committee Tabletop Show. The session was held in conjunction with the Source of Furniture and Accessories (SOFA) designer showcase event in Mississauga, Ont., which attracted more than 300 designers.

InSinkErator’s Heather Ferris during an NKBA training session at the inaugural NKBA Green Committee Tabletop Show.

insinkerator.ca

Oding discussed how the 2012 Ontario Building Code, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2014, integrates new building code objectives relating to energy use and environmental impact. He also talked about Canada preparing to take the lead on net zero, with five large net zero communities underway across the country and 15 R2000 Net Zero/Net Zero-ready projects in process.

HRAI’s director of programs and relations, Martin Luymes, offered the crowd an update on Bill 55, The Stronger Protection for Ontario Consumers Act, 2014. The bill is designed to address certain types of door-to-door tactics used by some companies. Bill 55 was introduced last fall and passed into legislation in December, but some issues have been recognized in the new rules, including the 20-day cooling off period, requirement for third-party verification calls, and some of the mandatory language in contracts. The main concern HRAI has with the bill is that the proposed regulations would apply to all direct sales agreements done in customers’ homes.

The final presentation of the night was provided by Aeroseal’s Tibo Phung, who discussed the duct sealing service provided by his company. The process involves injecting a sealant into ducts from the inside to seal leaks within ductwork to improve the energy efficiency and effectiveness of HVAC systems. hrai.ca

A helping hand NTCCC chapters coming soon The National Trade Contractors Coalition of Canada (NTCCC) recently approved a bylaw change to allow for the establishment of provincial and territorial chapters across Canada. NTCCC’s director John Blair stated that it will allow local trade contractor groups to become better organized and increase their influence in local issues. The bylaw changes are expected to be submitted to Industry Canada in October in compliance with the new Canada Corporations Act. ntccc.ca

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Several members of the CIPH Charity Committee (past and present) made their way to the current Habitat for Humanity Canada build site in Burlington, Ont., in June to present the local Habitat chapter with a cheque for $150,000 to help fund the building of 13 townhouses. CIPH and HRAI have a 20-year history of supporting Habitat for Humanity Canada. ciph.com hrai.ca

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Choose a product built for you. And your customers.

Saying YES to leadership through change Offering advice and tactics to motivate employees, as well as ways that attendees could improve their leadership abilities, Dave Holt brought his “Leadership through change” workshop to CIPH Ontario’s Young Executive Society (YES). The presentation was part of a morning seminar held prior to CIPH Ontario Region’s AGM in May. ciph.com

Mechanical sector makes top 50 Canada’s mechanical sector was well represented in Canada’s Top 50 Best Managed Companies for 2013. Among the companies named in the 2013 winners and requalified lists were Napoleon, Groupe Deschenes, Armstrong Fluid Technology, Imperial Manufacturing and B.A. Robinson.

Well done! canadas50best.com

Rheem kicks off rewards program

Just one look at the AirEase® line and you’ll see why hundreds of dealers across North America have chosen AirEase for their businesses. Our heating and cooling products are expertly crafted for long-lasting performance, and they’re built with features that meet the unique demands of your market.

Give yourself the AirEase advantage.

Learn more about becoming a dealer at www.alliedaircooling.com. ©2014 Allied Air Enterprises LLC.,a Lennox International Inc. Company

Rheem has created the ProClub Contractor Rewards Program, where contractors earn points for selling the company’s water heating products. For more info, visit RheemProClub.ca. rheem.com M e c h a n i c a l 8170_armstrong_trade_ads.indd 1

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Movers & Shakers www.mechanicalbusiness.com

Goodman opens Hamilton location

Allied Engineering appoints sales agent

Goodman Company of Canada continues its expansion and has opened a branch in Hamilton, Ont. The branch is located at 41 Brockley Drive, Unit 8. Tel: 905-573-6565.

Allied Engineering has named J-TAK Sales Agencies its agent for Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario. Clarence Takeuchi brings more than 30 years of experience working in the plumbing and heating industry.

J-TAK Sales can be reached at 204-633-4889.

goodmanmfg.com

alliedboilers.com

NIBE to acquire Waterfurnace NIBE Industrier AB (NIBE), a Swedish-based heat pump manufacturer, has announced that it will be purchasing 100 per cent of the outstanding shares of WaterFurnace Renewable Energy for approximately $378 million.

WaterFurnace will continue to operate as a separate entity under the leadership of its CEO Tom Huntington and his management team, forming part of NIBE’s business area NIBE Energy Systems. The transaction needs to be approved at a shareholder’s meeting that will be held later this summer.

Dobbin Sales teams up with G.F. Thompson Dobbin Sales Limited and G. F. Thompson Co. Ltd. combined their sales teams across the province of British Columbia this past June. This united sales force will offer customer support across both companies’ range of products. gfthompson.com dobbinsales.com

waterfurnace.com

Aquatherm teams up with Andrew Sheret in B.C., opens Ontario facility Aquatherm has entered into a wholesale distribution partnership with Andrew Sheret Limited, a B.C.-based company with 22 locations across the province.

Andrew Sheret personnel will work with Aquatherm and its manufacturer’s representative for B.C., Hy-Line Sales Ltd. Aquatherm has also announced it will supply pipes and parts from the Links Warehousing & Fulfillment centre located in Vaughan, Ont.

Zoeller added to ATS specification system Zoeller Canada has announced that it has been added to Allied Technical Services (ATS) specification system. The company’s products will now be available to engineers, architects, and designers using the ATS online specification system throughout Canada. zoeller.com

aquatherm.ca

Saniflo partners with Westcan Mechanical Saniflo Canada recently named Westcan Mechanical Sales as its sales agency for Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

The partnership means Saniflo now has reps all across Canada. saniflo.ca

12

Weil-McLain names Saskatchewan agent Weil-McLain Canada has appointed Westcan Mechanical Sales its agent for Saskatchewan. They can be reached at 306-347-2700 or westcanmechanical@sasktel.net. weil-mclain.ca

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08.14

People in the news www.mechanicalbusiness.com

Emerson has promoted ANDRE PATENAUDE to director of CO² business development.

His responsibilities include the development of a global strategy around Emerson’s CO² industry stewardship, marketing initiatives, communication and messaging activities, channel training, and educational programs as they relate to using CO² in refrigeration systems. Andre has more than 30 years of marketing, sales and technical service experience working with end users, contractors, wholesalers and OEMs. Rheem has appointed NIC GABURA to the position of account manager for water heaters, Ontario. Nic brings more than 20 years of sales experience in the construction, finance and marketing fields. He will be responsible for wholesale and energy channel water heater sales activities in the Ontario region and will report directly to BARBARA O’REILLY, Canadian general sales manager, water heating. Nic replaced MICK GALLAGHER, who has retired after 23 years of service to the company.

Wolseley Canada has appointed CHRIS SWARTZ as its vicepresident of supply chain. Chris is responsible for the growth and optimization of all supply chainrelated functions for the company, and brings more than 15 years of experience in supply chain operations to his new role.

TIMOTHY McNEILL has joined Mestek as an application engineering manager. He will be working with the Mestek Boiler Group and Sterling HVAC in pre-sales and postsales application support in the U.S. and Canada. Timothy has more than 20 years of experience in consulting engineering and seven years in sales engineering.

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Dobbin Sales and G.F. Thompson have jointly added COLIN THATE and YVETTE GILLESPIE to their B.C. team. The pair will be responsible for sales and customer support, technical service and quotations, and will work from Delta, B.C. InSinkErator has hired HEATHER FERRIS as its Ontario sales representative. Heather has more than 15 years of experience in multi-channel sales and marketing within wholesale showrooms and plumbing boutiques, and with builders, architects and designers.

Her responsibilities include managing all plumbing showroom, wholesale and trade channel relations for InSinkErator Canada.

Goodman Company of Canada has named RYAN CLARKSON (left) the branch manager for its new location in Hamilton.

Ryan has more than 15 years of experience in the HVAC sector. The company has also hired CLAYTON FOSSEN (right) as the branch manager in Edmonton. He has several years of experience in the HVAC trade.

Armstrong Fluid Technology has hired JOHN MOLNAR as a technical sales representative for its commercial and engineering divisions. His role is to develop and grow relationships with engineers, contractors and service dealers in Ontario.

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BILL HOOPER has been named Uponor’s regional sales manager for Atlantic Canada. Bill has more than 20 years of experience in the plumbing and HVAC industry, is a member of CIPH’s national board, and is a former chairman of the Canadian Hydronics Council.

Ontor Limited has named KEVIN KOSOWAN its sales representative for Alberta. Kevin is a plumber, gasfitter, steamfitter and pipefitter and has several other HVAC-related courses to his credit.

Caleffi has hired JODY SAMUELL as its manager of engineer education. He has more than 20 years of experience in product management, technical support and training, and will be active in Canada and the U.S. Trox USA has appointed THOMAS ORR as its director of sales for Canada.

Thomas’ main role is to support and train the company’s independent distributors and work directly with consulting engineers and architects in Canada.

Knipex Tools has hired STEPHANIE KALETA as its key account sales manager with responsibility for clients in Canada and the U.S.

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08.14

Profile Paul McDonald: Reaching for the top

There’s a belief in business that hard work, dedication, and the ability to recognize and take advantage of opportunity when it presents itself can lead someone to the corner office. Well, our latest profile person, Paul McDonald, is a perfect example of just where a bit of perseverance, patience and good fortune (aided by hard work and dedication) can lead.

From his beginnings as a warehouseman at Triangle Plumbing Supply in Etobicoke, Ont., Paul has forged a career in the plumbing industry that

has taken him from the warehouse, to sales positions, and ultimately to the corner office of Bradford White Canada. As the recently-minted chair of the Canadian Institute of Plumbing and Heating, Paul will be traveling the country strengthening industry ties, and helping to share his insights into the opportunities that can be found in the plumbing industry in Canada. We recently caught up with him to hear what he has planned for the coming year as CIPH chair.

Q A

Q

Q A

Q

How did you get started in the industry?

Tell us about your first job.

Name: Paul McDonald Titles: General Manager, Bradford White Canada Inc. Age: Paul turns 59 this month. Wish him a happy birthday on July 28!

Resides: Burlington, Ont. Family: Wife Gail, children Daniel (32) and Adam (28), and grandson Gage (5)

I started at Triangle Plumbing Supply. Owners Pat Paterson and Don Walden were my mentors. If you were willing to learn and grow, these men supported you all the way.

Q A

What do you enjoy most about the industry?

T he people. Most everyone in this industry is very genuine and honest, and most are willing to share their knowledge.

FAST FACTS • Paul recently completed a wine cellar to house his collection of wines.

• In 1976, Paul took a leave from Triangle Supply to “make his millions” in Northern Alberta. “I was there six months, made more money than you can imagine, spent every penny, rode a motorcycle all through the Yukon and Alaska, had hair so long I could tuck it in my belt, and came home broke,” he reports. “Thank God Pat and Don took me back.”

• Paul is a big sports fan, and is a loyal follower of the Blue Jays and a lifelong Maple Leaf fan.

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Q

How has the industry changed in your time in the plumbing and heating sector?

A

F or a time our industry was not as active as it should have been in relation to codes, standards and government relations. This industry is changing faster now than it ever has, and we have learned to stay ahead of change.

B u s i n e s s

What’s been the most interesting project you’ve been directly involved in?

I needed a job for a year after high school to earn money for university.

I wanted to be an engineer. After the year, and a brief six-month stint in Northern Alberta, I realized that I liked this industry and wanted to take advantage of the great opportunities to learn and grow within it. It proved to be a wise choice.

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A

I was recently part of a contingent of CIPH and MCAC executives for a “Day on the Hill” in Ottawa with government leaders. This was a first for me, to witness first-hand the workings of our parliament, and to meet with MPs and Senators to discuss industry issues.

Tell us about your involvement with industry associations, boards and committees. What motivates you to get so involved?

A

A s George Bernard Shaw stated in Back to Methuselah, “You see things and say, ‘Why?’ I dream of things that never were and say, ‘Why not?’” Ever since I heard JFK repeat this quote back in the mid-sixties, I’ve realized that I’m one of those “Why not?” kind of guys.

I’ve always questioned things. There’s always room for improvement, and there is always more to learn.

Q

As the incoming chair, what are the top three things that you’d like to see accomplished during your tenure?

A

1 . Expanding the membership opportunities of CIPH. Many CIPH members manage products outside of the purview of CIPH. 2. Continuing the efforts toward harmonization of codes and standards in Canada, and in areas where Canada and the United States overlap.

3. Strengthening of MOUs and other agreements with like associations across North America. Many of our projects overlap. We all stand a greater shot at success by working together.

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Commercial project

B y Y van M ar st o n an d A d am Freill

Mechanicals keep Ripley’s in business

F

eaturing some 5.7 million litres of water and more than 100 interactive displays, Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada instantly became the nation’s largest indoor aquarium when it opened its doors this past October.

With that much water, multiple life support systems for the animal species housed at the facility, and challenging air quality concerns, not to mention all of the mechanical systems that would be expected in a 135,000 sq. ft. commercial building, the equipment choices and system designs were anything but typical.

“Corrosion is a big problem because of all the salt-laden air,” explained Steve Orchard, a partner at The Mitchell Partnership, the Toronto-based mechanical engineering firm that worked on the project. “Everything had to be taken into account to ensure that the systems we installed would not rot. Some equipment we saw looked like it had been at the bottom of the ocean for 10 years.”

As such, plastic piping is used in most areas of the structure, and special consideration was given to metal components.

“Our air handlers here have 3/16” stainless steel liners, epoxy-coated fans and coated fins,” says Orchard. “We used stainless steel ductwork, and we used polypropylene-random piping on the system that feeds all the make-up water for the tanks.”

The choice to use polypropylene-random piping was due to the expansion factor. “It has a similar thermal expansion co-efficient to copper,” he explained.

“With steel piping that’s not a big deal, but when you use plastic piping it can be two to four times the expansion you will see in steel pipe,” he adds.

Where his firm did use steel, it was insulated in a PVC jacket that was solvent welded, “to seal it away from the salt-laden air.”

Underwater fire safety

Photos: Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada; Adam Freill

While most buildings of its type would have sprinklers throughout, the underwater acrylic tunnel that runs through the shark lagoon presents a unique challenge.

“We didn’t have anything to attach sprinklers to,” says Steve Orchard. “So we have a Very Early Smoke Detection Apparatus, or VESDA, smoke detector system in the tunnel to monitor for early warning signs of fire.”

Above the water presented some challenges as well, as the corrosive air over saltwater tanks would be problematic to pipes, pipe hangers and possibly sprinkler heads. Accidental discharge of water from a sprinkler system into a tank was a concern as well, since it could cause a problem for the fish in the tank, so lines do not extend over the tanks.

Besides, says Orchard, “not much can catch on fire in one million gallons of water.”

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DID YOU KNOW? The piping within the facility has been colour-coded, with blue pipes indicating a freshwater line and green piping transferring saltwater throughout the aquarium.

Did you know?: Through the use of its filtration system, the aquarium is able to save 99.9 per cent of the water it uses.

Humble beginnings All water used in the tanks at the Toronto-based aquarium starts as municipal tap water. The water is conditioned prior to use in the tanks, with each tank being specifically conditioned for the species of marine animals that will reside in the tank.

The water has its fluorine, chlorine and other minerals removed, and then appropriate salts and other minerals and chemicals are added, and the temperature adjusted, to make the water suitable for the species housed in the tank.

Since the facility is responsible for the lives of thousands of marine animals, the aquarium has enough conditioned water in storage tanks under the facility to replace all the water in all of its tanks. This water is used to top up any water lost to evaporation, and can be used in the event of an emergency in one (or all) of the tanks.

This water can only be held for a set period of time before it becomes unusable (due to potential for bacterial and other problems), so it is replaced on a regular basis.

All the discharge goes to a salt discharge basin, which helps condition it back to a state that is safe to release into the municipal drainage system, explained Orchard. “The discharge is metered because we have sewage capacity limitations in that location,” he adds. “We can’t just throw all the water out whenever we want, so they hold it back and discharge in periods when the sewage system is less busy.”

Filtering and isolating systems Visitors to the aquarium get the opportunity to check out some of the life support systems at work as they exit the main viewing areas and galleries. Twelve of the facility’s filters and three of its fractionators are on display, along with several monitors displaying conditions in various tanks.

This is just a fraction of the systems at work, however. The water filtration and treatment systems used at the aquarium do not crossover from one tank to another so there are numerous systems at work behind the scenes as well. A filter that serves one tank will not serve another. This can help keep potential problems isolated to a single tank, rather than risking the whole facility.

In addition to the use of sand filters, which backwash automatically if the filter senses a 25 per cent reduction in flow, foam fractionators are used to add air and ozone to the water to kill bacteria. The air helps create foam within the treated water. This foam floats to the top of treatment tanks, where trapped impurities and undesirable debris can be skimmed off the top.

Since ozone will kill bacteria, but it can also kill fish and other marine animals, the water undergoes a de-aeration process to make it safe to return to the tanks.

M e c h a n i c a l

A comfortable swim, and view The water for the tanks has to be brought down to a temperature appropriate for the fish. While this can be accomplished by Mother Nature during the winter, in the summer and at other warm periods, the facility makes use of a chiller plant to cool the water.

“The main exhibit tank can run anywhere from 70 to 80 degrees, and you can have some exhibits as low as 50 degrees,” says Orchard.

“Some exhibits required heating and cooling. The shark tank, for example, can be cooled or heated.”

And while conditions in the water are a concern for the health of the fish, the facility cannot afford to overlook the comfort of their human visitors as well.

“There’s a more intense building science component to it than you would see in a regular building,” he explains. “We drew from a variety of our experiences because there’s a retail component, a restaurant component and a lab component, and also an industrial pool component and a front of house museum component.”

Air exchange rates had to be specifically calculated for different areas of the building, depending on the exhibit space and the exhibits themselves, and sound and humidity were very real concerns.

“We placed the extremely loud pumps in separate rooms that are acoustically isolated so they weren’t affecting the visitor experience,” says Orchard. “And designed for a dehumidification level that will allow for human comfort but not condensation on the glass at the entrance, because it’s all an-open environment.”

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High-performance HVAC continued continued from from page page 20

The effect of large capacity hoods Let’s look at what a large capacity hood does to the pressure in the house, and the resulting consequences. Certainly, the tightness of a house will have an impact and there are two fundamental concerns: 1. The potential for backdrafting or interrupting the safe operation of fuel-fired combustion appliances in the home; and

PRESSURE LIMITS

2. The effective operation of the range hood itself and other exhaust equipment or appliances in the home.

For the purposes of this article consider two pressure limits:

Here is the specific NBC Part 6 reference (there are similar references in most provincial codes as well as in the CSA F326 Residential Ventilation Standard that is referenced in Part 6 of the NBC):

• A five Pascal pressure limit in homes where there are spillage-susceptible appliances, such as wood burning fireplaces, woodstoves or gas log sets in an open hearth fireplace;

6.2.3.11. Makeup Air 1) In ventilating systems that exhaust air to the outdoors, provision shall be made for the admission of a supply of makeup air in sufficient quantity so that the operation of the exhaust system and other exhaust equipment or combustion equipment is not adversely affected.

Note that there is no specific pressure limit mentioned, however our industry, through HRAI, did respond with a calculation procedure and test method for determining the safe limits of exhaust air for different types of combustion appliances.

• A 50 Pascal pressure limit for all other houses that have direct-vent or power-vent gas appliances, or no combustion appliances at all. This is, in my opinion, a very safe, conservative pressure limit. The rationale for it is most likely two-fold. First, most range hoods and exhaust fans are rated for airflow capacity at 25 to 50 Pa (0.1 to 0.2” w.c.) pressure, so if you want 250 CFM of exhaust from a hood, you don’t want the back pressure to exceed 50 Pa. Second, there has never been a test requirement for the potential backdrafting of power vented gas or oil appliances and, in the absence of a specific test, 50 Pa seems like a safe limit.

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• T he e f f e c t o f l a r g e c a p a c it y h o o d s • Th e b en efit o f exp er ience The benefit of experience Testing negative pressure HRAI has a calculation procedure that you can use to determine the likelihood that a range hood of a specific size will create a specific negative pressure in a home based on assumptions of air tightness.

Alternatively, there is an HRAI depressurization test procedure where you can use a simple digital pressure gauge to test the negative pressure in a home with exhaust appliances operating. For more information on these, visit hrai.ca.

Over the years, I have done calculations and tests for builders, contractors and building departments, and while every HVAC professional should do their own calculations and tests, here is the benefit of my experience.

In houses with “chimneys” (spillage-susceptible appliances) and a pressure limit of five Pascal, plan for make-up air as the pressure limit is quickly exceeded by even modest capacity range hoods.

In houses with a 50 Pa limit, I have found that range hoods with a capacity under 400 CFM rarely cause an issue. Range hoods with a capacity over 600 CFM are almost always an issue and need makeup air. Between 400 and 600 CFM it’s a toss-up. With this capacity range hood, plan for make-up air and then use your digital gauge to see if the 50 Pa limit is exceeded.

Fortunately, the leading manufacturers of range hoods are responding well to these concerns and now offer products that have make-up air relay kits and optional dampers available to facilitate the installation of make-up air dampers.

In my experience, homeowners want their big range hood, and they want it to work well. Help them with that by providing for make-up air that “feeds” the range hood. They will thank you for it.

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PLUMBING

By F re d Br e t z k e

Hot water vs Hard water Best maintenance practices for commercial hot water tanks

H

ard water is the serial killer of hot water tanks. It is detrimental to the life span of a hot water heater. In order to understand why, a simple explanation of calcium will do the trick.

Calcium deposits gravitate from water molecules to the bottom of a hot water tank. Initially, they are like white sandy deposits or crystal formations, but after settling to the bottom of the heater they transform into a hard rock-like graveyard. This layer of calcium rock lessens the capacity of the tank and wreaks all sorts of havoc within the bottom steel floor of the tank.

Since we now have a much thicker tank bottom, comprised of steel and calcium, the burner needs to fire longer, overheating the steel bottom to get heat to the water through the calcium. This can weaken, or even split the steel.

But worry not, there are things that can be done to mitigate scale deposits, and as a plumber that spells opportunity to me.

Residential vs. commercial In order to explain best maintenance practices for commercial hot water tanks, let us first talk about residential hot water tanks.

These can be easily maintained by draining and flushing them with a garden hose attached to the hosebib located on the bottom side of the tank.

If this is done on a yearly basis right from installation, it will be possible to flush the sandy deposits out of the tank.

If no maintenance has been done on the tank for a period of years, say five or more, this method may not work, as the sandy deposits may have transformed into layers of rock. An unmaintained tank will likely have a shorter lifespan than the one that is flushed from time to time.

If a commercial hot water tank has not been cleaned or maintained in years, and the calcium is already transformed to layers of rock, it can be virtually impossible to remove the calcium.

During one of my attempts to remove calcium with a heavy duty screwdriver I pierced a hole in the bottom of a tank from excessive force.

Commercial hot water tanks are much bigger and more expensive to replace, so most tanks have a cleanout access plate manufactured on the bottom side.

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Like a rock

continues on page 26

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This cleanout plate can be removed, making it possible to physically put your hand in the tank to scoop out the calcium. This method is easier performed on commercial tanks that only have one large baffle or flue in the centre.

With this type of tank, one can manoeuvre their arm right around the baffle and access all of the calcium.

It’s more difficult to accomplish with newer water heaters, as they generally have more inner flues to negotiate around. Flushing can be aided with a garden hose.

Commercial hot water tank maintenance To properly flush a commercial hot water tank, a step-by-step approach is recommended: • Turn cold water valve off, located on the top or bottom side inlet of the tank.

• Turn off gas valve or turn to pilot, located on the bottom side of tank.

•

Open the drain or hosebib on the bottom side of tank, and lift the TPRV lever located on the top side of tank in order to break the air lock and drain the tank more efficiently.

•

Clean the cleanout plate and cleanout tank opening of all debris and possible rust and then install a new neoprene seal around the cleanout plate. Pipe dope the seal if required and reseal and bolt the cleanout plate back into former position.

• Push TPRV lever back into original position and open cold inlet valve, thereby refilling tank.

• Test for possible leaks.

• Turn gas valve back on.

• Remove the access cleanout plate by undoing the • Wait till tank reheats and test for possible leaks. bolt(s).

• Commence cleaning by flushing out sandy- like calcium from the bottom of the tank and scooping it out.

continues on page 28

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The main reasons to prevent scale buildup in commercial hot water tanks is to keep them operating safely and efficiently. To aid in scale reduction, some newer tanks are built in a way that distributes the flow of water through a jetted manifold in a circular fashion, helping to eliminate calcium sediment buildup on the bottom of the tank.

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There is yet another method of overcoming the hard water or sodium; that is to manufacture the tank out of stainless steel, which is more expensive to purchase, but will be longer lasting.

Scale can form on stainless steel tanks, however many of these tanks are built with water inlet manifolds that swirl the water to prevent calcium from settling on the bottom of the tank.

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Scale is formed when minerals in hard water drop out of a solution and crystalize on surfaces. The two main factors that cause this to occur in hot water tanks are a neutral or high pH level in the water supply, and the transfer of energy acting as a catalyst.

Water supplies with a low acid content can allow for the formation of mineral scale, while a water supply with a high acid content is more likely to dissolve rock into minerals.

The pH scale measures acid content from 0.0 to 14.0, with a pH of 7.0 considered neutral. Water supplies with a pH level of 7.0 or higher have a lower acid content so they are more likely to contribute to the formation of mineral scale. For example, battery acid has a pH level of 0, while liquid drain cleaner has a pH level of 14. Pure water is considered neutral.

Fred Bretzke is a full-time pipe trades instructor with SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary and the general manager of A&B Plumbing & Heating. He can be reached at fred.bretzke@sait.ca.

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Commercial truck roundup

B y Ho war d J . Elmer

s e g an Ch coming soon

Howard J. Elmer is a PowerSports editor, writer and author, based in Brampton, Ont. He has a transportation, newspaper and radio background, and is a member of the Truck Writers of North America, the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada and the creator of the Canadian Truck King Challenge. www.canadiantruckkingchallenge.ca

L

ast edition, our look at service vans leaned towards news about a lot of the new models that have come to market over the past several months, but don’t take the changing scene on the van front to suggest the manufacturers have been standing still on the pickup truck side of the road. It is quite the opposite, actually.

Over at Ford, and with Ford enthusiasts, there is lots of chatter about the new all-aluminum F-150, but we won’t actually see one until the end of the year.

If you are looking to test drive something new that is at the dealerships, Ram has an offering that’s big: the Ram 1500 with the 3L EcoDiesel engine. This truck won the Canadian Truck King Challenge for 2014 – feel free to stop by my website, www.canadiantruckkingchallenge.ca, to see how the trucks we tested performed.

2014 Ford SuperDuty F250 to F450 2014 is a carry-over year for SuperDuty, however Ford has made some interim improvements on the trucks overall. As other builders have pushed their payloads higher, Ford has followed suit, and brake systems have been improved to carry new limits. This includes increased brake rotor sweep, increased front and rear Wheelbase: 137”, 141.8”, 156.2”, 158”, 172.4” hydraulic cylinder size and available adjustable pedals.

Cab styles: Regular, SuperCab, SuperCrew Engine size: Power (hp/torque):

6.2L V8, 6.7L turbo-diesel 385/405, 400/800

Max. payload:

2014 Ram 1500 We have been anticipating the 3L diesel in the Ram half-ton, and we are happy to report that the wait is over – it’s finally here. Ram has coupled this to an eight-speed transmission, the same tranny that is also working with the 3.6L V6 and the 5.7L V8 Hemi. This makes all the power- Wheelbase: 140.5”, 149.5”, 169.5” trains this year new in some way, Cab styles: Regular, Crew, Mega Cab and they are very fuel efficient.

Engine size: 5.7L V8 Hemi, 3.6L V6, 3.0L EcoDiesel Other improvements are front Power (hp/torque): 395/410, 305/269, 240/420 park assist, four-corner air suspenMax. payload: Varies by model. sion, best in class aerodynamics Max. towing capacity: 3L EcoDiesel – 9,200 lb.; and a new Uconnect 8.4-inch

3.6L V6– 7,450 lb.; touchscreen display.

5.7L V8 – 10,450 lb.

Box sizes:

6’4”, 8’

Max. towing capacity:

7,260 lb.

24,700 lb. (F450)

Box sizes:

6’8”, 8’

Wheelbase:

140.5”, 149.5”, 169.5”

Cab styles:

Regular, Crew, Mega Cab

Engine size:

Ram Truck HD 2500 and 3500 & Power Wagon

Power (hp/torque):

5.7L V8 Hemi, 6.7L turbo-diesel, 6.4L V8 Hemi 383/400, 350/850, 410/429

Max. payload: 7,320 lb.

2014 sees the HD Ram add more Max. towing capacity: 30,010 lb. upgrades to an already good truck.

Last year’s jump to a top tow rating Box sizes: 6’4”, 8’ of 30,000 pounds is now joined by improvements to air suspension on 2500 and 3500 models. Also offered are a five-link coil rear suspension on the 2500 and a new integrated fifth-wheel/gooseneck hitch from the factory. Alternators are improved, 18 and 20-inch wheel packages are offered and the Ram Power Wagon is re-released with an all-new 6.4L V8 Hemi under the hood. continued on page 32

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265 lb-ft torque. 7.7 L /100 km hwy.* Our strengths at work.

The All-New 2014 Sprinter. Starting at $39,900.** With a turbocharged BlueTEC diesel 4-cylinder engine that puts out 265 lb-ft of torque and still gets 7.7 L/100 km hwy*, the All-New 2014 Sprinter is well equipped to meet the demands of your job. Learn more about the Sprinter’s ultra-efficient powertrain at TheNewSprinter.ca. /mbcanadasprinter

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©2014 Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc. *Based on Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standard Testing of 2014 model year Sprinter 2500 Cargo Van, 144" wheelbase, standard roof, at 50% load capacity, and at highway/city speeds according to the standards of the “CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM NEW HEAVY–DUTY MOTOR VEHICLES [Title 40 Code of Federal Regulations – Part 1037]” as conducted by Mercedes-Benz in September 2013. Stated fuel consumption based on highway driving cycle. Your actual fuel consumption may vary. Not for comparison purposes. Fuel efficiency test results determined using Government of Canada approved test methods are not available **National MSRP is shown and is intended for information purposes only. Prices do not include taxes, levies, fees, freight and delivery charges, insurance and licence fees, as well as any other products or services not listed that may be available to you through your selected Mercedes-Benz dealership. Vehicle prices subject to change. Dealer may sell for less. These prices do not apply in provinces with total/all-in pricing requirements. Please contact your local dealership directly for exact pricing details and total pricing applicable in those provinces.

Commercial truck roundup

continued from page 30

2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500

2014 Toyota Tundra

Wheelbase:

126.8”, 145.6”

Cab styles:

Regular, Double Cab, CrewMax

Engine size:

The new Tundra is all about Power (hp/torque): its looks and trim levels – Max. payload: the “1794” package comes Max. towing capacity: to mind. When it comes to Box sizes:

power, the company chose to stay with its “tried and true” engines. So, for the foreseeable future the Tundra will continue to offer only its 5.7L V8 and 4.6L V8 – both mated to the same six-speed transmission. New standard features for 2014 include a blind spot monitor with rear cross traffic alert, a standard back-up camera using a 6.1-inch audio display screen, and Bluetooth. There is an internal buzz that engine changes are coming next year, so watch for news on that front.

4.6L, 5.7L 310/327, 381/401 1,900 lb.

After seven years, this truck is all new. Looks aside, which are good, the biggest deal is a trio of new engines called EcoTec3. This family has three members; a 4.3L V6, a 5.3L V-8 and a 6.2L V-8.

EcoTec3 engines feature three integrated systems; direct injection, cylinder deactivation and continuously variable valve timing. The truck also gets new two-stage rear leaf springs; revised steering, quieter Wheelbase: 119”, 133”, 157.5” cab, new brakes and a much nicer Cab styles: Regular, Double Cab, Crew Cab interior. Special attention has been Engine size: EcoTec3 - 4.3L V6, 5.3L V8, 6.2L V8 paid to the box with new integrated Power (hp/torque): 285/305 355/383 N/A bumper-step and handhold, new Max. towing capacity: 11,500 lb. tiedowns, under-edge lighting and Box sizes:

5’7”, 6’6”, 8’ EZ down tailgate.

10,800 lb.

5’, 6’5”, 8’

2014 Chevrolet Silverado HD 2500 - 3500 A very good HD truck finally gets an inside update to match this year. Borrowing from Chevy’s new 1500 Series, the new HD is quieter inside and now very well appointed.

In addition, all its screens and electronics are updated too. Also of interest are new safety and stability systems that now knit together the ABS, traction control, sway control and cruise Wheelbase: 133”, 143.5”, 157.5”, 167” control on Silverado and Sierra. What Cab styles: Regular, Extended, Crew Cab this new system does is hold a speed Engine size: 6L V8, 6.6L turbo-diesel uphill as well as downhill. The driver Power (hp/torque): 353/373, 397/765 never needs to touch the brakes – the Max. payload: 7,374 lb. computer controls the braking, using Max. towing capacity: 23,200 lb. discs and transmission, automatically.

Box sizes: 6’5”, 8’ This is very slick, and currently one-ofa-kind. Like the 1500s, the HDs also get 6.5- and 8-foot boxes with standard CornerStep bumpers, EZ Lift & Lower tailgates, and inbox lighting.

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l u Bs iun se is ns e 1s 0s . 0078 . 1 4 M ee cc hha an ni ci ac l a B

Wheelbase:

126”, 145”, 157”, 163”

Cab styles:

Regular, SuperCab, SuperCrew

Engine size:

2014 Ford F150

Power (hp/torque):

3.5L V6 (EcoBoost), 3.7L V6, 5.0L V8, 6.2L V8 365/420, 302/278, 360/380 411/434

Ford is already promoting its Max. payload: 3,120 lb. new all-aluminum body 2015 Max. towing capacity: 11,300 lb.

F-series – so not much is hapBox sizes: 5’5”, 6’5”, 8’ pening for this last year of this generation. This doesn’t change the fact that it is still the best selling half-ton in Canada and that Ford offers more options and configurations than any other truck manufacturer.

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Vertical Interior Height

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HIGH ROOF Vertical Interior Height

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76

76

76

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Overall Max Allowable Uplift Length

248

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291

Overall Roof Height

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Overall Roof Height

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Roof Height

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Overall Body Width

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Overall Body Width

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82.7

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Frame Height

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25.5

25.5

82.7

82.7

82.7

52

52

52

5145 /5189

5123 /5167

5090 /5134

Cargo Volume (cu. ft.)

283

353

Cargo Volume (cu. ft.)

406

406

459

459

530

Body Width

Rear Door Swing (degrees)

260

260

Rear Door Swing (degrees)

260

260

260

260

260

Outside Frame Width

Max Payload (lbs.)

(Gas Engine)

3922 3852

Max Payload (lbs.)

(Gas Engine)

3794 4113 3998 4417

4280

Max Payload (lbs.)

(Chassis Cab/Cutaway)

*Measurements shown in inches. To convert to millimetres, multiply by 35.4. Measurements shown in cu. ft. To convert to litres, multiply by 28.3. Measurements shown in lbs. To convert to kilograms, multiply by 0.45.

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Refrigeration

B y P h il J. B o udreau

Following

refrigerant

D

through a system

C

E

A

s refrigerant travels through a circuit, volumetric and enthalpic changes occur, but have you ever envisioned yourself as one of those refrigerant molecules, experiencing first-hand the changes that take place as you run from the compressor to the evaporator, and back?

For this particular circuit, I have included a liquid-to-suction heat exchanger to improve the performance of the system.

Let’s start our journey at point A, where the compressor discharges the refrigerant at high pressure and high temperature.

At this point the In the system shown, the additional heat refrigerant includes picked up by the subcooler is not included several sources of in the discharge superheat. This is because heat. These sources the same quantity of heat is used to of heat include suppress the liquid temperature before it the latent and enters the metering device. sensible quantities absorbed within the evaporator, suction line superheat, along with the heat of compression. Additionally, with hermetic and semi-hermetic compressors, the motor adds heat to the refrigerant.

The enthalpy of the discharge is 108.7 BTU/lb., which represents the highest in the system. In an actual system, the temperature of the refrigerant tends to decrease as it travels from the compressor to the condenser.

To keep things simple, we will ignore sensible heat gains and losses from the piping, and have also ignored pressure drop in piping and heat exchangers, even though these would be easy to account for.

As the refrigerant passes through the condenser, heat is rejected in three forms: Sensible heat of the vapour – desuperheating, latent heat – condensation, and sensible heat of the liquid in the form of subcooling. The resulting liquid temperature after subcooling is 105˚F. After referring to Table 1, we can see that the condenser reduces the heat content of the refrigerant by 60.7 BTU/lb. This quantity represents the exact sum of all the heat sources within the cycle.

Since we have included a liquid-to-suction heat exchanger, the liquid will be subcooled further. The main criterion used to size this heat exchanger is the quantity of heat needed in the suction in order to elevate the discharge superheat to a point safely above the manufacturer’s recommendation.

FASTFACT

PHIL’S Notebook

A

B

F

Since the refrigerant leaving the evaporator is superheated by 8˚F, we would not have sufficient superheat. The heat exchanger in this case is sized such that it will ensure a minimum superheat of 15˚F. We can accomplish this by adding 1.6 BTU to each pound passing through the suction line.

Since the source of the superheat is the liquid line, we can see that by removing the same 1.6 BTU from each pound of liquid passing through the liquid line that the liquid temperature will drop from 105˚F to 101.1˚F. continued on page 36

Table 1

Note that this is a very simplified example. The minimum superheat should be evaluated during all modes of operation.

34

M e c h a n i c a l

B u s i n e s s

0 8 . 1 4

When he reduced costs by 13% with a new RTU, he wasn’t just saving money.

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continuedfrom frompage page3234 Refrigeration continued

This brings up an interesting point about condition D, which is located just after the expansion process.

As refrigerant is expanded, some of the refrigerant vaporizes in order to reduce the remaining portion of liquid down to the final evaporating temperature. As liquid line subcooling is increased, the resulting quantity of flash gas entering the evaporator will be less.

Generally this is not a concern, however with greater levels of subcooling, as found in economized two-stage cycles, the low flash gas value can have a negative impact on refrigerant distribution and/or heat transfer within the evaporator.

When high levels of subcooling values are used, the evaporator manufacturer must be made aware of this.

This will also have an impact on metering device sizing and oversized suction lines when standard 100˚F liquid is assumed in pipe sizing charts.

At point D, we can also see that the refrigerant has expanded from 0.016 to 0.216 ft3/lb. Initially, it was 100 per cent liquid when it entered the metering device. After the metering device, the total volume of the refrigerant represents the space taken up by the flash gas, plus the space taken up by the liquid.

Since the flash gas represents approximately 38.3 per cent of the total, the volume of the vapour is 0.5426 ft3/lb. The remaining portion of the liquid then, occupies 0.0134 ft3/ lb. This results in the total specific volume of 0.216 ft3/lb.

At point F, the refrigerant enters the compressor at a specific volume that is approximately 0.57 ft3/lb. Since the mass flow rate for this particular cycle is 2,067 lb./hr, the volumetric flow rate is 1,178.5 ft3/hr.

The compressor must be capable of extracting this volume from the suction line.

Keeping the superheat up It is essential that sufficient discharge superheat is maintained in order to minimize oil carryover from the compressor, and to reduce the quantity of refrigerant in the oil.

On high compression ratio systems, achieving minimum superheat is generally not a problem. However with low compression ratio systems, and where the refrigerant has comparatively lower heat of compression values, achieving the minimum discharge superheat may be a challenge.

When the discharge superheat is below the manufacturer’s recommended minimum, this should provide an indication that the suction gas superheat must be increased. For our example, I have included a heat exchanger that will ensure that a 15˚F return gas superheat is achieved.

In the diagram on page 34, note that the source of heat that will be used is the liquid on the high side of the system. Since we are not using an external source of heat to accomplish our task, the efficiency will be greater.

Seeking balance

As the refrigerant absorbs heat in the evaporator, we expect the enthalpy to increase. Of course, the specific volume of the mixture increases as more liquid evaporates.

After all the liquid is evaporated, the refrigerant is sufficiently superheated in order to protect the compressor and to provide stability of the metering device. The superheating process further increases the volume to the point where it reaches approximately 0.56 ft3/lb. before it leaves the evaporator.

In an actual system, the heat exchanger and piping also contribute to a rising specific volume as the pressure is reduced.

Note that the space occupied by the suction gas is approximately 3.5 times that of the discharge. So in order to have an equal velocity in the two pipes, the cross-section of the suction line will be approximately 3.5 times greater.

The NIST of things For the data points shown, I determined these points using Refprop Version 9. Refprop is the standard fluids database maintained by NIST, the National Institute of Standards and Technology. This is a great tool for performing mathematical calculations for various cycles.

In fact, I have used this for many of the charts and tables produced for Mechanical Business.

Phil Boudreau is the Ontario sales manager for Bitzer Canada Inc. and provides training and technical support for Bitzer’s clientele. Phil is also a refrigeration instructor at Humber College in Toronto, Ontario. He can be contacted at pboudreau@bitzer.ca.

Watch the volume change From the metering device to the compressor, the volume of the refrigerant gets progressively larger. Conversely, from the compressor to the metering device, the volume gets progressively smaller.

36

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WHAT www.mechanicalbusiness.com

Wet Heat Applications and Technologies

August 2014

A sopping wet supplement of Mechanical business

WHAT

Content Media Group Inc. 19 – 1525 Cornwall Road Oakville, ON L6J 0B2 Canada Tel: 905.465.2919 Fax: 905.465.2913 www.mechanicalbusiness.com August 2014 Issue Editor: Adam Freill, ext. 224 adam.freill@mechanicalbusiness.com

Associate Editor/Web Editor: Andrew Snook, ext. 225 andrew.snook@mechanicalbusiness.com National Accounts Manager: Jeff Superle, ext. 221 jeff.superle@mechanicalbusiness.com Controller: Liz Mills liz.mills@mechanicalbusiness.com Business Intern: Brooke Klintworth brooke.klintworth@mechanicalbusiness.com Art Direction: JJM Graphic Ltd. davem@jjmgraphic.com Circulation Manager: Shila Naik (905) 272-4175 shila.naik@mechanicalbusiness.com Publisher: Bruce Meacock, ext. 222 bruce.meacock@mechanicalbusiness.com

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage.

Submissions: Copyright in material submitted to the magazine and accepted for publication remains with the author, but Mechanical Business and its licensees may freely reproduce it in print, electronic or other forms. Mechanical Business also reserves the right to edit said submitted materials to suit the editorial needs and mandate of the publication.

Notice: Mechanical Business is published for owners, managers and decision makers with mechanical contracting firms and the sector’s supply chain partners in Canada. While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information, Mechanical Business, Content Media Group Inc., its staff, directors, officers and shareholders (‘The Publisher’) assume no liability, obligation or responsibility for advertised claims, for errors and/or omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of this information. Manufacturers’ instructions take precedence over published editorial. The publisher reserves the right to publish a printed correction in a subsequent issue for editorial errors, omissions and oversights.

Subscriptions are available for $90 plus taxes in Canada and the U.S. Single copies are $15.00. Outside Canada and the U.S., the rates are $150.00 (annual) and $25.00 (single copy).

From time to time, Content Media Group Inc. makes subscribers’ names available to reputable companies whose products or services may be of interest to readers. If you would like your name excluded from these mailings, please notify the publisher. © Copyright 2014. The contents of this magazine may not be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission of the publisher.

Proud members of:

From

W H A T

S u p p l e m e n t

editor’s

desk

The power of participation Every association within the mechanical sector has its share of challenges, from voicing the concerns of its members, to code changes, training programs, environmental initiatives and fundraising, to name but a few. One of the most common challenges I’ve found that crosses over into most organizations is the ability to consistently find people willing to volunteer their time.

Looking to volunteer?

Although the associations all have hardworking, dedicated individuals contributing their time and energy to improving their respective sectors, they rarely have enough volunteers to cover all their bases – or it’s always the same volunteers stepping up to the plate.

One good way to find out how you can help grow the hydronic sector is to touch base with associations such as CIPH (ciph.com), HRAI (hrai.ca), MCAC (mcac.ca) and COHA (cleanerheat.ca).

Let’s face it, people’s time comes at a premium these days. Most people’s schedules already feel packed to the brim as they struggle to find the balance between work, family, friends and their passion projects. But volunteering in one’s industry is important, and it can achieve impressive results.

In the hydronics industry, one needs to look no further than the creation of the B214 installation code for hydronic heating systems. Without the dedication of industry volunteers this historic code addition may never have been attainable. With it, the industry gained a powerful foundation allowing the hydronics industry to expand its footprint in the country’s building sector moving forward.

Although the B214 code was a major milestone, associations within the hydronics sector still have plenty of goals they are looking to achieve, from gaining ground within the new home builder market, to a nationally-recognized training and certification program for hydronic installers, the education of municipal home inspectors, and much more.

So if you’re looking for ways to help build the hydronics sector, touch base with the local chapters of your associations and find out how you can do your part to build the presence of “wet heat” in Canada.

Until next time,

Andrew Snook

40

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0 8 . 1 4

Balancing Jamie Dudley and Steve Clark

Jamie Dudley is a hydronic balancing specialist at Victaulic, and Steve Clark is vice-president of Clark Balancing Ltd. and is a member of the National Environmental Balancing Bureau’s (NEBB) 2014 Board of Directors. They can be reached at jdudley@victaulic.com and sclark@clarkbalancing.com.

Keeping Pace

with new methodologies

U

ntil recently, manual and automatic balancing methods were the norm for hydronic balancing. As with many related HVAC technologies, over the past five years balancing methodologies have evolved to become more sophisticated.

Today’s HVAC systems are designed to ASHRAE Energy Standard 90.1–2010, which requires modulating control valves, variable speed pumps and two-way design, making standard balancing equipment, like terminal valves, no longer effective on their own. A balancing methodology should be selected to provide good controllability (allow the automatic control valve to modulate effectively) of the system at part loads.

To have proper controllability in today’s advanced HVAC systems, it is important for the differential pressure to not vary too much across the control valve. Without stabilizing the differential pressure you put the fundamental objectives of the HVAC system – delivering the specified room comfort while using minimal energy – at risk. Stabilized differential pressure will help ensure good controllability resulting in increased comfort, better delta T for your equipment and less pumping energy.

Evolution of balancing methodologies Manual balancing valves As a staple in the North American market for the past 40 or 50 years, manual balancing valves have their place with constant-speed systems with three-way control valves and minimal differential pressure variation.

Manual valves allow balancing and flow measurement at the terminals and provide the design flow condition at full load. In partload scenarios, with modulating control systems, however, manual valves on their own will not compensate for pressure fluctuations in the system allowing overflow to occur.

Automatic balancing valves

PROTIP

Control valves should be selected to provide a minimum authority of 0.25, and 0.5 or greater at design conditions.

By design, automatics maintain a constant, preset flow by reacting to variable system pressure. Automatics react to the pump ramp up and ramp down in response to changes in pressure in variations in the building. This makes them high performers for on and off scenarios, but not for good controllability with modulating control systems.

With modulating control systems, automatics can have a negative effect on controllability as they fight control valves. When the modulating control valve tries to throttle, the automatic opens to maintain the set flow rate. It’s not until the modulating control valve continues on page 44

42

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throttles enough to get the automatic valve out of design pressure range that any modulation of flow occurs. The modulating control valve often operates more closely to an on/off control valve. This will manifest itself as hunting of the control valve and room temperature fluctuations resulting in comfort issues and poor delta T at part load.

Differential pressure controllers Engineers and architects in countries around the world look to Runtal for innovative heating solutions. From health care to high-rise and everything in-between, Runtal is the leader in heating efficiency, durability, comfort and style.

While the movement to automatics signaled the first step to pressure independence, they still lacked the controllability needed for systems with modulating control valves. Differential pressure controllers address this need as they perform well with modulating control valves and variable speed systems.

They stabilize the differential pressure to a module, which allows standard manual balancing valves and modulating control valves on each terminal unit to operate efficiently.

They also provide the ability to stabilize differential pressure despite load and pressure variations throughout the rest of the distribution piping system. This eliminates overflow on terminal units and improves control valve authority at each terminal unit. In addition, differential pressure controllers ease the balancing procedure as each module can be balanced independently allowing for staged balancing.

Pressure independent control valves The next evolution in balancing methodology – pressure independent control valves (PICV) – minimize the amount of design consideration needed by providing an all-in-one valve, reducing errors associated with proper valve selection and balancing.

These valves stabilize the differential pressure across the control valve, giving the valve good authority to operate and modulate. This ensures a good delta T and room comfort. There are two primary versions of PICV on the market: pressure independent characterized control valves (PICCV) and pressure independent balancing and control valves (PIBCV).

With PICCV, the control characteristic is preset at the factory for pre-determined flow rates.

Because they are preset, contractors cannot make flow rate adjustments in the field. The ability for direct field flow measurement is limited.

PIBCVs combine pressure stabilization, modulating control and balancing in one valve. This allows for presetting the flow rate and field flow rate adjustments. With the ability to adjust the flow you are able to adapt to design and equipment changes on the project. Additionally, with PIBCV, direct flow measurements, provide actual flow rates to verify valve performance and troubleshoot on the spot, further reducing commission time.

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W H A T

Addressing improperly adjusted balancing valves When issues arise with improper balancing, it’s frequently tied to one of three primary problems: inaccurate selection of the proper technologies, oversized valves or the valve position.

As balancing methodologies have evolved to keep pace with sophisticated HVAC technologies, inaccurate selection of the valve technologies for the design of the building has increased. By considering one of the various forms of differential pressure controller or the more advanced pressure independent balancing control valve, challenges with technology selection can be minimized.

Proper valve sizing is also crucial. When valves are improperly sized, the system can

S u p p l e m e n t

0 8 . 1 4

no longer be accurately balanced without losing controllability, heat transfer and comfort. Oversized valves are traditionally the number one complaint on projects as they can lead to flashing and cavitation within the system when valves have to be throttled too far.

Valve placement is another common issue as designers often view partner valves as being redundant rather than helpful to a systematic balancing approach. By placing valves in what may appear to be unnecessary locations, contractors can accurately balance the system. Without these partner valves on the branches and risers, a systematic balancing approach isn’t possible.

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Boiler controls Dan Rettig

An evolution in

Dan Rettig is a product coordinator at Lochinvar, LLC with experience in technical service and product management. He can be reached at drettig@lochinvar.com.

Hydronics

I

n a typical day, a contractor may be called to service an older non-condensing boiler, and the very next call may concern a new high-efficiency boiler. Both boilers perform the same function – heating the water that conditions the space – but a technician would be remiss to overlook the other features inside the newer appliance that distinguish it from an older model and provide added benefits for the end user.

Today’s consumers, both residential and commercial, are smart and have the same expectations of their boiler equipment as they do with any other appliance in their lives. Manufacturers have a challenge before them to provide affordable efficiency, and this efficiency can be largely affected as a result of the boiler controls.

Boiler controls are becoming more advanced every day. One such advancement is the use of multiple cascading boilers. The boilers are precisely controlled to deliver the desired amount of energy to the building, and controls can rotate which boiler runs first on either a daily or weekly basis. The controls can also operate other components that affect the boilers’ operation, such as isolation valves, dampers, pumps and external relays.

While once mainly the realm of third-party control, the control systems on modern boilers have evolved considerably, with many built-in features that can save time during troubleshooting and routine maintenance visits.

Working with multiple boilers When cascading boilers, the two most common sequence types are lead lag and efficiency optimization.

Lead lag operates one boiler to 100 per cent modulation, and then brings on the next boiler in the cascade. The third boiler operates after the second boiler reaches 100 per cent modulation.

Efficiency optimization attempts to operate as many boilers as possible in the cascade at the lowest modulation rate. Typically the lead boiler operates at up to 80 per cent modulation, and then the second boiler begins to operate. Both boilers will operate at 40 per cent modulation and increase their modulation rate simultaneously. Once the two boilers reach 80 per cent modulation, the third starts up and all three operate at roughly 53 per cent, increasing modulation together. continues on page 48

46

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Talking to the whole neighbourhood This allows someone to adjust the boilers’ operation if they see an issue before it actually happens. For example, if a quick change in the number of people occupying a building causes the space to warm up quickly, the air conditioning system would be triggered to cycle. If the boiler setpoint is lowered via a remote control before the group arrives, the cycling of the air conditioner can be avoided.

Consumers without Smart Homes or Building Management Systems may still have a desire to see the operation of their boiler. They can already communicate through mobile apps with other appliances in their home or business, and this type of technology will be expected from boiler manufacturers in the near future.

Today’s high-efficiency condensing boiler generally allows for some type of building management system to be integrated with its internal controller. This integration allows the boiler’s operation to be communicated with other devices and, conversely, other devices to communicate with the boiler.

While there has always been an “enable” contact available for remotely disabling or enabling the boiler, the advanced communications capabilities of modern equipment now allow for the internal setpoint to be changed remotely.

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HiTech Dispensing Inc.

Integrating boiler control into commercial zoning

The sum of the parts

Most people think of zoning as controlling pumps and valves, but what zoning really means is providing the desired temperature to multiple parts of the building. Not every room and office requires a 70°F setpoint, and zoning allows for each area’s temperature to be customized for efficiency and comfort.

Commercial zoning is often accomplished through a building management system, controlling zone pumps and three-way valves. A building may use water source heat pumps to control various temperature zones. In this application, a boiler plant and cooling tower or chiller work together to keep the system loop at around 70 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

Alternately, the building may be designed to have each zone conditioned by a VAV box that has a hydronic coil inside. In this application, the boiler would operate off its outdoor reset curve and supply the system with heated water. Each individual VAV box decides when to let the heated water into the coil by energizing the three-way valve. The heated water enters the coil and heats the air that is supplied by the main cooling system.

Cascading boilers of the same BTUH input has been common for years, but now manufacturers are changing their logic to allow multiple BTUH inputs to be cascaded together.

This new cascade logic allows a contractor or engineer to exactly match the load requirements of a building. If the load requirement of the building is 550,000 BTUH, typically two 275,000 BTUH boilers would have been installed, but now there is an option to install a 150,000 BTUH boiler and a 400,000 BTUH together.

This is significant because when a small zone is calling during a day with mild outdoor temperatures, a 150,000 BTUH boiler with a turndown of 5:1 can match the load requirements of a 30,000 BTUH zone better than a 275,000 BTUH boiler with a 5:1 turndown.

Perfectly matching the BTU requirements of the zone allows the boiler to experience less wear and tear from excessive cycling. The same benefit is associated with higher turndown that comes with high efficiency boiler controls.

Light commercial and residential applications are typically zoned through a controller on the wall that operates the pumps and three-way valves. More than one controller can be installed on a jobsite, which allows for an unlimited number of zones to be controlled. To further streamline the HVAC system, controls are available to communicate with a boiler’s internal controller to aid in total system optimization from both comfort and efficiency perspectives.

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W H A T

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49

Hydronics

The industry

a hand

lends

2014

marks the 20th anniversary of the CIPH/HRAI partnership with Habitat for Humanity Canada, a partnership that raises funds and takes in product donations from our industry members to help provide lowincome families with their own homes.

While not all homes receive a hydronic heating system, a number of the more recent builds have, and my company has had the good fortune to be a part of some of them.

I personally first became familiar with Habitat for Humanity when its founder, the late Millard Fuller, was the honorary doctorate recipient during my graduation from university. He told the story of how he became a self-made millionaire before the age of 30 and then decided to dedicate his life (and fortune) to helping others by “building a better world, one house at a time.”

A quick Google search on his name will provide lots of interesting information about this amazing individual and the history of Habitat for Humanity.

It was a number of years later before I personally got involved with a local Habitat affiliate as a member of their construction committee. Part of my job was to order building materials from the “Gift In Kind” site for our local builds. Many of those product donations were from CIPH and HRAI members.

$10 Million Through its charitable partnership, CIPH and HRAI and its members have helped raise over $10 million in cash and product donations for Habitat for Humanity Canada to date. The 2014-2015 campaign was kicked off this past March at a special gala event held the night before the CMPX trade show in Toronto.

Although the builds use donated labour and materials, there is a bit of a misconception that the homes are free. Qualifying families must show a level of need, have the ability to pay a Habitat mortgage, and have the willingness to partner with Habitat to contribute to the build of their new home. Each family must contribute a total of 500 hours of “sweat equity” to their home build. This participation helps foster a better sense of community and pride in ownership for the partner families.

Once the families move into their homes, they pay their mortgage to Habitat based on the fair market value of the home. They do not require a down payment, and the mortgage is interest-free to help make the monthly payments affordable, but homeowners do pay for their purchase.

Adopt-a-Day As part of the 20th anniversary of the CIPH/HRAI Habitat for Humanity partnership, members of our industry have the opportunity to “adopt-a-day” with Habitat where companies can participate in the HfH Halton build. This is the site where a 13-unit townhouse complex is being built, on a street named in honour of Case De Jong, who was instrumental in the industry’s adoption of Habitat for Humanity Canada as a major charitable cause while chairing the CIPH charity committee. Please contact Matt Wiesenfeld at CIPH for details if you are interested in participating (m.wiesenfeld@ciph.com).

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A donation of time As generous as it is for many companies to donate cash and product to Habitat, another equally beneficial gesture is the donation of time to assist on a Habitat build. It is a great way for members of our industry to make a contribution at a personal level, and it can be a great team building exercise for you and your work colleagues. My company was fortunate enough to participate in a few Habitat projects where we actually got to work with our own product, which had been donated through the CIPH/HRAI program.

by Jerry Leyte Jerry Leyte, P.Eng., MASc., is the sales manager for Central Canada at Uponor. He can be reached at jerry.leyte@uponor.com.

This was a true win-win situation for all involved. Not only did we get to help a great cause, but for many of our staff it was a great learning experience about the features and the installation methods of our products.

A number of our Western employees from our warehouse and sales team were able to assist in the installation of our residential fire sprinkler system (with the guidance and supervision of a licensed plumber and sprinkler installer, of course) in Carstairs, Alta., in 2012. And over the past two summers, our Ontario office and warehouse staff assisted in the installation of radiant floor heating tubing for a pair of two-storey duplexes in Hanover, Ont. At the end of the day we all walked away with a sense of pride in the work that we had done, along with a few sore muscles, and an appreciation for the work that contractors do on a day-to-day basis.

The installation of the radiant floor heating system in

those four houses, along with the highly efficient building envelope (6” R32 walls and R60 attic) has resulted in exceptionally low heating bills for those fixed income families. The project manager from the Habitat chapter in Grey/Bruce county let us know that these families were reporting average winter gas bills for heating and hot water in the range of $50 per month.

All Vitodens, all the time: Smart, compact space heating and DHW! The Vitodens 222-F and the new generation Vitodens 200-W

*Based on a temperature rise of 70 °F (50 °F to 120 °F). Information subject to change.

– featuring advanced Viessmann technology and performance in a small footprint.

Both gas-fired condensing boilers feature a new easy-to-use Vitotronic control.

VITODENS 200-W n Extended application range with increased capacity up to 530 MBH n 9 models with input ranges from 12 to 530 MBH n Combine up to eight boilers in a single prefabricated cascade system.

VITODENS 222-F n Floor standing configuration and zero side clearance requirement n 2 models with input ranges from 12 to 125 MBH n DHW heating system comprised of plate heat exchanger and storage tank n DHW 10-minute peak flow of 60 gallons with continuous draw of 3.3 GPM* (model B2TA-35 only).

www.viessmann.ca rent@viessmann.ca 1-800-387-7373

Contact us to learn about our new Rent-to-Own program

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Jeff House is an experienced industry professional and hydronics trainer. He handles the sales territory from the Niagara region to the Greater Toronto Area for Jess-Don Dunford, a manufacturers’ rep in Ontario. He can be reached at jhouse@jessdondunford.com.

Getting into hot water at the B&B The old boilers in the basement of a Bed & Breakfast are on their last legs. The existing equipment includes a 315,000 BTUH low mass boiler to heat the building and a 315,000 BTUH low mass boiler for DHW. They are located in a small mechanical room and vented out a window in the front of the building.

The building cannot have its exterior altered as it is a historical building.

Although the owners say they haven’t had a problem heating the building, they do run out of hot water on busy weekends, and if the old boiler has a problem they have no hot water and an emergency repair call. Your job is to design a new boiler system to provide redundancy and more DHW, with minimal downtime on the changeover.

1) You recommend mod/con boilers as the replacements so that the venting can go out the side of the building. A pair of 285,000 BTUH input boilers seem to fit the bill. This size is correct because: A) They are only 30,000 BTUH smaller but they are more efficient.

B) The new piping arrangement makes the system redundant so it doesn’t matter.

C) If the old boilers were 82% efficient, then the new boilers have a higher output by about 25,000 BTUH. You can’t get much closer.

D) You used the free design software offered by the manufacturers and confirmed that the heating was correct and the DHW was sized correct.

4) The proper size piping for the new boilers (44 gpm total) should be: A) The same size as the fitting on the boiler, 1 ¼”.

B) Once the boilers join, you should go up a size, to 1 ½”.

C) The minimum should be 2” if the boiler delta T is 25°F. D) It doesn’t matter because you have a low loss header and that will remove the pump differential of the two boiler circulators and the system circulator.

2) The heating boiler was a copper low mass design with a manufacturer-installed boiler circulator on the return. It was directly connected to a series loop piping system. This is the proper way to pipe a low mass boiler.

5) The Twin T for the DHW allows for priority hot water for the guests, and on a prolonged call, still allows for some building heating.

A) True

A) True

B) False

3) You recommend a hydraulic separator or low loss header, and suggest that the old circulator is fine to reuse. As an upgrade for better energy efficiency, you suggest an ECM motor variable speed circulator. The best fit for this type of system would be a delta T circulator because: A) There are no zone valves, so there are no pressure changes.

B) There is very little pressure drop on this system as it was originally an old gravity system that was upgraded to a forced circulation system.

C) A delta T circulator works on direct sensor feedback of supply and return temperatures, and changes the speed automatically, matching the building BTUH input to the building loss.

D) Both (A) and (C).

A cut above, in tight places!

We recently gave away a Milwaukee M18 Jobsite Radio/Charger with Bluetooth to Adrian Seician. He found the fix; can you? This month we are going to help you cut it out… with a M12 Fuel Hackzall! Lightweight and designed for one-handed operation in tight spaces, this latest offering from Milwaukee Tool could be hitting your toolbox soon.

Send your solution to adam.freill@mechanicalbusiness.com by September 5th for your chance to win. And be sure to pick up the next edition of Mechanical Business for the next installment of Find the Fix!

Looking for answers?

The answer key for the May/June quiz is: 1-C; 2-A or C; 3-D; 4-A. If you need the quiz, check it out in our issue archive, available at www.mechanicalbusiness.com.

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B) False

road warrior

B y A n d r ew S nook Name: Andrew McIntosh Company: M & M Heating & Cooling Job title: Owner/partner Been in the industry: 16 years Age: 35 Born in: Czech Republic Lives in: Toronto Trade school: George Brown College, HVAC/R Program

Photos: David Chidley

A

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ndrew McIntosh has wanted to be a technician since he was seven years old. His interest was sparked when his grandmother’s fridge broke down and a man came to her home and fixed it.

“From then on I wanted to be an HVAC/R technician, before I knew what the word was,” he explained as we chatted over coffee at a café in Mississauga, Ont. So Andrew enrolled in George Brown College’s HVAC/R program, and it wasn’t long before hydronic systems caught his attention. After several years of working in the HVAC/R sector, he and his partner started up M & M

M e c h a n i c a l

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Heating and Cooling, a full service hydronic installation, repair and maintenance company servicing the west end of the Greater Toronto Area.

“I wake up excited to work on it,” he said. “The possibilities are endless. You can find so many solutions for the same problems.”

With projects constantly on the go, including several custom homes right now, Andrew keeps himself busy, but we were able to pull him away from his latest project to discuss his passion for hydronics…

Favourite tool in your toolbox: My volt stick. It saved my life many times.

What’s your favourite project you have ever worked on?

It involved everything from snowmelt to room-by-room zoning and hot water fan coils.

What’s your fondest memory on the job?

I had a customer who lived without heat for two years. She was told there was nothing they could do to fix it. I fixed it in two days. They were hugging me.

What radio station do you listen to during the day?

Sirius Satellite Radio.

Favourite performer: Jamie N Commons Best concert you ever attended?

Motorhead Favourite movie: Lord of War Favourite magazine (aside from Mechanical Business): Popular Mechanics Favourite cartoon as a kid: Tom and Jerry

Play any sports?

Skiing and golf What’s your favourite sports team?

Canadian alpine ski team Favourite TV show: Daily Planet

DID YOU KNOW?

Biggest pet peeve: Unmotivated people If you could be an animal, what would you be?

A golden retriever in Forest Hill, Ont. Favourite place to vacation: Turks and Caicos One place in the world you would like to visit: New Zealand Farthest place you ever travelled from home: Moscow, Russia One word that describes you: Passionate My rule of thumb is: Lead by example.

Favourite place to hang out: Home

• Andrew has many passions, from home renovations to RC helicopter building.

• He loves animals and has two rescue cats.

• Andrew enjoys anything to do with nature.

If you could meet anyone, alive or dead, who would it be?

Nelson Mandela If I had $100,000 dollars to invest in my company, I would... invest in more training for me and my employees, and maybe get an engineering diploma.

If I had tomorrow off work, I would spend the day... skiing.

The best advice somebody has given you is: Don’t make anyone do what you’re not comfortable doing yourself.

Favourite drive-thru restaurant: I try to avoid them altogether.

Favourite food: Filet mignon

Favourite car: Lamborghini Diablo

Favourite beverage: Gin and tonic Favourite website to browse: YouTube

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Boilers

The Magic of the turndown

I

n this world of “more is better,” is a bigger boiler turndown ratio better?

Some swear “yes,” while others will emphatically state, “no.”

So, does a higher turndown ratio number mean you get more or less? And what are we talking about having more or less of? Let’s read on and explore our options…

The case for lower turndown ratios

Proponents of lower turndown ratio claim that boilers are at maximum efficiency at full firing rate. A lower firing rate means less efficient operation since correct air to gas mixture is essential for efficiency, and this is lost as the flame gets smaller.

Boiler blowers cannot reduce airflow rates to match lower flames.

This results in excess air, and excess air lowers efficiency. In addition, a lower flame means less flame turbulence, and therefore less heat transfer.

Defining the word “ratio” Let’s look at the word ratio as simply as possible. With a little help from the website www.mathisfun.com, we see that a ratio compares values.

In other words, a ratio says how much of one thing there is compared to another thing.

3:1

Ratios and boilers Turndown ratio in boilers is about how much fuel (let’s call it gas) is being burned. How many times more gas is there in the boiler’s full-capacity flame than there is in its smallest possible flame?

A turndown ratio of 5:1 means there is five times more gas in the full-capacity flame than the smallest. The smallest flame is 1/5, or 20%, of the full-capacity flame. In other words, a 100,000 BTUH input boiler could fire at 20,000 BTUH. A turndown ratio of 20:1 means there is 20 times more gas in the full-capacity flame than the smallest. The smallest flame would be 1/20, or five per cent, of the full-capacity flame. A 100,000 BTUH input boiler could fire as low as 5,000 BTUH. Indeed, the higher the ratio number, the smaller the flame.

Bigger is smaller, but is that a good thing, or bad? As you might expect, it depends.

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Of the 3 squares, 1 is a yellow square.

Ratios can be shown in different ways: • We can use a colon to separate the values, so we have 3:1; • Instead of the colon, we can use the word “to”. Or, 3 to 1; • We can write it as a fraction: 3/1; • Or we can flip it around to 1/3; or • We can change to a percentage by dividing 1 by 3, which

gives us 0.3333.

A ratio of 5:1, or 1/5 is easy to calculate. That’s 20%. A ratio of 15:1?

Well, that one’s not quite so simple. A calculator tells us that 1 divided by 15 = 0.06666, or 6.67%.

continues on page 60

Not all carbon is the same, nor is every stainless boiler.

Introducing the NEW P-K SONIC™ commercial stainless boiler.

Find out how the new P-K SONIC and its innovative Duet™ technology will revolutionize the industry and break through the limitations of all other stainless designs.

Visit harscopkproducts.com/sonic today.

Boilers continues from page 58 The case for higher turndown ratios

Is turndown ratio worth all the fuss?

Proponents of high turndown ratio

consideration in today’s age of total system efficiency and the multitude of variable-speed

often believe that a smaller flame

and modulating system components that now exist. Turndown ratio was a useful concept

means there is higher efficiency because the boiler uses less gas.

It’s quite possible that turndown ratio is an older concept that may not warrant as much

when boilers were predominately large mass cast iron with a flame that were either on or off. Turndown ratio was a useful approach for smaller water content and lighter metal boilers to do what a cast iron boiler did with its stand-by water content: deliver small

They purport that a higher turndown

amounts of heat without turning on a big flame. In a way, turndown ratio is an early form

ratio increases the ability to produce

of boiler modulation.

fewer BTUs when fewer are needed. In addition, less boiler water is needed

Today there are many other ways of delivering fewer BTUs when fewer are needed.

This is generally during the “shoulder seasons” of

because it can be heated incrementally.

spring and fall when heating loads are lower. But

This means that there can be a smaller

it can also be when boilers are oversized (just to

boiler footprint because of less water.

In addition, the burner can stay on

be “safe,” because that’s what was in here before), which is all too common.

longer at low flame, so there is less

Here are some alternatives to turndown ratio

pre-purge and resultant cold air, and

mania:

longer burner on-times means less

Outdoor reset—Outdoor reset has

wear and tear.

been around a long time, but it is now required

PEOPLE. SOLUTIONS. VALUE. Industry leading service.

It’s what we do. With 20,000 parts stocked on the warehouse floor, an in-house training facility to teach your installers the best techniques on the latest systems, and engineering support with deep experience in hydronics—we have what you need. We can even find the manual for you. Because it’s our business to support yours.

Call us at 1-866-594-0767

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0 8 . 1 4 Half Page Aquatech Ad Dimensions: 7 x 4.875

2505_AQ September 21, 2012

of boiler manufacturers to provide an outdoor reset control with every new boiler.

Outdoor reset senses outdoor temperature and adjusts boiler water temperature accordingly. When less heat is needed, less heat is maintained in the boiler water, independent of what size flame got it there.

Carol Fey

Heat loss calculations—Heat loss calculations are also not new.

Carol Fey is a technical trainer who has worked as a heating mechanic in Antarctica and has published six books for the HVAC/R industry. She can be reached at carol@carolfey.com, or visit her website, www.carolfey.com.

But they are easy now. Plug some measurements and estimations into a simple computer program, and voila, you have a good idea of how many BTUs are really needed.

This can give you the confidence not to grossly oversize the boiler just to be sure there’s enough heat on the coldest, darkest night.

Design temperature—Here’s something else that’s easy to get. Google your city name plus the words “design temperature”.

You’ll have your choice of websites to tell you what the lowest average temperature is.

Chances are it’s not as low as you thought. That may mean that you need a smaller-input boiler than you thought, which can save money both in initial cost and cost of operation.

Variable speed pumps—These

Looking for the missing link between efficiency & profitability?

HeatLink is a leading supplier of potable water and radiant hydronic heating/cooling and snow melt systems.

For over 20 years we’ve led the industry in creating efficient heating, cooling and plumbing systems for residential and commercial construction.

All our systems are easy to install and backed by a full warranty. Our innovative products are engineered to set the highest standard in energy efficiency and increase installation and system operating effectiveness. You can’t beat the HeatLink systems for efficiency, quality and price.

Whether you are installing a residential plumbing or heating system, or designing a large commercial installation HeatLink has the products, systems, and design capabilities to meet your needs.

can help provide a little heat or a lot, depending upon what’s needed.

Modulation—Last, but not least,

Systems for life.

modulating boilers were just a gas valve designer’s

www.heatlink.com

dream back when the concept of turndown ratio was introduced. Now, full modulation is fullblown reality.

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hydronic iq Taking a shot on Goooaaalll!

With the 2014 World Cup just wrapped up in Brazil, and a new winner on top of the soccer world (that’s football to some), we thought we’d offer you a chance to go for a victory of your own. So, armed with your knowledge of hydronics, let’s head to penalty kicks to decide who rules the hydronic roost in your shop.

So tighten up those cleats, stretch those legs, gather up the technicians in your shop, and get ready for 10 kicks apiece. Top shooter gets a free pass on shouting “Goooaaalll!” at the top of their lungs, and for bringing a vuvuzela to work next week.

Answers can be found on page 72.

1. On a residential hot water heating system, what prevents the boiler relief valve from discharging? a. Cushion tank b. Automatic air vents c. Zone valves d. Pressure reducing valve

Want to annoy your co-workers and impress nobody?

If you win, why not grab a free vuvuzela app at the Google Play store or on iTunes?

2. What must be installed on a hydronic cooling system?

4. In a two-zone hydronic heating system, if the circulation pump continues to run after the thermo- stats are satisfied, what is the cause of the problem?

a. Labelling b. Insulation c. Anode prevention d. Cathode prevention

a. The zone valve end switch is stuck open. b. The zone valve end switch is stuck closed. c. The high limit control is stuck open. d. The reverse acting aquastat is stuck open.

3. What would be the most probable result of using an excessive number of fittings in a piping system?

5. What happens if the low water cut off cuts out?

a. Circular flow b. Laminar flow c. Reverse flow d. Resistance to flow

a. Circuit breaker trips. b. Shuts down fuel supply. c. Relief valve opens discharging water. d. Additional heat is sent to heat emitters.

DID YOU KNOW?

The 2014 World Cup champion team received $35 million (US). The runners-up claimed $25 million. Each country that made it to the knock-out stage received a guaranteed minimum of $8 million, and the total amount of money available for participating countries and clubs was $576 million.

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simeple

Keep it

...with Trane Supply!

Two Companies. One Solution.

In Europe, trains are dependable, efficient and everywhere. So, when Sime North America went looking for a distribution partner, there was no choice other than Trane. Sime’s complete line of industry-leading boilers and hydronic equipment is now available across Canada through our new national partner, Trane Supply.

Whether you’re looking for a boiler, a complete system or knowledgeable advice from an expert, Trane and Sime are with you from start to finish.

Murelle 110R • Condensing wall-hung up to 97% • Full modulation • Cascade up to 12 units • Built-in circulator, flow switch & air bleeders • Building management capable - MODBUS • Built-in controls for D.H.W. (indirect water heater required) • Available in LPG or Natural Gas • 10-year warranty on heat exchanger, 2-year on components

2:41 PM

Page 1

M

4/19/06

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BOILERS & HOT WATER HEATERS Distributor Opportunities Available!

Trane Supply Locations Scarborough 416-499-1616

Mississauga 905-238-2900

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Laval 450 667-0179

Quebec City 418 622-5300

Longueuil 450 670-0353

Burnaby 604-473-5650

Kelowna 250-491-3588

Edmonton 780-342-2401

Nova Scotia 1-888-775-6788

New Brunswick 506-633-2314

Newfoundland 709-753-8677

continued from page 62

6. Which hydronic system would be the most easily balanced (self-balanced)? a. b. c. d.

9

One pipe system Two pipe system Reverse return Direct return

7. What would the flow rate be per loop in an 11 loop in-floor hydronic system, with a 20 degree TD and a 37,600 BTUH load? a. 3.76 gpm b. 7.52 gpm c. 0.685 gpm d. 0.342 gpm 8. What shall the maximum spacing be between the tees for a secondary circuit of 3/4” connected to a 1-1/4” primary loop? a. 3” b. 5” c. 6” d. 10”

So, who’s the top shooter at your company?

9. Good air circulation is important for which type of heat emitter due to stratification? a. Panel radiators b. Fin tube baseboard c. In-floor tubing system d. Overhead fan-coil 10. Which of the following components would never be required for a secondary circuit with multiple zones supplied by an electronically commutated motor (ECM) pump? a. Isolating valves b. Zone valves c. Pressure differential bypass valves d. Drain valves

10 out of 10 correct – The trophy is all yours!

7 to 9 correct – You rang it off the crossbar. So close, and only 4 short years to try again for perfection.

5 or 6 correct – You’re getting there. A bit more practice and you might land in the final yet.

4 or below – That’s a red card you’re holding… not a red seal.

With thanks to Sam Steele (below left), a professor of plumbing at Humber College in Toronto, Warren Hyde (centre), a plumbing and hydronics professor at Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ont., and Dave Hughes (below right), associate chair - (Special Projects) Pipe Trades Programs, School of Trades at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. www.humber.ca

World-class mechanicals

It’s not often that one thinks of mechanical systems when watching soccer, aside from the occasional trip to the loo, but mechanical systems are an important aspect of stadium design, and several of the 2014 World Cup soccer stadiums achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.

South America’s largest stadium, Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, is a LEED Silver building. Not only did it host the final game of this year’s tournament, but it will also be the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Beyond the stadia, HVAC and plumbing systems helped to keep the players comfortable and ready to perform at their peak ahead of their games. Some specific requests included a requirement from Uruguay’s squad that each of their rooms have silent air-conditioning units, and it was Jacuzzis in the rooms for the Japanese team.

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www.mohawkcollege.ca

www.nait.ca

Pumps are complex systems in which every detail is crucially important. Our test procedures analyse every single aspect. This allows us to continuously optimise the performance and lifespan of our excellent product portfolio.

+1 403-276-9456 | www.wilo-canada.com

Wilo Star

Wilo Stratos

Pioneering for You

Wilo Stratos GIGA

Wilo Helix

Wilo COR

HYDRONIC

Tx

Products

Connection boxes Watts’ ThermalPro boiler connection boxes consist of two pre-piped components for either high-temperature zones or low-temperature mixed zones.

The boiler boxes can be used on their own or in combination with ThermalPro connection manifolds to combine the high-temperature boiler box and the mixed temperature boiler box in one piping system.

They come complete with supply and return connections, circulator pumps, check valves, shut off valves, supply and return temperature gauges and a pressure bypass valve. The mixed temperature boiler connection box also includes a 24V-activated three-way modulating mixing valve ready to hook up to an outdoor reset controller.

wattsradiant.ca

Piping kits Hydro-Core Complete Near Boiler Piping Kits from Webstone are designed to provide spacing for hydraulic separation. Features include a choice of IPS or SWT manifold, fully fabricated and insulated supply and return lines assembled with copper or Hydro-Core Flex tubing, an integrated mesh “Y” strainer with rotating flange and plugged 1⁄2” port in the strainer cap, plugged 1⁄4” pressure gauge port (on selected kit models), and plugged FIP ports for connection to other equipment. The kits accommodate common circulator pumps measuring 6-1/2” in length.

The Evolution of High Efficiency Condensing Boilers

www. webstonevalves.com

Hydronic unit heaters

• Innovative Design

Modine’s Hot Dawg H2O hydronic unit heaters have operating ranges of 23,700 to 39,200 BTUH and 23,900 to 56,800 BTUH. They feature an internal coil that can handle water pressures up to 150 psi and temperatures up to 200°F. The units offer air flow up to 710 cfm and feature a low profile allowing for horizontal or vertical air discharge.

• Engineering Elegance • Efficient Performance

www. modinehvac.com

Floor system Legend’s VersaTherm floor system panels are pre-insulated and water resistant. They use 1/2” pipe, are 3/4” thick and are protected by metal. The panels snap together and can be cut for tight installations. Tube spacing is 8” on centre.

www. legendvalve.com 66

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The Evolution of High Efficiency Condensing Boilers High efficiency stainless steel boiler Models from 46,000 to 151,000 BTU/Hr Available in a combi version Fully modulating with 5:1 turndown Advanced outdoor reset control Venting to 150' 2" venting on all models up to 100'

Tx

SAY GOODBYE TO PVC FOR VENTING NOW AVAILABLE FROM SELKIRK: POLYPROPYLENE GAS VENTING SYSTEM Polyflue is the smart, safe choice for condensing gas fired appliances up to 230°F flue temperature with 0" clearance to combustibles.

• Safe, environmentally-friendly alternative to PVC • Simple, straight-forward product offering • 2"-4" single-wall rigid and flexible pipe available Satisfy all of your appliance venting needs with Polyflue.

(800) 992-8368 polyflue.com

©Selkirk Corporation 2014

HYDRONIC

Products

Geothermal controller HBX Control Systems’ ECO-0550 standalone outdoor reset control can accommodate heat pumps and backup boilers. It features up to three stages, including backup; outdoor reset on hot and cold tanks; and single or dual tank modes. It runs reversing valves and/or three-way valves and can rotate heat pumps based on time or cycles.

www. hbxcontrols.com

Combination boiler

Hybrid system RadiantLink’s closed-loop system uses a residential furnace as the heat source for supplementary basement and garage radiant floor heating. The system includes a furnace-coil plenum and a wall-mounted control panel that includes a circulation pump, expansion tank, air vent and system fill valve. A multi-row fin-tube coil mounted horizontally at the top of the plenum uses supply air from the furnace to heat a glycol solution flowing through the tubes.

radiant-link.com

Rinnai’s E50C condensing combination boiler offers efficiencies up to 95.6% AFUE and has an input range of 13,600 to 50,000 BTUH. The units require a minimum gas pressure of a 3” W.C. and operate on propane or natural gas. They are compatible with a 1/2” gas line.

www. rinnai.us

A maintenance program that includes scheduled inspections and cleanings is essential to maintaining the efficiency of a boiler, and can go a long way towards keeping fuel costs low.

Pipe fusion McElroy’s Pit Bull 26 fusion machine is designed to butt fuse 160 mm polypropylene-random (PP-R) pipe, as well as smaller pipes down to 63 mm in diameter. The unit features a centreline guidance system and a semi-automatic locking cam system that maintains force during the cooling cycle.

www. mcelroy.com

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Balancing valve The 132 series QuickSetter+ manual balancing valve from Caleffi features a built-in flow meter and sight gauge. The valve is constructed from low-lead brass with a stainless steel flow adjuster.

It is available in 1/2”, 3/4” and 1” connection sizes. Flow range options include 0.5 to 1.75 gpm or 2.0 to 7.0 gpm.

caleffi.us

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COMPLETE NEAR BOILER PIPING KITS

185 BOILERS

ONE SOLUTION

A REVOLUTIONARY SOLUTION FOR NEAR-BOILER PIPING INSTALLATION BENEFITS

• Provides precise spacing for hydraulic separation • Simplifies pump isolation • Facilitates System Service • Eliminates boiler output deficiencies OLD WAY

NEW WAY

SAVES LABOR, SPACE, AND LEAK PATHS FIELD FABRICATED INSTALLATION COMPONENTS: LEAK PATHS: LABOR:

COMPLETE NEAR BOILER PIPING KIT

32 5 31 3 4.6 hours 27 minutes COMPONENTS AND SAVINGS VARY BY KIT

FEATURES • Choice of SWT or IPS Manifold • Insulated Manifold & Supply/Return Lines • Outfitted w connections for your specific boiler • Plugged FIP ports for connection to other equipment

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Insulated Manifold & Supply/Return Lines

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Learn more: www.webstonevalves.com/hydrocore (800) 225-9529 * All manufacturer names are trademarked or registered trademark property of their respective owners.

Webstone products are not manufactured, sponsored, authorized, or endorsed by any party unless otherwise noted.

HYDRONIC

Products

Residential boiler The Knight boiler from Lochinvar offers up to 99% thermal efficiency and is available in 12 models with input ranges from 55,000 to 399,000 BTUH. It features a fully modulating 5:1 turndown burner and a built-in cascading sequencer for installing up to eight units. w

ww. lochinvar.com

Taco’s 0015 3-Speed pump has a maximum flow of 18 gpm and a maximum head of 17 feet. It features a maximum fluid temperature of 230˚F and a working pressure up to 125 psi. It comes with connection sizes of 3/4”, 1”, 1-1/4”, and 1-1/2” flanged. They are offered in cast iron or stainless steel. The pump is built with a removable, uni-body integral flow check designed to prevent gravity flow.

Condensing boiler

www. taco-hvac.com

The Vitodens 222-F, B2TA gas-fired condensing boiler from Viessmann has an input range of 12,000 to 125,000 BTUH. The floor-standing boiler offers a continuous DHW flow of 3.3 gpm. Features include a stainless steel DHW storage tank and a stainless steel heat exchanger. It can be vented up to 180 ft.

Fire tube boilers

www. viessmann.ca

Stainless steel boiler The P-K Sonic condensing boiler from Harsco Industrial Patterson-Kelley offers heating inputs up to 4,000,000 BTUH. The low-emission boiler operates at 96% combustion efficiency and uses LP or natural gas. It has dimensions of 66” x 32” x 65” and an operating weight of 2,180 lb.

www. harscopkproducts.com

Follow Us on Twitter @MechBusiness

Hydronic IQ Answers: 1-A, 2-A, 3-D, 4-B, 5-B, 6-C, 7-D,

8-B, 9-D, 10-C

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S u p p l e m e n t

Three-speed pump

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NTI’s Trinity Fire Tube condensing boilers feature a stainless steel down-fired design and are available in nine models with heating inputs ranging from 60,000 to 399,000 BTUH. The units have efficiencies up to 95% AFUE and offer full modulation up to 8:1 turndown. Three models can be vented with 2” venting up to 150 feet.

nythermal.com

Ball valves Jomar’s T-100FB 1/4turn, lever-operated filter ball valves have a corrosion-resistant, forged brass body.

They have a pressure rating of 400 psi for water, oil or gas and a maximum temperature of 300°F. The valves are available in six sizes ranging from 1/2” to 2” and come equipped with a standard 20 mesh filtering screen.

www. jomarvalve.com

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NOW

P.9-11 CERTIFIED!

with Roger Grochmal

Weather: We can’t live with it and we can’t live without it.

“Weather is the biggest influence on air conditioning sales, but Mother Nature is an unreliable sales person. How do I weatherproof my revenue?” Steve S., Hamilton, Ont.

Roger Grochmal is the CEO of AtlasCare in Oakville, Ont. To submit a question about your company, business practices, or the industry in general, send an e-mail to Mechanical Business Magazine’s editor, Adam Freill, adam.freill@ mechanicalbusiness.com.

Connecting in challenging times Communication laws can make telemarketing a challenge, and now emailing is limited to names in our database with whom we’ve done business within the past two years. Privacy laws are getting very stringent.

We may have to go back to sending out direct mail.

C

anadians like to talk about the weather, but HVAC contractors are obsessed with it. Don’t get me wrong, weather is important, but as I like to tell the people at AtlasCare, we are weather-influenced but not weather-dependent. It is our job to manage the impact of weather for our customers. But we cannot have weather manage us.

The key to dealing with weather-related factors is to stop reacting to it and start planning for it.

Start with a mindset that the weather pattern for any summer is going to be average at best. It’s one of the very few instances where pessimism is actually a good thing. Being an optimist about the weather is an excuse for not doing anything about it.

Start by looking around and you will see that work is being done every day in your market. Regardless of what the weather is doing, there is work to be had.

If all of your business is done with “customers of convenience”, you will never yield the results you’re expecting. You need to convert one-time customers into long-term repeat customers.

The best way to forge a relationship with a customer is with a maintenance agreement. This puts you into their home at least once a year with an opportunity to advise them of the latest and greatest things the industry has to offer, and as a result make recommendations for upgrades.

Face-to-face contact is the best communication tool you have, but remember, with a maintenance agreement you can also now communicate by phone or email with your customer to recommend other things in your product book, including air conditioners.

Go into the communication armed with other options to upsell as well, including ventilators, filters, humidifiers, water heaters, gas fireplaces and ductwork improvements like duct sealing.

Be a problem solver not just a box mover. Show your customer how a properly sized higher efficiency air conditioner will make them more comfortable in their home. Solve a ductwork distribution problem at the same time and you will have earned that customer’s loyalty for life.

Have a wonderful summer and make the most of what Mother Nature has to offer.

M e c h a n i c a

Suppliers feel the weather too Stay close with your suppliers to identify product opportunities. They have to move product as well, regardless of weather.

We enjoyed some good early season success with air conditioners (yes there was still snow on the ground) because we were able to lock in some favourable pricing as soon as we heard prices were going up due to the falling Canadian dollar.

Since we have maintenance agreements with most of our customers, we were able to communicate those incentives quickly. We coupled it with a solid financing program to make it easy for someone to take advantage of a deal they couldn’t refuse.

Before it gives up the ghost Not everyone waits until their air conditioner dies of old age before they buy a new one. In fact, most people will replace a unit before it completely expires, as they don’t want to experience the inconvenience of being without cooling when the warm weather eventually does come.

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77

COVER STORY

By Adam Freill

Bob Izumi Host of Bob Izumi’s Real Fishing Age: 56 Born in Chatham, Ont., raised in Blenheim, Ont. Family: Wife Sandy, son Darren & daughter Kristin

Photos: Sandy Izumi

C

78

anada’s most recognizable fisherman didn’t start off with visions of glory. He just wanted to fish. And fish he does. Over the span of the past 40 years he’s hit the waters around the globe, fishing in tournaments, filming his television show and making friends around the world as he pursues any species that’s in season.

From his office in Burlington, Ont., the 56 year-old Izumi works with his brother Wayne in the family business, Izumi Outdoors, a multimedia empire that spans television, radio, magazines, books and digital ventures – an empire that started because Bob needed something that could fund his addiction to tournament fishing.

Back in 1980, his day job at International Harvester (Navistar) in Chatham, Ont., did not give him much time for tournament fishing, and he was always getting in trouble for taking Fridays off – days he used to practice for weekend tournaments.

“I needed to do something to satisfy my addiction to tournament fishing, and to help pay for it, so that’s when I came up with the idea that maybe a TV fishing show might work,” he recalls. “At a family picnic, I was talking with a relative who owned an advertising agency in Guelph.

He knew a bit about video and he said, ‘I’ve got a guy who shoots rock videos.’”

So armed with a cameraman accustomed to shooting bass guitars and pyrotechnics, the young Izumi hit the waters, shot a pilot, and started pitching his show to program directors around Ontario.

“In CBC Windsor, the program director there put us on at 7 o’clock Saturday night, just before Don Cherry’s Grapevine and Hockey Night in Canada,” says Izumi. “I asked him why, and he said, ‘Because I was up against all the Detroit stations, and I know that it is not a prime-time type of program, but I knew I would have a niche there.’”

The move worked, and year two saw the show get syndicated nationally.

“I get to meet so many quality people, from all walks of life.

Bob the businessman Fishing the hard water Although most people think of fishing as a summertime pursuit, Bob’s at it 12 months a year.

“There is no slow season for us,” he says. “My typical winter is back and forth between warm water fishing down south and ‘hard-water’ fishing – ice fishing – up north. I could be fishing for bass in Florida one week, and the next week I could be at Lake Winnipeg ice fishing for walleye.”

As seasoned as he is to all weather conditions, he does appreciate a comfortable environment when he can get it, or he’ll bring it with him if he has to. His “ice fishing hut” of choice is called a SnoBear. It’s a specialized vehicle that’s fully equipped with all the comforts of home, right down to the HVAC system.

“Guys are using propane heaters in some of the portable huts. Other guys have wood burning stoves.

We use a propane furnace in our SnoBear. It’s built into it,” he says. “There’s a thermostat where you can adjust the heat, and there’s a fan that you can adjust.

“You can fish in your Speed-o if you want,” he laughs, adding that his preference is to be clothed.

“We were at a SnoBear migration this past winter, with 30 or 35 of them from all across North America up at Lake Winnipeg. It is the ultimate in ice fishing comfort.

That’s how I acclimatize for winter fishing.”

Making the numbers work As with any business, be it a mechanical contracting firm or an aspiring fishing pro in search of a sponsor, sales are everything.

“If you have the right amount of sales that are going to pay for your overhead, and if you can make sure that there’s some profit built in there, then you are laughing,” says Izumi “In any business, cash flow is everything.”

Of course, Bob has some great fishing advice to call upon that crosses over to sales, “Our dad used to always say, ‘Fish where the fish live.’

“You go where they are, and not where they are not, and you have to use the right lure to get them.”

Somewhere on his path to fame, Bob Izumi, the man who just wants to fish, became a businessman, juggling revenues, scheduling meetings with sponsors, shooting television shows, conducting seminars, writing articles, and all the while still managing to fit in tournaments along the way – he’s on the road anywhere from 280 to 320 days a year.

“Just like any other business, we went through the trials and tribulations of trying to make it work,” he says. “It wasn’t like we just started a TV fishing show and other associated businesses and everything just started to happen. It took years for us to figure out how to make it a profitable business.

“The irony is that back in 1982, just as we were getting the TV show together, I had a job offer in Spirit Lake, Iowa with the company that is now Abu Garcia, as a promotions specialist,” he says. He turned the offer down. His taste of entrepreneurship, and being his own boss was enough to keep him shooting shows, and building his brand.

“At that time I didn’t have any money, I was still living hand-to-mouth, but I turned it down even though it was a dream job. ”The choice was a good one, but the path was not without its ups and downs. His business has peaks and valleys, just like most businesses do, but he’s constantly learning and improving as a result.

“One of the coolest lessons that we’ve learned in business is that until you have a loser, you don’t recognize what the winners are,” he says.

“We’ve had our share of business opportunities that haven’t gone well, but overall we’ve had a lot more that have gone well, and that keeps it in the positive.”

In Bob’s business, his customers range from the readers, listeners and viewers of his media properties to the sponsors that work with him on promotional campaigns. And while he has long relationships with several companies and organizations, he does recognize that there have been significant changes in the market over the years, especially with the emergence of specialty television stations and the rise of the internet.

“During the ’80s and ’90s, sponsorships were more readily available. Corporations seemed to have more money to put into promotions.

Nowadays the budgets are divvied up by so many more things, and you have a lot more companies making the same products, with less margin,” he reports. “You need to give them value. They need something in return. It is easy to know what you want, but you need to figure out what you can do for these companies.”

That’s one of the things about fishing: there are no boundaries.”

79

PLUMBING John Cardiff is the senior vice-president of sales for Novo Water Conditioning Products. Send comments to john.cardiff@novowater.com.

By John Ca rd i f f

UltravioleT disinfection:

Protecting private wateR Supplies

Y

ou can’t taste it. You can’t smell it. You can’t see it.

If a homeowner’s water is not properly disinfected, harmful bacteria, viruses and cysts could be lurking in the water and they may not even know it.

Municipal water supplies are treated with chlorine or chloramine to disinfect these potentially harmful inhabitants to water supplies, providing safe drinking water to all who use it. But this is done on a large scale.

For private water supplies, this is not as easy. These chemical disinfectants require an injection pump to administer them into the water, contact tanks for retention time, filtration systems to remove oxidized minerals and metals, and careful monitoring to ensure excessive levels are not being consumed. This is not very practical for a residential or light commercial application.

Private water systems are not treated for organisms in the same manner as a municipal water supply, so it is up to the owner of the water supply to protect themselves. Private water supplies include wells drawing water from an underground aquifer, surface water from lakes, rivers, streams or even rain water harvesting systems.

All of these water supplies have the potential to become contaminated with harmful organisms.

Although Health Canada states that a new well should be disinfected by the well driller during its construction, contamination of a private water supply can still occur over time due to a variety of reasons, including improper installation of well casings or caps; a break in the casing resulting in contaminated surface water entering the supply; and wells being built in fractured bedrock without an adequate layer of protective soil and with less than the recommended minimum casing length. One option to disinfect against these organisms is the use of ultraviolet light to change their DNA. This prevents them from reproducing.

Once the organism cannot reproduce, it is essentially dead.

How safe is safe enough?

The majority of UV systems installed on private water supplies do not have fail safe shut-off valves and sensors installed on them. At best, most will have a lamp replacement indicator and an audible or visual alarm if the lamp actually burns out.

The problem is, if the unit is designed to only alert the owner when the lamp has burnt out, it will be too late to stop any water flow and prevent non-potable water from getting into the plumbing system.

To ensure a homeowner has disinfected potable water, some ultraviolet systems incorporate lamp failure alarms with a UV intensity monitor and a solenoid shut-off valve. This will protect the homeowner in the event of any failures that would allow harmful organisms to pass through the system.

Power outages, brown outs, sudden lamp failure or even a sudden change in water quality could cause this to happen. Without these fail safe features, there is no actual protection from the system.

continues on page 82

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continues from page 80

Maximum acceptable levels

A security system for water

For a UV water treatment system to be effective, the following maximums should not be exceeded:

One of the simplest chemical-free ways of disinfecting against bacteria, viruses and cysts is with ultraviolet disinfection. Ultraviolet systems are simply a light bulb installed inside of a stainless steel pipe, also known as a reactor chamber.

• Hardness - <7 gpg • Iron - <0.3 mg/l

These light bulbs are designed to emit ultraviolet energy at a wavelength of 254 nanometers. This is the optimal wavelength to effectively disinfect harmful bacteria, viruses and cysts. A power supply or controller runs the lamp at this wavelength.

Controllers can have varying options, from very basic units that simply power the lamp and may have an audible and visual lamp failure alarm, to others that actually count the number of days the lamp has been running to alert the consumer when the lamp is nearing the end of its effective life, which is typically one year. Some controllers have outputs that the owner can monitor from remote locations, or that can be equipped with UV intensity monitors, fail safe shut off valves and even remote alarms.

• Manganese - <0.05 mg/l • Tannin - <0.1 mg/l • Turbidity - <1 NTU • Hydrogen sulphide - <0.1 mg/l • UVT should be >75%

DID YOU KNOW? UVT is the ability of UV light to pass through water.

continues on page 84

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MechBus_Zurn_Jul14.indd M 1e

c h a n i c a l

B u s i n e s s

5/29/14 0 8 .10:58 1 4AM

PLUMBING

TO HOT AND COLD WATER PIPES

continues from page 82

Pre-treatment for proper operation Water quality can adversely affect the operation of an ultraviolet system. A proper water analysis is recommended prior to installing a UV lamp to identify if other water treatment systems are required in conjunction with the UV unit.

Such contaminants as hardness, iron, manganese, tannin and hydrogen sulphide gas, as well as the UV transmittance, should all be tested and treated prior to installing one of these devices. At a very minimum, every UV system should be installed with a five-micron cartridge filter prior to the UV light to remove any sediment from the water.

Any other water treatment devices such as iron filters, water softeners or tannin removal systems should be installed prior to the UV system.

Excessive concentrations of dissolved minerals and metals in the water will very quickly build up on the internal quartz sleeve of the ultraviolet system causing it to block the UV energy from the lamp, meaning that the lamp will not be able to properly disinfect the water.

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Sizing a UV system To properly size a UV system, determine the peak flow rate required and select the proper model that will handle that flow rate as determined by the UV manufacturerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s specifications.

If there is any question or doubt about what the flow rate is, or whether the selected UV unit can handle the estimated flow, a flow control can be added to the plumbing system to prevent running too much water through the reactor chamber.

Final barrier It is all about protection. Private water supply owners will never know if, or when, their water becomes contaminated, even if they are regularly testing it through their local health lab.

Disinfecting water with an ultraviolet system that incorporates proper fail safe features will give that homeowner peace of mind that they are protected against these hidden harmful organisms.

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Precise Control Victaulic provides a complete line of balancing products that accurately control building temperature while optimizing energy efficiency. u

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TA SERIES TCP Pressure Independent Balancing & Control Valve (PIBCV)

Hvac/R

Chad Mockerman is the director, coils business development, with Ingersoll Randâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s HVAC Parts and Supply Solutions division. He can be reached at Chad_Mockerman@irco.com.

By Cha d M o c k e r m a n

Coil replacement as an option

R

egardless of the type, purpose or brand of HVAC/R equipment you are maintaining, if you are considering the replacement of any commercial equipment because of the performance of its coils, it might be worth considering coil replacement rather than a full equipment swap-out.

Replacing a coil rather than replacing a unit is not a given, however. A thorough examination of the equipment is necessary, but there will be definite signs if your coil is in need of help. If the coil just doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sound right after a cleaning and preventive maintenance is conducted, or if it is leaking, not operating at capacity and/or appears to be badly damaged, it may need to be replaced.

If you decide to replace the coil, keep in mind that not all coils are manufactured and tested in the same way. As with most things in life, if there is a drastic difference in price from suppliers, you should be wary.

An appropriate replacement should meet or exceed specifications. If the materials do not meet the specifications of the system it is likely that the system will experience premature failure, and the last thing a building owner wants is for a replacement unit to fail.

Typically there are three ways to test for leaks in a coil: 1. Water (or submersion) testing; 2. Helium/nitrogen testing; and 3. Mass spectrometer testing.

Passing the test Water testing is an older and more common method of testing coils for leaks. The coil is submerged in water. If there are leaks, air will be pushed out of the coil and bubbles will form. The bubbles indicate where the leak is occurring. This method may fall short on catching very small leaks as very small bubbles may dissipate before reaching the surface, or bubbles may not form.

When to replace and when to repair Your coil may not need replacement quite yet. Here are some basic guidelines to help determine the health of your coil, and the best course of action for your customer.

Another method of testing applies internal pressure with helium. As with air bubbles in submersion testing, the gas used in this method escapes any gaps in the tubing or at the joints. Leaks can be located with a helium sensing device.

1. Check the warranty. The coil can be repaired or replaced if it is still under the warranty. Most coils have a one-year warranty and, as long as the coil has not suffered other environmental or physical damage, should be replaced versus purchasing a new HVAC unit.

When testing with helium and nitrogen, coils go through three major steps. The first phase of leak detection is a look for pressure decay during the brazing operation. This is where the coil is pressurized and gross leaks are located then repaired.

The second phase is a sequence of: proof test, pressure decay helium sniff, evacuation, and nitrogen charge. During this testing phase, the coil is pressurized to 715 psi with nitrogen and held for three minutes. Some coils will be charged with 10 to 15 psi of nitrogen before shipping. It is possible to pop the top and listen for the sound of escaping nitrogen when installing these.

2. Consider cost. If the price to repair a coil is around one-third or more of the cost to replace, it may be more cost effective to consider a replacement. Remember, new coils will likely help return your unit closer to its original performance and will result in energy savings.

One of the more recent advances in leak testing is called mass spectrometer testing. This test is like the helium/nitrogen sensing method, but it completes the process within a vacuum. The coils are pressurized and then sealed off from the outside by placing them in a chamber. The air in the chamber is sucked out and the system looks for any helium in the air, which would denote a leaking coil.

3. Check the age of the coil. If the coil is more than 10 years old, or is operating with R-22, it is worth considering a replacement.

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Our new 3D i-see Sensor gives you

752 reasons to choose Mitsubishi Electric.

M-Series | MSZ-FH • Industry-leading SEER rating of 30.5

• Available in 3 sizes, including a new 15,000 BTU/h unit • Absence Detection provides greater energy efficiency

Introducing another brilliant advancement from the leader in comfort innovation. The 3D i-see Sensor from Mitsubishi Electric analyzes the temperature profile of a living space to identify human presence and deliver optimal comfort. By dividing the entire room into 752 zones, the 3D i-see Sensor locates people based on their unique body temperature. With this thermal data, the MSZ-FH then directs the perfect amount of heating or cooling towards those who need it.

That’s comfort innovation in action.

*When installed by an Authorized HVAC (Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning) Installer.

MseriesHVAC.ca

Refrigeration

B y K evin Gill an d Jim Thomas Kevin Gill is an outside sales rep in Southern Ontario with Master Group L.P. He can be reached at kgill@master.ca. Jim Thomas is the owner of Refrigerant Services Inc., is inter-provincially certified in the refrigeration and air conditioning trade, and serves on several industry boards and committees. He can be reached at jthomas@rscoo.com.

Retrofitting the future, one pound at a time

A

s we all know, R-22 was one of the best refrigerants ever conceived, and it fostered our refrigeration and air conditioning world for many years. But the time is fast approaching when we must say our goodbyes to R-22, so the move is on to educating sales staff, contractors and clients about the best way to retrofit existing systems.

Currently, some 1,200 metric tons of R-22 are brought into Canada every year to accommodate today’s demand, but as of January 1, 2015 (yes, that is this coming January) that quantity will be dramatically reduced. As of the New Year, only 450 tons will be allowed in.

As a result – and we are sure that you may have already noticed – the price of R-22 has reached record highs, and has jumped considerably in comparison to a few years ago. Although demand has not changed, with limits on production and further reductions to come, the pricing trend is likely to continue, at least until demand abates sometime in the future as a result of equipment retrofits and change outs.

Kevin Gill (left) and JimThomas.

Picking a replacement While there are a number of R-22 replacement refrigerants available today, the most important thing to remember is that none of these products is exactly like R-22. HVAC/R technicians have a lot of options, and will have to consider a number of important issues before selecting the product best suited for their application.

Since most replacement products are a blend of more than one refrigerant, things like glide become a factor. This is where one component of the blend has a slightly different boiling point than the other components, which may need to be accounted for in the system operation. Additional concerns can stem from the Global Warming Potential ratings, oil compatibility, and a host of other factors.

As an industry it is our responsibility to learn about the options available so that we can recommend solutions that will not compromise the system while keeping costs at a reasonable level.

Things to consider when choosing an alternate refrigerant:

        

FASTFACT

Safety Temperature range Oil compatibility Mass flow (compatibility with expansion device) Capacity variance Efficiency Pressures Glide GWP (Global Warming Potential)

The GWP ratings of the most common R-22 replacement blends range between about 1,800 and 3,600.

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continued on page 90

HIGH-EFFICIENCY VALUE! Make certain that the prices you pay for high-efficiency HVAC products and systems are not too high! The Goodman brand offers ®

you high efficiency value and savings regardless of the SEER or AFUE ratings. Take a closer look at the full line of Goodman brand highefficiency HVAC. • Air Conditioners (Up to 18 SEER) • Heat Pumps (Up to 18 SEER / Up to 9.5 HSPF) • Gas Furnaces (Up to 96% AFUE) • Packaged Products (up to 15 SEER) And to make the installation of a high- efficiency product or system as easy as we can make it, look no farther than the ComfortNet Communicating Control System. ™

For more high-efficiency value, contact your local distributor or visit www.goodmanmfg.com.

Goodman Locations 1055 Cardiff Blvd., Mississauga, ON L5S 1P4 1161 Parisien Street, Ottawa, ON K1B 4W4 15700 Robins Hill Road, London, ON N5V 0A4 46 Zatonski Avenue, Brantford, ON N3T 5L8 8305 Jane Street, Unit 3, Vaughan, ON L4K 5Y3 963 Brock Road, Suite 1-5, Pickering, ON L1W 3A4 41 Brockley Dr, Unit #8, Hamilton, ON L8E 3C3 2640 Jacques Cartier-Est, Longueuil, QC J4N 1P8 4313 Autoroute Des Laurentides, Laval, QC H7L 5W5 6741 Cariboo Road, Unit 111, Burnaby, BC V3N 4A3 18043 111th Avenue, Edmonton, AB T5S 2P2 7007 54th Street SE, #141, Calgary, AB T2C 3C2 807 60th Street E, Saskatoon, SK S7K 5Z7 107 Mountianview Rd., Unit 1, Winnipeg, MB R3C 2E6

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refrigeration continued from page 88 CASE STUDY: Conversion in Kingston With the phase-out of R-22 well underway, the contractor and owner of a building in Kingston, Ont., outfitted with a five-ton rooftop unit, began exploring refrigerant and equipment replacement options. The option to use R-424A as a replacement refrigerant was selected because the existing equipment could be used, the conversion would be relatively quick, and the refrigerant closely matched the performance requirements of the existing system.

R-424A (Pentafluoroethane: 50.5% R-125; 47% R-134a; 1% R-600; 0.9% R-600a; 0.6% R-601a) has been on the market in Canada and in Europe for many years now. It was selected for this project because all things considered it was the closest match to R-22 in this application with the least amount of adjustments or system modifications.

Before and After Looking at the many considerations from our sidebar about what to Refrigerant R-22 R-424A Difference look for in a refrigerant for a system conversion, we see that R-424A 60 48 -12 psig Suction Pressure (PSIG) has an ASHRAE safety classification of A1, which is the same as R-22, Discharge Pressure (PSIG) 220 210 -10 psig and that R-424A is designed as a replacement for R-22 for high and 80.1 83 +2.9 F Condenser Air On Temp °F medium temperature applications, so it is well suited for rooftop 101 104 +3 F Condenser Air Off Temp °F A/C equipment.

80.1 83 +2.9F Ambient Temp °F The refrigerant is compatible with the existing mineral or alkyl 72.4 70 -2.4F Evaporator Air On Temp °F benzene oil found in this type of equipment, so an oil change was 53.2 53.2 0F Evaporator Air Off Temp °F avoided. R-424A also has similar mass flow to R-22, so it was not Compressor Amps (Average L1, L2, L3) 13.2 12.6 -.6 amps necessary to make modifications to the expansion device other than 204.3 203 -1.3 Volts Voltage Average (L1-L2, L2-L3, L1-L3) a simple superheat adjustment. The fact that this was used on an air conditioning system helped with the minor variance in capacity. In most cases, A/C systems are not designed to run 100 per cent of the time so if there is a minor loss of capacity the system run cycle may be slightly longer than it was when running on R-22.

The pressures of R-424A are slightly lower than R-22, so thermostatic expansion valves needed to be adjusted to maintain the original superheat setting, and the pressure controls had to be adjusted to match the pressure temperature relationship of R-424A as compared to R-22, but lower operating pressures can actually reduce the load on the compressor motor and extend compressor life and improve reliability.

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High-performance HVAC Service HVAC

B yBM y at Got hr dewC oRoeid ke Matthew Reid is a heating specialist with Desco Plumbing & Heating Supply in Etobicoke Ont. He can be reached at matthew.reid@desco.ca.

Mid-season

troubleshooting

A

s our climate and culture dictate, air conditioning has lost its luxury label and now falls into the category of necessity, and whether we agree on how necessary it is at times, it is hard to disagree with the fact that the only way to ensure that we get efficient service out of the equipment is to install and service it correctly.

Let’s get started!

To install a system that will give the owner years of trouble-free service, we need to recognize there is no real first step to installing an air conditioner – there are about seven first steps! Make sure the unit is relatively level, but slightly sloping away from the home, and on some sort of base – brackets work, as do patio stones. Heck, I’ve seen units set on top of hockey pucks, and that worked fairly well.

Install the liquid and suction (vapour) line from the A/C unit to the A/C evaporator coil. Use silver solder here. Plumbing solder will not work. Yup, I’ve seen that too and it resulted in some pretty nasty refrigeration burns. Follow proper brazing practices when joining the refrigerant line connections. And install the coil so it is tipped slightly forward, so the condensate can collect and drain out of the coil.

Once the refrigeration lines are brazed, check them and the indoor coil for leaks. The recommended procedure is to apply a trace amount of vapour refrigerant (approximately two ounces or three psig) into the line set and indoor coil, then pressurize with 150 psig of dry nitrogen. Use a refrigerant leak detector to check all joints. Once checked, relieve the pressure from the system before evacuating and charging the system. Be sure to follow standard evacuation and refrigerant charging procedures.

Before you are finished, be sure to insulate the suction (vapour) line – this will be the larger of the two – wire the unit to the panel through a disconnect box so you can cut power to the unit locally, and then turn the unit on. continues on page 94

It’s a giant ice ball Let’s say you see a giant ice ball where the suction/ liquid line penetrates through the ductwork, or the outdoor A/C unit itself is a giant ice ball. How did this happen?

Well, you could blame gremlins, but the reality is that ice buildup is most commonly the result of poor airflow. First thing you are going to do is check that filter.

If that checks out, check the airflow that the furnace/air handler is putting out. You should have somewhere between 350 and 450 CFM per ton of cooling. Too little and the unit will go into ice ball mode. Now, before you make any drastic changes to the air conditioning system, look for leaks and then check your charges – the superheat and subcooling and the mathematical formula that dictates if you need to add or remove refrigerant from your system. If the unit has a higher suction line temperature than its charted temperature, add refrigerant until the charted temperature is reached. If the unit has a lower suction line temperature than the charted temperature, reclaim refrigerant until the charted temperature is reached.

Believe it or not This is a real install. If it looks completely acceptable to you, well then I insist you keep on reading.

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High-performance HVAC Service continued from page HVAC 92

By G or

What could go wrong?

So, it’s now a week later, it’s hot as the sun and your perfect install is not working. Your customer is calling every 15 minutes complaining about how the paint is peeling off the walls, their children are sweating, plants are dying, their record collection is melting – and it’s all your fault.

At times like these, think of the advice that Douglas Adams shared in his The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: #1 Don’t panic #2 Carry a towel Troubleshooting air conditioners sounds treacherous but there can only be a few things wrong – let’s face it, it only has two moving parts.

The first thing to do, as ridiculous as it sounds, is to see if the unit is even on. The most common issue is at the thermostat. More calls are rectified by the flick of a switch from OFF to A/C than by any other service.

Second on the hit list is to see if those two moving parts are moving. The condenser fan motor, which powers the condenser fan, should always be spinning and expelling that

extruded heat from inside the home.

The other moving part is the compressor. This doo-dad compresses the refrigerant vapour back down into a liquid. Sometimes the compressor gets stuck. This is fixable by use of a hard-start kit. This delivers a big kick of power to the compressor to try and unstick it so that it can get back to spinning.

While you are having a look at these moving parts, this is a good time to check voltages at the unit. Is it hooked up to the right voltage? Is power getting to the motors?

Right sizing is important.

Oversizing is a major energy drain but an undersized system will fail to keep up on design days.

Looking beyond the moving parts Check the temperature of the air coming through the return and the temperature of the air after the coil in the supply line. You should see about a 15 degree variance.

If you have that but the house isn’t getting down to the setpoint of the thermostat, then the issues are not in the unit per se.

If it’s 101.3°F and the customer wants his home to be at 59°F this is quite an undertaking for any A/C and perhaps the homeowner’s expectations need to be addressed.

Heat gain in a home is the only real pre-determined factor that needs to be considered when sizing an air conditioner, although the temperature expectations of the owner is also a factor.

Heat gain and system sizing should not be done by square footage or by rules of thumb anymore. Oversizing is a major energy drain, and the only real fix when dealing with an undersized unit is to rip the whole thing out and put in a larger one.

Be qualified Here in Ontario, an air conditioner installer needs to hold a Certificate of Qualification, either a 313A or 313D. Without this, fines can be levied for doing any work. Regardless of the regulatory structure in your province or territory, nobody should attempt to install or maintain equipment they are not fully trained on and certified to work on.

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top performer

Industry-leading Genetron® Performax™ LT refrigerant is the clear leader in its field.

If your bottom line is a better bottom line, no other supermarket refrigerant comes close. From keeping fresh food fresher longer to energy savings to eco-friendly performance, the list of reasons to choose Genetron® Performax™ LT over R-438A or R-407A refrigerants goes on and on. Genetron Performax LT offers industry-leading capacity, industry-leading efficiency and low GWP values versus other popular supermarket refrigerants. This saves money in new installations and in R-22 retrofit projects. Plus, a mass flow that identically matches R-22, eliminates expensive expansion valve changes and adjustments in retrofit applications while maintaining superheat performance which protects costly compressors. So go with the gold standard. Go with Genetron Performax LT.

Maximize Performance with Performax LT.

Brenntag Canada Inc. Exclusive distributor of Genetron® refrigerants in Canada Ontario & Western Canada: Tel. No. (416) 243-9615 Fax: (416) 243-9731 Quebec & Maritime Provinces: Tel. No. (514) 636-9230 Fax: (514) 636-8229 To learn more, call 800-631-8138 or visit www.genetronperformaxlt.com. © 2010 Honeywell International Inc. All rights reserved.

8

Promote like mad. Your promotion plan will be directly related to the audience and goals. You may want to run a few print and radio ads, send out a news release or mail a nice letter to a select group. However you choose to reach the target market, aim for three to five marketing hits, and start them about three weeks before the event. Any sooner and people will defer their decision to attend, and then forget.

Even when the event is coming up, people need reminders.

9

Use available online resources. There are some terrific and, for basic needs, totally free online tools that allow you to invite people via email or by providing a web link, include all of the relevant event details, allowing guests to RSVP. EventBrite is the most popular one, but I’ve heard that EventFox is pretty good, too.

Designed and tested by experts.

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True HVAC professionals know their reputation is made with every sale. Which is why they choose to sell Armstrong Air.™

10

Call the media. Don’t forget to invite the local reporters to your event, unless it’s too exclusive to warrant publicity. I’ve never met a journalist who doesn’t like a free burger or piece of anniversary cake!

Get social with your event

Armstrong Air™ delivers more for our partners. One example is Precision Service™ technology, a collection of service-friendly design features. Our unparalleled commitment to dealers, combined with our 80-year tradition of craftsmanship, gives you a professional brand solution unlike any other.

Twitter and Facebook are online

Get more from your OEM partner.

Become an Armstrong Air Dealer at www.alliedaircooling.com.

resources, too. Remember to post updates before, during and after the event. Use photos (with subjects’ permission) and tag or name them in the posts so that all of their social media friends and followers will see it too.

©2014 Allied Air Enterprises LLC.,a Lennox International Inc. Company

Follow Us on Twitter @MechBusiness

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HVAC/R Products P Scroll compressor Copeland Scroll K5 compressors from Emerson are available in eight models for low- and medium-temperature refrigeration applications. They have capacities ranging from 47,200 to 115,000 BTUH and offer efficiencies of 5.9 to 7.2 EER. The units come with onboard diagnostics that send early warning signs of system issues through LED alerts and remote communications.

Thermostat By sensing a user’s whereabouts based on their smartphone’s location, Honeywell’s Lyric thermostat uses a geofencing feature to automatically put the HVAC system into energy saving mode when a home is empty, and into heating or cooling mode when it senses the user coming home.

The unit calculates indoor and outdoor temperature, humidity, and weather into its algorithm.

lyric.honeywell.com

emersonclimate.com

Air conditioner Ruud’s Ultra Series two-stage condensing unit offers efficiencies up to 19.5 SEER and 14 EER. It is available in 2- to 5-ton sizes and features a twostage scroll compressor, as well as a galvanized steel cabinet with a corrosion-resistant finish.

It operates at sound levels as low as 67 dB and uses R-410A refrigerant.

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Multi-view fireplace Napoleon’s Ascent Multi-View 40 directvent gas fireplace has an input rating up to 30,000 BTUH. It is offered as a through or a three-sided peninsula and features several firebox and burner options, including a log and linear glass burner or a designer fire cradle featuring topaz glass embers. The units use an electronic ignition and have a backup battery. Optional media kits and decorative panels are available.

napoleonfireplaces.com

Dual readout thermometer Hilmor’s Dual Readout Thermometer is designed to attach to any manifold with the use of a hook, or be used as a stand-alone device for remote readings and storage. The thermometer features digital temperature readings for calculating superheat and subcool. It comes with K-style thermocouple clamps that are compatible with other devices and that will fit up to 1-1/8” tubing.

hilmor.com

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HVAC/R Products P Detection kit Spectronics Corporation’s EZ-Ject leak detection kit is built for use in small- to medium-sized A/C and refrigeration systems, including high-pressure R-410A systems. The kit comes with a violet light leak detection flashlight, a dye injector with two multi-dose universal POE dye cartridges, a hose assembly with check valve and low-loss fitting, a purge fitting, an 8 oz. spray bottle of dye cleaner, fluorescence-enhancing glasses, and a carrying case.

www. spectroline.com

Panel fans Continental Fan’s AMP motorized panel fans are offered with capacities of 300 to 1,700 cfm. They feature a single phase PSC motor, standard or reverse flow configurations, and a low profile design.

Matching capacitors and open blade or ring designs are available.

www. continentalfan.com

Follow Us on Twitter @MechBusiness

Coil cleaner RectorSeal’s Desolv is a coil and blower fan blade cleaning agent. It is designed to dislodge dirt, biological contaminants, debris and films within minutes to prevent clogs in the evaporator condensate drain pan orifices without damaging the aluminum, copper and metal alloys of an evaporator’s coil tubing, fins or the unit’s plastic housing cover.

www. rectorseal.com

Air exchangers VanEE’s Bronze Series 70E air exchangers have a maximum continuous air flow of 115 cfm at 0.2” pressure and 102 cfm at 0.4” pressure. The units feature pressure taps to balance air flow. They offer fan efficacy of 1.2 cfm/W, have 5” port diameters, and dimensions of 9” x 27-1/8” x 20” and 9” x 27-1/8” x 23-1/8”.

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SPOTLIGHT PROFILES

Connect to Comfort Sync anywhere!

The AirEase Comfort Sync communicating, programmable Wi-Fi thermostat allows customers to manage their heating and cooling systems remotely via smartphone, tablet or desktop. More than just a traditional thermostat, Comfort Sync offers advanced system management featuring a simple-to-use touchscreen display. You and your customers can even receive email notifications as alerts happen. Experience Comfort Sync at www.airease.com/comfortsync.

www.airease.com HERU Heat & Energy Recovery Unit The HERU provides exceptional efficiency rates, up to 86%. The moisture produced during the process is recovered up to 50%, eliminating water drains. Install the HERU in either warm or cold locations. It comes standard with a built-in heater. The use of fine mesh filters, and a MERV13 rating, ensure clean air, exhaust and intake.

www.ostberg.com Drill-Powered Bevelers Reed’s Drill-Powered Beveler attaches to an electric or cordless drill (not included) to bevel simultaneously both the inner and outer diameters of plastic pipe. PVC and CPVC pipe joints require a bevel and Reed’s PB series bevelers create a smooth, consistent, factorystyle, 15° bevel in seconds. These drill-powered bevelers are available in a kit consisting of 2”, 3” and 4” sizes in a jobsite quality case or individually by size.

www.reedmfgco.com Lead-Free Tankless Valve Kit Jomar Valve’s unique Lead-Free Tankless Water Heater Valve Kit is now available from NEO Valves. The patented profile ball allows the valve to be operated with just a single quarter-turn lever handle. This means it is much easier to use versus other designs, especially in those cramped spaces below the heater units. For more information, contact your NEO Valves sales representative.

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PLUMBING

Products

Butterfly valves Series 461 stainless steel butterfly valves from Victaulic are available in 3” to 8” sizes. They are designed for pressures ranging from full vacuum to 300 psi and for bi-directional, dead-end services to full working pressure. The valves feature 360-degree sealing. They are NSF 61/372 approved to meet low-lead requirements, and are rated for cold and hot potable water service.

Macerating unit The Saniaccess3 from Saniflo comes pre-assembled with three inlets for a sink, toilet and bathtub or shower. The unit has a pumping distance of up to 15’ vertically or 150’ horizontally and is built with two service panels.

www. victaulic.com

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Acid descalers are used on boilers and hot water heating systems, but not potable water storage tanks.

Sweat connection Zurn’s REMXLCR is a sweat connection tailpiece option for the company’s REMXL pressure reducing valve. The copper retrofit tailpiece can be used over existing copper tubing and soldered in place without additional couplings or adaptors. In tight spaces, the copper tailpiece can be cut to length.

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Centrifugal pumps Wilo’s stainless steel closed coupled centrifugal pumps are base-mounted and feature an end suction-centreline discharge design. There are 33 models available with working pressures up to 250 psi, with 1/4” to 3” NPT or ANSI flange connections. The pumps range in size from 3/4 to 30 hp, with a maximum of 650 gpm flow and 250 ft. of head.

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STUFF YOU NEED Reciprocating saw Milwaukee’s M12 Fuel Hackzall reciprocating saw is designed for one-handed operation in tight spaces. It features a 5/8” stroke length and offers up to 3,000 strokes per minute. The tool is built with a brushless motor and is fuelled by the company’s XC4.0 lithium ion batteries.

Wireless range extender kit TP-Link’s wireless range extender kit uses Powerline and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi technologies to expand the wireless range of a router. It can be used for home or commercial systems and can be connected to wireless sensors in an HVAC system.

www. milwaukeetool.ca

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VFD troubleshooting Flir’s DM93 multimeter features VFD filtering and shielding for analyzing non-sinusoidal waveforms and noisy signals found in VFD-controlled equipment. It comes with a mode for eliminating ghost readings in long-run scenarios and automatic data recording to detect intermittent glitches.

www. flir.ca

Snips Max2000 Aviation Snips from Malco Products are built with hardened alloy steel blades. The blade edges are ground out to the tip to allow flush cuts into corners and access in low clearance areas or into small starter holes.

The tool’s metal-cutting capacities include 0.062” aluminum, 0.054” copper, 18 ga. galvanized steel, 18 ga. mild steel and 20 ga. stainless steel, as well as layered metal and seams.

www. malcoproducts.com

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Pipe-cutting tools

Push-fit fittings

The PipeCut line of pipe-cutting systems from Exact Pipe Tools is offered in seven models with diameters ranging from 0.6” to 40” for cutting steel, ductile, nodular cast iron, stainless steel, copper and plastic (PE, PP and PVC).

Sharkbite’s 2XL line of large bore push-fit ball valves and couplings are compatible with copper, PEX and CPVC, and are certified for 200˚F and 200 psi. They are available in 1-1/4”, 1-1/2”, and 2” sizes.

www. exacttools.com

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HVAC/R Products P

HVAC/R Products P

Sensor cord sets Carlo Gavazzi’s CONM series of sensor cord sets are available in a variety of options, including: M8 and M12 connectors with either straight or right-angle heads. They are available in 2-, 5- and 10-metre lengths with 3, 4 and 5 wires.

They offer IP67 protection ratings and come with PUR or easy-strip PVC jackets.

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Zoning control KeepRite’s Observer communicating wall control offers zoning capabilities to manage airflow, temperature, humidity, dehumidification, ventilation and indoor air quality in up to six zones. It features touchscreen controls and customizable programming for each day of the week.

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Racking system Master-Bilt’s parallel glycol rack refrigeration system is designed to chill a glycol loop in a foodservice kitchen or retail environment. The system features floating head pressure technology and is equipped with digital controls to provide accurate diagnostics, data logging and monitoring.

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Ductless units SkyAir ductless units from Daikin are designed to provide low-ambient cooling operation down to -40˚C. They are available as ductless single-split air conditioners or as a heat pump in 2.5- and 3-ton sizes with efficiencies up to 19.3 SEER, 10.71 EER and 8.3 HSPF for the heat pump model. Both models come with wireless thermostats and feature inverter technology.

Call us to find a distributor near you!

1-800-387-4778 | www.brantradiant.com

daikin.com

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Don’t Let Your Customers Spend Good Money For Bad Results…

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