July/August 2012 by Plumbing and HVAC

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Ambitious

SOLAR PROJECT Going green on a large scale

INSIDE n Feds slap tariffs on Chinese sinks n Atlantic show draws record attendance n Contractor shares hard knocks wisdom n Major shakeup at big box owned wholesaler

JULY/AUGUST 2012

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Well-deserved

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n Contents

The Green Issue

Departments Hot Seat .........................................5 To program or not

Industry News ..............................7 Gov’t puts tariffs on Chinese sinks

People & Places ...........................41 Significant staff changes at wholesaler

Coming Events.............................43 CIPHEX West Vancouver bound

Shop Management......................45 Experience a good teacher

Products & Technologies Ventilation ...................................21 Heating ........................................23 Hot Water Heating .....................30 Refrigeration ...............................32

Cottage plumbing

Making septic systems flow smoothly

Features

Plumbing ......................................35 Drain Tech ....................................36 Pipes, Valves & Fittings ...............38 Faucets & Fixtures .......................39 Tools & Instruments ....................40

Today’s water jetters

More power with precision control

Cover photo: This seniors’ home is one of the largest ever solar projects in Canada. Please see our article on page 12.

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Have iPad, will travel Industry veteran learns new tricks

Venting on-demand DHW

The right way and the wrong way July/August 2012 – Plumbing & HVAC

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n Hot Seat

July/August 2012 Volume 22, Number 5 ISSN 1919-0395

To program or not Sometimes technology gets ahead of the customer. And sometimes the industry invents things just because, well, it can. Now that programmable thermostats have been available for a number of years it’s fair to say that they really haven’t caught on with homeowners. Oh sure, thousands have been installed, in many cases thanks to rebates that pushed consumers to these devices in the name of energy conservation. It’s likely that the vast majority ended up on manual override after the homeowner – and sometimes even the contractor – became frustrated trying to program them. And in some cases they were installed on appliances they weren’t designed for. The biggest problem with programmable thermostats was that they were replacing a wonderful device that homeowners were quite happy with – the standard heat/cool thermostat. It’s easy to operate – one just sets the desired temperature and the thermostat will maintain it year round. Which brings me to another question the industry should always ask itself when developing new products; that being just how much involvement does the homeowner really want with their heating and air conditioning systems? I think the answer in most cases would be “zero”. Which is why people love the heat/cool thermostat. If you read Roy Collver’s article elsewhere in this issue he mentions that when he was sitting on a beach in Hawaii his programmable thermostat sent him an alert on his cell phone that his home in British Columbia was too cool. How awful! The standard heat/cool thermostat wouldn’t have done that. It would have just ramped down the cooling and solved the problem.

Now I realize that there is an energy efficiency argument for programmable thermostats, particularly if the homeowner manages to program them correctly. Even in manual override, they can result in significant energy savings because they provide more precise control than many of the older devices. We are now seeing the new “smart thermostats” on the market. Is this a good thing? Maybe. In it’s purest form, a smart thermostat is just a heat/cool thermostat that remembers stuff. So, if you are a homeowner that likes to turn the heat down at night or reduce the cooling when you are out during the day, it will remember that so that after you do it a few times you don’t have to do it anymore. This is good. But I think one has to be careful about adding features. Does the average homeowner really want their thermostat to communicate with their cell phone or computer? I doubt it. A thermostat is supposed to maintain our chosen indoor climate without the homeowner needing to check on it while they are away to see what the temperature, humidity, etc. in the house is. It should be exactly where they set it. And one thing even the smartest thermostat won’t cure is if you have one person in the house that likes to maintain the thermostat at a steady temperature and another that wants to run it up and down like a yo-yo. The “learning thermostat” can only get confused, likely resulting in serious indoor discomfort and disharmony. As they say, “Keep it simple!”

Publisher Mark Vreugdenhil (416) 614-5819 mark@plumbingandhvac.ca Editor Simon Blake (416) 614-5820 simon@plumbingandhvac.ca Design and Production Tim Norton production@plumbingandhvac.ca Production Manager Lilianna Kantor (416) 614-5815 lily@newcom.ca Circulation Manager Pat Glionna Corporate Services Anthony Evangelista

PLUMBING & HVAC Magazine is published eight times annually by NEWCOM Business Media Inc. and is written for individuals who purchase/ specify/approve the selection of plumbing, piping, hot water heating, fire protection, warm air heating, air conditioning, ventilation, refrigeration, controls and related systems and products throughout Canada.

NEWCOM Business Media Inc. 451 Attwell Drive, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M9W 5C4 Tel: (416) 242-8088 • Fax (416) 614-8861

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POSTMASTER: Send all address changes and circulation inquiries to: Plumbing & HVAC Product News magazine, 451 Attwell Drive, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M9W 5C4. Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 40063170. Postage paid at Toronto, ON. Annual Subscription Canada: $40.00 plus applicable taxes, single copy $5.00 plus applicable taxes. Annual Subscription United States: $60.00 U.S. Annual Subscription foreign: $90.00 U.S. Copyright 2012. The contents of this magazine may not be reproduced in any manner without the prior written permission of the Publisher.

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. A member of: Canadian Institute of Plumbing & Heating Canadian Circulation Audit Board Mechanical Contractors Assoc. of Canada Ontario Plumbing Inspectors Association American Society of Heating Refrigerating & Air Conditioning Engineers Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada Refrigeration Service Engineers Society of Canada

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n Industry News

Stiff tariffs slapped on Chinese sinks Tribunal says Canadian manufacturers hurt by subsidies and price cutting • By Simon Blake he Canadian government has put tariffs of up to 103 percent on Chinese made drawn stainless steel sinks for the next five years after determining that they were being dumped into the Canadian market at artificially low prices. The Canada Border Services Agency announced the anti-dumping duty on June 7. This followed a finding May 24 by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal that price cutting and subsidies on Chinese sinks were hurting Canadian manufacturers. The finding covers most single and double bowl kitchen, bathroom, utility and laundry room stainless steel sinks. The Tribunal made its ruling after sink manufacturers Franke Kindred Canada Ltd. of Midland, Ont. and Novanni Stainless Inc. of Coldwater, Ont. asked the tribunal to “stop these guys from dumping product into our country,” said Frank Brazda, Novanni vice president and general manager. The two Canadian companies reported that beginning in 2009 there was a significant increase in the import of Chinese stainless sinks and that they were being sold at less than the cost of

materials. In 2008, 150,000 Chinese sinks were brought into the Canadian market. As the U.S. construction market collapsed and the Canadian dollar remained strong, the numbers coming into Canada increased, reaching 400,000 in 2011. The Chinese sinks undercut the selling price of Canadian sinks by 13 percent in 2009 to 22 percent in 2011 at wholesale and even more in retail. That

The marketplace has steadily moved towards imported sinks due to pricing in the last few years. had a devastating effect, causing a 50 percent cut in production at Novanni alone. Both Kindred and Novanni had to lay off workers. As part of its investigation, the

In Brief Ont. sets new geothermal rules Ontario has set tough new rules on geothermal ground loop installers following a recent incident where a driller struck a natural gas deposit. Contractors will now have to obtain provincial approval for vertical closed loop systems, consult with a certified geoscientist or engineer before drilling and develop an emergency plan before drilling.

New boiler rules Effective Sept. 1 Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) will require that all gas, oil and electric hot water or low pressure steam heating boilers of 300,000 Btu/h or less must incorporate a method of automatically adjusting water temperature to accommodate changes in heat load. The change is intended to reduce energy consumption.

Tribunal sent questionnaires to wholesalers and others in the industry. Edmonton-based wholesaler Bartle & Gibson responded that: “The marketplace has steadily moved towards imported sinks due to pricing in the last few years” and that “domestic sinks are generally preferred but price is increasingly driving the market.” In fact wholesalers remained quite loyal to the Canadian product, reported Franke Kindred president Case de Jong. However, many retailers and countertop fabricators were quick to adopt the Chinese sinks. Both Kindred and Novanni ended up importing and selling some Chinese sinks in a bid to maintain market share, a move the Tribunal acknowledged was strictly defensive. The two manufacturers spent over a year preparing their case before presenting it to the Tribunal last September. If there’s a lesson to be

“I can’t take a leak.” “That’s why I only use Dahl valves. valves””

“Dahl’s been on our trucks since we started this business in 1979. They use the best brass in the business, their service is second to none and their 25 year warranty is phenomenal. I’ve never seen a Dahl valve leak. A plumber’s biggest problem is callbacks to repair or replace defective products, and Dahl is a 100% sure-fire solution! Brian Arnold A.S.K. Mechanical Services Mississauga, Ontario

Renovation spending down Canadians may be losing their appetite for home renovation. According to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Renovation and Home Purchase Survey, 1.7 million homeowners in 10 major cities did renovations in 2011, down from 1.9 million in 2010. On the plus side, 38 percent replaced plumbing fixtures and equipment. And 35 percent contracted out all of the work while another 30 percent contracted out some of it, further evidence that the “do-it-yourself” movement may be losing its shine.

www.plumbingandhvac.ca

learned, said Brazda, it’s that the Canadian government will stick up for its manufacturers when they face unfair competition. “(Faced with this type of competition), manufacturers tend to just throw in the towel and say ‘I can’t compete,’” he added, noting that he’s not against competition. He just wants everybody to operate under the same rules. The fact that so few Canadian “manufacturers” actually make their product in Canada today is a reflection of the problem, added de Jong. He advises other manufacturers to keep track of their actual costs and when they see a competitor’s product undercutting that, it’s likely a case of dumping. To obtain the full Tribunal report, visit www.citt-tcce.gc.ca. The Canadian Border Services Agency notice (Memorandum D15-2-62) is available at www.cbsa.gc.ca. :

Turn to Quality. Turn to Dahl.™ Really Made in Canada. Really.

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July/August 2012 – Plumbing & HVAC

n Industry News

MEET Show enjoys record attendance By Simon Blake tlantic Canada’s largest mechanical show enjoyed record attendance and a record number of exhibitors this year. “It was the largest show ever. We had the most booths ever and attendance was up by 10 percent,” remarked Mike Patterson, who also marked his 10th year as show chair. The MEET (Mechanical Electrical Electronic Technology) Show held in Moncton, N.B. May 2-3 welcomed 6,023 visitors during its two-day run, compared to about 5,500 in 2010. A total of 375 exhibitors were packed into the Moncton Coliseum, totally filling the building and even the upper floor mezzanine. As well, 559 of 560 tickets for the annual Industry Dinner held at the Delta Beausejour Hotel downtown were sold, reported Patterson, who in his day job serves as Atlantic Plumbing Regional Manager for Emco Corporation in Moncton.

Seminars well attended This year’s MEET Show also featured an expanded technical seminar program. It was generally well

Please see ‘No’ on page 11

Competition was tough in both the refrigeration and plumbing Skills competitions.

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e even ven e exchange xchange

Ho Honeywell neywell h has as ssolutions olutions tto o rreplace eplace R R-22. -22. The pressure is on to phase out R-22. Now is the per fect time to switch to a Honeywell Genetron non - ozone - depleting alternative for your A / C or refrigeration applic ation. For A / C, c onsider Genetron ® 407C or 422D. For Refrigeration, c onsider Genetron ® Per formax™ LT, Genetron 422D, 404A or 507. Talk to your Honeywell distributor today to understand your options and hand-pick the R-22 replacements that will work for you.

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n Industry News

No major changes planned Continued from page 9 attended with a session titled “Transforming an Older Facility into a High Performance Building” drawing 95 participants interested in learning how to upgrade HVAC and lighting systems for maximum performance at minimum cost. The Skills Canada New Brunswick competition once again took place at MEET. In the plumbing category, Sébastien LaBrie took the gold medal with Justin MacPhee earning silver and James Keith taking home

bronze. In the Refrigeration/HVAC category, Denis Levesque took gold, Charles Ouellette won silver and Shane Brewer got the bronze medal. Manufacturers submitted their top products for the MEET Innovation Awards. Wilo Canada Inc. took the Canadian Institute of Plumbing & Heating (CIPH) Innovation Award for its Stratos Z smart pump. The NB/PEI Chapter of ASHRAE Innovation Award went to ISAAC (the Inspecting, Sealing and Advanced Cleaning Robot) by Carlisle Creative Services.

No major changes

Over at the Saniflo booth Daniel Cayer, right, explains that, yes, his toilets really can flush uphill.

Patterson doesn’t see any major changes coming for the MEET Show. “We believe we have the format down, that it pretty much suits everybody. Our goal right from the get-go was to make the show an industry event and I would say this year it felt more like an industry event than ever. We saw some other groups tying in some meetings and training with the show dates.” If there’s a problem, it’s that the show really has nowhere to grow, he added. Moncton is not a large city with 138,644 residents. The industry dinner is at capacity and every hotel in town was booked. In fact, local industry people billeted some exhibitor staff in their homes. Some have suggested moving the industry dinner to Casino New Brunswick. “However, I’m not certain

Raptor Cutting Tools’ Bill Reinhardt, right, demonstrates his pipe threading machine. it would be good to take that away from downtown,” said Patterson. “We’re still looking at avenues to grow the show, but we have to be cautious… What we are really looking for is to see what other associations or events we can tie in with the show so that people that are coming to town for those events can also take in the show.” The next MEET Show will take place in May, 2014. :

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n Building Green Oxford Gardens is one of the largest solar thermal installations in the world. (Photos courtesy of the Canadian GeoExchange Coalition)

SOLAR A/C

for seniors home

Absorption chiller converts sun’s rays to cooling By Bruce Nagy

The buffer tank is lifted into place.

Plumbing & HVAC – July/August 2012

or twenty years his grandfather talked about will soon include an expansion of 86 more units. solar panels on the roof of the house, but he The project started when the eventual owner of died before they were installed. Suni Ball went Enerworks, Bill Van Haeren, began thinking about to school to study engineering technology and retirement and could not envision contentment in any went into the solar of the seniors homes in his area. He business; carrying the torch for his wondered if others felt the same way, grandfather’s idea and taking it much and learned they did. He put together Solar thermal a consortium, bought a local facility further. Today he is general manager for Enerworks Inc., a manufacturer of gutted it. He bought the benefits commercial and solar thermal collectors that are Enerworks solar collector factory and shipped all over North America. hired Suni. They created Oxford and industrial In addition, Ball led an effort to Gardens. The facility now has a establish one of the largest solar projects through cost waiting list for residency and an thermal installations anywhere, industry leading renewables system. containment. consisting of 162 panels on the roof “I saw an opportunity and a way to of a seniors home in Woodstock, honour my grandfather,” says Ball, Ontario. The installation uses “Solar thermal benefits commercial 17,000 litres of glycol solution, more than 1,200 metres and industrial projects through cost containment. And of insulated pipe and a 3,000-gallon (13,650 litre) renewable systems also help protect the climate for buffer tank. generations to come.“ For the past 20 months, it has been providing air conditioning, heating, swimming pool heat and How it works domestic hot water to a very modern 9,900 square metre A Yazaki WFC-SC 30-ton (105kW) absorption chiller, “retirement village” building. The village includes a large which converts solar hot water into chilled water, is garden and outdoor area, the pool, a theatre, beautiful connected to the existing central cooling system, big dining room, sunroom, 101 residential units; and reducing the electrical consumption of two Trane

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chillers. Thermal energy is stored in the 3,000-gallon buffer tank like a battery, allowing the system to operate during intermittent clouds or after the sun has gone down. The tank is insulated with urethane foam and painted for UV protection. The mechanical room houses a heat exchanger, pumps and a control system. The 1800 lb. heat exchanger is a double-wall plate-on-frame unit, which can transfer 1.2 million Btu/h to the heating system. The solar domestic water uses a 500,000 Btu/h double wall brazed plate heat exchanger and the swimming pool uses a 500,000 Btu/h shell and tube heat exchanger. Each of the heat exchangers uses a pump to pull hot solar fluid from the storage tank when needed and pushes it through the heat exchanger to transfer the heat. A special propylene glycol mixture designed specifically for high temperature solar applications makes the high performance S-Power tube-type solar collectors about 30 to 40 percent more efficient than conventional evacuated tubes. As a result, fewer collectors were needed to generate the needed 364 kW of heat energy. Nine rows of 18 collectors with 20 tubes per collector added up to 3,240 tubes in total. The collectors are mounted to aluminum racking, which is attached to metal clad laminated wood beams. The beams are attached to mounting supports, which are then fastened through the roof to the main structural walls of the building. The collectors are assembled above the snow line of the roof to enable them to function properly all year. Pipe sizes range from ¾” at the collectors to four inches into the mechanical room. Outside pipe is all stainless steel with some copper used inside. The control unit measures total output of the solar system as well as the solar contribution for each load (swimming pool, domestic water, heating system and

High performance tube-type collectors provide energy for heating and cooling.

A complex piping system ties everything together.

cooling system). Enerworks monitors effectiveness of what has been collected against what is being used. The public can review savings in real time at http://oxfordgardenssolarproject.com/performance. The existing backup heater (or chiller) for each load point will continue to operate as needed. The integration is seamless so the residents will see no interruption of services.

Significant savings Projections were that the system would save 40 percent on air conditioning costs and 60 percent on heating; for a total of about $60,000 each year. This will increase when 86 more units are added because the system is large enough to cover the additional load. The solar thermal has unused heating capacity and the hybrid system has adequate cooling for the expansion. Results for last summer fell below projections because technical problems forced Enerworks to shut off the system for part of the summer. This year it is on track to exceed projections.

Challenges Challenges last summer included some pipe expansion joint failures and a pump-sizing problem in the cooling tower area. In addition the number of collectors led engineers to raise the question of the danger of lift in the event of a major windstorm. Calculations were undertaken and, to ensure safety, the angle of the panels was modified and an especially strong racking system was specified. “We’re very proud of this project. It’s the largest solar thermal cooling and heating system in Canada,” says Ball. “I expect the peak electricity savings to be 100,000 Kw/h this year.” Grandfather would be proud too. : Bruce Nagy is a Toronto-based freelance writer that reports on green technologies and solutions. He can be reached at bruce.nagy@rogers.com.

www.plumbingandhvac.ca

July/August 2012 – Plumbing & HVAC

n Building Green

search of a

SCANDAL Geothermal industry battles bad press By Bruce Nagy complaints received relate to financial matters such as promises made by new operators about grants, or savings that were not realized, sometimes because competing energy rates in a given area changed. “Certainly there have been some valid technical issues, but I only know of one system out of 17,000 that actually does not work. The rest were things that could be repaired.”

Technical problems

Correct sizing of equipment is every bit as critical in geothermal systems as it is with other forms of heating and cooling.

ooking for dirt on the geothermal heat pump business? A juicy, salacious scandal? We interviewed installers, drillers, manufacturers, engineers and industry leaders; and boy did we get the goods. Unfortunately, the truth might be a little boring. Geo is like any other business. In “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” Douglas Adams noted: “Nothing travels faster than the speed of light, with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special laws.” This seems true in the geo field where complaints spread like wildfire and disputes instantly become frontpage news. The technology itself is sometimes blamed, rather than the humans who communicated poorly or skipped some critical training.

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More successful than surgeons “In fact our success rate is quite impressive,” says Denis Tanguay, president and CEO of the Canadian GeoExchange Coalition (CGC), headquartered in Montreal. “There have been about 17,000 installations since 2007 and we have received about 150 complaints. That’s less than one percent. Even if we assume that there are another 150 unreported complaints, that would still be under two percent. Surgeons who provide lifesaving operations are willing to quote a success rate of 95 percent. “Ours is more like 98 percent. Every sphere of economic activity has a level of risk. At CGC we reduce the chance of failure with training and certification. And we’ve done well.” Tanguay goes on to explain that most of the

“The number one problem we hear about is with sizing the system,” says Chad Hayter, owner of the Hayter Group in Alvinston, Ontario “The loop might be undersized for the pump or the ductwork is too small...In one case a high-velocity system was added...loop joints aren’t done right or the loop is not laid deeply enough.” “Geo is reliable but does have to be serviced, says John Managh, owner of Hellbent Geothermal in Golden, B.C. “We had one customer whose pump overheated and shut down for two years because he had never changed the filter. We had a developer whose heat exchanger was slowly freezing up after a fly-by-nighter put in four percent antifreeze instead of 20 percent.” “Someone tries to fool somebody or just save cost, and you end up freezing the geo field,” says Barry Kowacz, vice president, geothermal at Cleave Energy Inc. in Picton, Ont. “Sometimes you can add more wells but in the worst cases you have to dig it up.” There have also been reports of short drilling of vertical wells by unscrupulous newcomers or drillers pursuing the “geo gold rush.” Reduced grants, increased licensing requirements and costs, and increased training requirements have sent some of these packing; but not before they wreaked havoc on some customers and gave the industry a black eye. “If you’re spending money on a 25-year system you want to make sure it works. People put in a three-ton unit instead of a four-ton unit so it’s running full blast all the time and it just crashes,” says Stanley Reitsma, President of Geosource Energy Inc. in Caledonia, Ont.

Please see ‘Incentives’ on page 17

July/August 2012 – Plumbing & HVAC

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n Building Green

Incentives spur growth Continued from page 15 “There are horror stories in every industry,” reported Marc Bélanger, product manager at Groupe Master in Boucherville, Quebec (also CGC vice chair). “Ours make the front page because we are seen as dealing with new technology and because of public incentive money. Plus the fear of not knowing what’s happening underground, unlike say, a solar panel that is highly visible on a roof.” The CGC has responded by creating a comprehensive consumer buying guide, a list of reputable dealers, an installation certification process and broad portfolio of training for installers, engineers, inspectors and others in the geo business. Most of the veteran contractors are certified installers. CGC Certification is required when grants are involved. The CGC has also established agreements with 18 colleges that have adopted its training, and is talking to many more.

Tanguay predicts it will soon return to strong growth, although perhaps not as strong as the 2005-2009 boom. (See Fig. 1) The fly-by-night operators are being flushed out, regulations are tightening and some industry consolidation is also taking place, all signs of a maturing business. With proven huge operating savings and energy efficiency coefficients of 4:1, many still cite geothermal as the holy grail of renewables and an increasingly significant heating and cooling alternative. Most operators are now seeing significant increases in commercial, institutional and industrial applications, including Bruce Nagy government facilities, manufacturing is a Toronto-based and multi-residential. These freelance writer that operations are more cooling than heat reports on green dominated, which strengthens the geo technologies and solutions. business case, because it compares He can be reached at more favourably against electricity bruce.nagy@rogers.com. than natural gas. How scandalous! :

Great expectations In 1679, William Petty wrote: “Although the inventor often times drunk with the opinion of his own merit,...in the beginning every man objects, and...the poor inventor is either dead or disabled by the debts contracted to pursue his design.” Numerous economic studies and historical examples support the need for incentives to help spur what is called “non-incremental technological change,” but incentive programs are a double-edged sword. They generate economic activity that advances innovation, but they also sometimes pull incompetent or unethical people into the field. In renewables in Canada, customer deposits have been lost to sudden bankruptcy, installers have disappeared or charged too much when repairs were needed, fears have been preyed upon, and system benefits have been exaggerated. “We always sit with the customer first before the install to manage expectations; and afterwards to discuss maintenance,” says Denis Keating, owner of Keating Mechanical in Landmark, Manitoba. “We do a demo to show the importance of the filter to efficiency and air quality. If they clean their filter regularly, they can usually wait up to three years for a service check-up.” “Incentives are usually too big at the beginning. It’s quieter now because they are smaller,” says Reitsma. “Incentives for geo should be about $3000. We need stable growth rather than rapid growth.”

New Ontario rules An incident where a driller on a geothermal project struck a gas deposit in Oakville, Ont. in April caused the provincial government to shut down geo operations in June. Now all Ontario drillers must use a geoscientist to help them prepare and file papers explaining how they will monitor gas flows in the drilling area, control it while drilling and divert it during the project. Then they will have to wait at least 45 days for the green light to resume operations. The CGC and the Ministry are reviewing the process now to determine the final regulations. This is expected to be temporary, but significant, because Ontario is by far the biggest geo market in the country. (See Fig. 2) The business has also suffered because of the end of the federal EcoEnergy program and some provincial incentives, the recession, confusion around energy pricing, and the slow recovery of the construction business. Despite these setbacks, the outlook for geothermal is positive over the long-term.

www.plumbingandhvac.ca

July/August 2012 – Plumbing & HVAC

n Air Conditioning

-andInstallation shortcuts may bite the contractor

By Bob Bettles & Brian Guttormson

ix-and-match, bits ‘n bites, every handful different! Does this sound familiar? This scenario may be ideal for snack foods and party favours, but is it the ideal combination for our central air split systems and components? We are all aware this method of equipment selection has been ongoing since Willis Carrier invented the first cooling unit. With the older low SEER R-22 units this shuffling of the deck was to a point prevented by the various manufacturers’ precharged lineset combinations with their threaded quick connect couplings matched specifically to the products available to the customer base. Vacuum pumps and evacuation to deep levels only occurred in the commercial product lines. In fact the average homeowner with basic handyman skills could, with minimal bloodshed and pain, do their own systems. Some manufacturers brought out the back-seating “king” valves and flared connections and some even used specialized compression type mechanical fittings to simplify system installations even more! This type of system did require evacuation prior to releasing the refrigerant charge from the condensor to the system. It would be safe to speculate that many of these systems were simply purged with refrigerant to the atmosphere. “Blow and go” was a familiar phrase with many of the installers. Early systems were quite forgiving with air and moisture in the system.

This is when the mix-and-match crews come into action! These folks don’t have energy auditors looking over their shoulder to verify what they have installed. The homeowners are cool. However, they paid for a 13SEER system, but what did they receive? The proper matching listed coil required too much work and time to install, so now the contractor is off to the aftermarket for something to fit into the plenum. This small evaporator does provide the cooling for the customer; the condensor may be noisy but what the heck? The next winter our homeowner notices his fuel costs have increased and furnace problems may occur due to the restricted evaporator coil causing the 90 percent AFUE furnace to overheat. Our low budget installer is nowhere to be found to correct his installation. Our homeowner of course has browsed the internet and read all of the marketing hype regarding the extended warranty programs offered by the manufacturer and sits back under the delusion that the equipment is covered forever and a day (almost!) What he doesn’t realize in most cases is that without a

What is the homeowner getting? In today’s markets, since the end of the high SEER government subsidies that required an ARI listed combination, the nominal 13 SEER products have come into play once more. The problem is that these units, in some cases, require a large evaporator with a TXV or specific restrictor orifice, or maybe even a variable drive blower system to achieve these listed numbers with their condensor sections.

Plumbing & HVAC – July/August 2012

Coils must be sealed to prevent bypass airflows. Note the humidifier allowing full bypass at the rear of the coil!

www.plumbingandhvac.ca

“matched or ARI listed system” by the equipment manufacturer his warranty will be a basic maybe five year parts only coverage. Also depending on the added restriction to his heating system, warranty claims on the furnace may be denied as well! This sounds like a real good deal now doesn’t it? In some cases, without doing any background checking on coils, installers and service technicians may not realize that without an approved matching coil to the outdoor condenser that they may even void the manufacturer’s warranties altogether, leaving themselves open to all sorts of issues with the property owners.

Negative impact Mish-mash systems with coils with poor air Visit your local HVAC wholesaler for a handy-dandy superheat calculator. transferring or static pressure drop through the coils (not set up) can have an effect over the whole system flow of refrigerant and hopefully maintain the factory lineset size and its air handler or furnace, do duct starting with the metering device. If there is a piston superheat setting in most cases. sizes matter? device in place the technician may be trying to But exterior temperature swings, sudden changes or Yes they do. From time to time you run across a compensate for the lack of airflow to the upper an overcharged system can allow liquid refrigerant to system that has the required subcooling and superheat sections of a home by increasing the fan speed. By spit through the metering TXV and cause poor in a short run. You may find the coil has an acceptable doing this seemingly innocent act the slide piston or superheat and subcooling to occur as in a piston type temperature difference (TD) passing through the coil metering device will allow the liquid refrigerant to system spoken of earlier. Coil selection should not and a close static pressure drop from under to over the escape into the coil and not completely be taken lightly or by sizes and costs coil all within the start of the first five minutes of the flash into a vaporized state. This but by the required airflow and run cycle. But as time runs on and the system will prevent refrigeration from static pressures needed to stabilizes fifteen to twenty minutes later the TD may taking place at the make a matched system. drop off by 7-10ºF and the coil may not be expelling The next winter our beginning of the coil’s Most manufactures the condensate as in the first five minutes. The cycle. will list a required subcooling may rise up a few degrees as well. If we homeowner notices his fuel costs Once the refrigersubcooling value on have a weighed in charged system we must consider ant has passed their rating plates the airflow in the ductwork. have increased and furnace problems through the coil in a and spec sheets; Large duct systems with the newer products out may occur due to the restricted evapliquid state, it then this value is based there such as ECM variable speed motors have travels back to the opon using a listed suggested setup switches or communicating orator coil causing the 90 percent erating compressor matching indoor coil thermostats in place to deliver the required CFM where at the beginning and TXV. A TXV can needed for the tonnage of the air conditioner that it is AFUE furnace to overheat. we would get noise issues be forgiving with a driving. An oversized duct system can create a loss in and later, if left unresolved, a refrigerant charge and will in velocity and pressure cutting the delivery of cool air by compressor failure can occur. most cases throttle back the flow as much as half. On high load days the system may not Damaging liquid will create higher based on the coil’s ability to absorb the come to the desired set point of the thermostat, amperages than normal to the running compressor heat from the indoor air with a superheat value in the making the dwelling uncomfortable. : creating excess heat and acidity forming within the 10-14ºF range. However, if a tech tries with a compressor’s oiling lubricant. Due to the compressor restrictor coil to achieve the published subcooling Bob Bettles having liquid refrigerant passing through its value and the nominal superheat value, the system compression stroke it has the tendency to take the will be grossly overcharged. HVAC author and trainer Robert compressor’s oil or the lubricant out and flood up to When using a restrictor coil the system becomes a (Bob) Bettles is technical service the metering device. As time passes the compressor oil “critical” charged system and the refrigerant must be adviser and product trainer for can restrict the device or deposit at the bottom of the weighed in. Superheat with a restrictor coil may be B&B Trade Distribution Centre. coil, further restricting the refrigerating effect. checked when the wet bulb temperature load He can be reached at (measured with a sling psychrometer) on the coil is bbettles@bandbtrade.com. Bad choices compared to the outdoor dry bulb temperature. Thermo expansion valves (TXV) will help technicians Depending on these variables, the suction line with their bad choices in set up, and in some cases coil superheat may be anywhere from 5 to35ºF with an Brian Guttormson selection, but not all the time. With the added feature outdoor temperature of 85ºF. Check with your local HVAC author and trainer Brian of the power head on the top of the valve actuating an wholesaler for superheat slide rules to determine the Guttormson is technical service internal spring and with the help of pressure from value to expect. advisor for Trent Metals Ltd. inside of the TXV bulb mounted on the coil’s header (Supply). He can be reached at tube (or on the external suction pipe outside of the A good question techsupport@tmlsupply.com. system) the temperature transferred from the pipe to Here’s a question: If it is so important to match a the bulb applies pressure to increase or decrease the condensing unit to an A-coil and also to a matching

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July/August 2012 – Plumbing & HVAC

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n Ventilation Whole home steam

Hidden fan

The new Coleman Echelon Model 8000 steam humidifier from Johnson Controls is an electric whole-home humidifier with a precise control algorithm that manages the water level to limit electricity use to 11.5 amps, regardless of whether it is installed with 240v, 208v or 120v. It provides as much as 23.3 gallons of humidity per day to effectively humidify a 5,000square-foot home. Coleman u www.colemanhvacdealer.com

The WhisperRecessed ventilation fan (on left in photo) from Panasonic Eco Products Division looks like an architectural-grade, ceiling-mounted recessed can light, but provides ventilation for today’s airtight homes. It is Energy Star rated and operates at exceptionally quiet noise levels (as low as 0.8 sones). Panasonic u www.panasonic.com/ventfans

Water miser humidifier The new Desert Spring Eco-Products DS-AFX AutoFlush rotary disc humidifier from Ontor Limited features an automatic purge/cleaning system and uses 33 percent less water. The pump is faster than previous solenoid systems, which makes it more effective. In hard-water areas it can now be set to flush twice daily. Other features include selectable summer/winter mode and auxiliary 24VAC power connection for the humidifier motor and/or optional automatic adjusting humidistat. Ontor Limited u www.ontor.com

Small commercial fan Sidewall radon mitigation The Tjernlund Radon VACTM system provides an effective and affordable way to reduce radon levels in existing homes using sidewall venting. The control hood dilutes the radon gas with fresh outdoor air as it exits the hood and safely propels it away from the structure. The system consists of a plug-in fan, exterior hood and installer-purchased PVC pipe. Tjernlund products are distributed in Canada by CGF Products. CGF Products u www.cgfproducts.com

Anyone who builds model airplanes or follows sprint car racing will see a familiar shape when they look at the under-cambered airfoil on MacroAir’s AirStar fan blades. It is that shape that allows these fans to move a high volume of air while revolving slowly. The company recently introduced new versions in eight, 10 and 12foot diameters that are geared to small, tight commercial spaces. They include a lightweight, streamlined frame and new motor design for quiet operation and low power consumption. MacroAir u www.macro-air.com

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July/August 2012 – Plumbing & HVAC

Freezeless AND Anti-Rupture? What’s the difference? A freezeless faucet has the shut off mechanism well within the heated portion of the home – but what if a garden hose or other device is inadvertently left connected to a faucet during freezing temperatures? Water in the tube fails to drain, this water then begins to freeze and pressure in the tube is increased as ice forms and tries to compress the water trapped in the tube. The tube ruptures and the next time the faucet is used the wall fill with water. Woodford Model 19 Freezeless Faucets have a patented pressure relief valve which allows for expansion during freezing temperatures, saving the faucet and preventing a costly repair or call back. With Woodford’s Model 19, you’re protected – even from other people’s mistakes!

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n Heating

Simple but

Getting ahead of the customer on the new thermostat technology By Roy Collver

SMART

he thermostat is the one piece of the same temperature and never used the setback feature heating equipment that again. Including me – the so-called “hydronics guru”! homeowners are most familiar with Mine was set to heating at 70°F, day and night, because and thermostat manufacturers have I got tired of tweaking it endlessly. been enthusiastically selling direct Recently I replaced it with a new Ecobee smart to them for the last three decades. As thermostat, just to see if I can actually embrace the a heating contractor, you have to sell newest technology and do all of the cool things I can do more than just the device and your labour – you have with one – or find out if I get tired of messing around to become a thermostat expert – if you want to keep with it and set it to the same temperature day and night this business. like the last one I put in. These are the things you have to Most consumers are not going to be comfortable do if you want to consider yourself an “expert”. installing their own thermostat. Most don’t even want Fig. 2 shows the very basics of how some of these to program them. This is where you – the informed new products work. The old thermostats were just an heating contractor – can help. Become the “trusted “action/reaction” device, carefully designed to keep the advisor” in all things heating. Building trust can be room temperature steady. The newer devices have a difficult for a fix-it person – many people think you are computer built in that can be programmed to do just just out to gouge them in their hour of need. You need about anything you can imagine. These gizmos (the to talk to them more. Be confident, and display your word “thermostat” just doesn’t seem to apply superior knowledge. Ask questions to see what they anymore) are getting more powerful and loaded up really want – especially when it comes to that one device with greater capabilities. that allows them to talk to their heating systems. The functions of most of the “hardware store or Fig. 1 shows the thermostat you sold to a customer 30 wholesaler-available” thermostats haven’t much years ago. Refreshingly simple, the “user interface” changed in the last ten years. They are called “smart” consisted of: 1) a lever on the bottom or side (with those round ones you twisted the whole thing), 2) a pointer directly attached Electro-Mechanical Thermostat to the lever that pointed to the temperature you wanted and 3) a little needle that moved one way or the other as it got colder or Thermostat warmer and pointed to the actual Gas temperature. So in a single glance, the user Valve could see what the temperature was set to, what it actually was, and how to adjust it if they wanted to change it. Many people miss this simple intuitive device.

www.plumbingandhvac.ca

24 Vac

Simplicity is the new cool, especially since we went WAY over the top with some of this stuff. The first digital setback thermostats were a disaster. The average customer HATED them. Mostly – they couldn’t figure out how to program them. After a frustrating month or two, many people just set them to

Fig. 1: The old heat/cool thermostats were simple for both the contractor and homeowner.

The new technologies These new players have simply been the quickest to incorporate the newest wireless and Internet technology into their designs. They are making it very easy to connect to the Internet with the customer’s mobile devices and computers, storing that information on a remote (“cloud”) server for processing and instant access. Having your personal temperature habits and preferences stored in a remote location by a third party might be good, or might be bad – depending on your perspective and level of paranoia. A Canadian company, Ecobee (www.ecobee.com) took an early lead in this sector, but a juggernaut from the United States – Nest – has recently sprung up (www.nest.com). There are other players, but these two are the current dominant players – tomorrow it could change. Ecobee looks like a good partner for the HVAC contractor and wholesaler. From what I can see in these early days, their product is more flexible. They also have a contractor “portal” that does some very cool things to help the contractor build his business. The Nest, on the other hand – is now available on-line for a price of $249.95 from the Apple Store (U.S. only – for now). No “protection” is built-in for the contractor; this is marketed as a consumer item. However, I am sure that most of you will likely have one of your customers buy one and ask you to install it for them. The Nest people make it look so easy that many technologically challenged

120 Vac

The new “cool”

thermostats by some, but most are just glorified nightsetback devices. There are your seven-day models ($50.00 to $200.00), which are challenging for most people to program. There are your weekday/weekend models ($50.00 to $150.00) – slightly easier to program, but still challenging. Many of these devices have been upgraded to provide clearer onscreen prompts, bigger numbers (for us old folks), and more intuitive programming and control “interface” (yes that’s the best word they could come up with for “buttons and screen”), but they still lack in “user-friendliness”, as defined by some of the newer players in the market. Two new players have recently joined the thermostat marketplace and they are ripping up the playbook.

Transformer

Please see ‘learning’ on page 25

July/August 2012 – Plumbing & HVAC

Noble Delivers. (Thanks, Vito.) More parts. More brand names. More branches. More service. PLUMBING • HVAC • HYDRONICS • INDUSTRIAL • FIRE PROTECTION • BUILDING MAINTENANCE As a driver with Noble, Vito is always ready to go the extra mile. “I know that people are depending on me to get them the parts they need, when they need them. So, if that means sometimes I have to leave earlier or drive longer, I do it, that’s the job.” That’s the Noble Difference and you’ll ﬁnd it in everything we do.

At Noble, we have a ﬂeet of more than 150 trucks, we have more than 50 branches, we carry more than 70,000 SKUs and we’re committed to having more of the parts, equipment and products that our customers need as stock-on-hand. So, if you’re looking for more, try Noble.

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A learning experience Continued from page 23 consumers will put in an order after checking it out for only a few minutes. Nest has an on-line page that directs you to click on some check boxes that indicate the type and number of wires that are on your current thermostat. They will then e-mail you a picture of how it should look when you connect it to your existing thermostat wiring. Functions of these “truly smart” thermostats, are simply astounding. Prices start in the $250 range –

enough to give some consumers pause. They are, however, so easy to connect through your Wi-Fi to the internet and mobile devices that even I had my Ecobee talking to my iPad in less than 10 minutes (got a low temperature alert whilst sitting on Makena Beach in Maui – maybe that’s NOT so cool after all).

Learning thermostats

“Learning thermostat” is the new buzzword. The Nest claims it can automatically program your heating system after it studies your thermostat setting habits, whether you are in the house or not, etc. Just install it and then use Electronic Thermostat it. Turn it up and down as you want to, when you want to – and it will soon tell you that Inputs Outputs you don’t have to mess with it Thermostat any more – it’s now got your back. They claim that it can Wireless Input Wireless Output figure out how to optimize Temperature Sensor Display/L.E.D. your comfort and it will then Processor “take it from here” so you can Chip Relay or Current Keypad or Touch get on with your life. Time will Output to Devices Screen Inputs tell how well this technology works, but the “trusted advisor” heating contractor Fig. 2: The has to investigate and learn all about this stuff. new electronic Communication The “learning” thermostat thermostats to/Between FAN COIL is such a great idea that it will can do all kinds Controlled BOILER likely be offered by many of things, but Devices manufacturers soon – or are homeownmaybe not. A series of lawsuits ers interested? in the United States may slow this technology down.

According to one on-line review I read, Honeywell has launched seven “shotgun” lawsuits against the Nest people for various perceived patent infringements. Among other things, they claim that the learning thermostat idea was theirs. Another one claims that the Nest people have stolen the idea of “the use of

Two new players have recently joined the thermostat marketplace and they are ripping up the playbook. natural language” – huh? It will be interesting to see what develops, but now that the Genie is out of the bottle, things will develop rapidly. Many consumers are tired of looking at their emasculated setback thermostat, hanging on the wall with its settings all set to the same temperature. They will likely embrace this new simpler technology. Me too. I am going to buy a Nest thermostat and install it in my house. I am hoping that upon review, my Ecobee (currently installed) will win the day, but I will reserve judgment until I give the Nest a fair test drive. I will let you know how it all works out. Stay tuned! : Roy Collver is an author and consultant on hydronic heating based in Peachland, B.C. He can be reached at hoth2o@shaw.ca

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n Heating Residential/commercial boiler

Product Profile Super efficient ground source heat pump WaterFurnace has released what it claims is the world’s most energyefficient ground source heat pump. The new 7 Series 700A11 “is the first variable capacity geothermal unit available for homeowners and the only unit to surpass both 41 energy efficiency ratio (EER) and 5.3 coefficient of performance (COP). This represents efficiencies twice that of traditional air conditioners or heat pumps and 30 percent greater than current geothermal units,” reports the manufacturer. It utilizes WaterFurnace’s InfiniSpeed technology, a soft-start variable capacity compressor, in concert with a variable speed ECM blower and variable speed loop pump. This allows the unit to scale output to exactly the level needed. The unit can ramp down to 20 percent of normal operation for ultra-efficient conditioning or up to 130 percent output using the company’s SuperBoost technology for periods when extra cooling is needed. The capacity range can even eliminate the need for auxiliary heat, says the manufacturer. It also utilizes Aurora, WaterFurnace’s nextgeneration of logic boards, to continuously monitor and optimize operation. Aurora provides a platform of two-way communication between components, troubleshooting capabilities and advanced communication protocols. This includes integration to home automation networks and whole-home energy monitoring, and an internet connection to monitor and control the unit from anywhere. WaterFurnace u www.waterfurnace.com

The new Viessmann Vitocrossal 200 CM2 gas-fired condensing boiler (inputs up to 1112 MBH) is designed for large residential and commercial installations. Its fully modulating Viessmann pre-mix cylinder burner operates with low inlet gas pressure (NG) of only four inches. A stainless steel Inox-Crossal heat exchanger features a generous heat transfer surface/heat input ratio allowing for maximum heat extraction. Extremely low water pressure drop through the heat exchanger eliminates the need for a dedicated boiler pump, while its large water content extends burner run time and reduces cycling. Viessmann u www.viessmann.ca

Dual fuel heat pump The new Luxaire Acclimate packaged two to five-ton dual fuel heat pump from Johnson Controls achieves efficiencies up to 14 SEER, 11.8 EER and 8.0 HPSF. It uses R-410A refrigerant, has easy power and control wiring connections for quick installation and is equipped with a two-step Copeland UltraTech 2.0 compressor for two-stage cooling and heat pump operations. When combined with a two-stage gas heating module, the heat pump efficiently keeps interiors comfortably warm when outdoor temperatures dip below freezing. Luxaire u www.joinluxaire.com

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July/August 2012 – Plumbing & HVAC

n Heating Book Review

The school of hard knocks and servicing commercial hot water and steam boilers. In Lessons Learned in a Boiler Room â&#x20AC;&#x201C; A Common Sense Approach to Servicing and Installing Commercial Boilers â&#x20AC;&#x201C; author and contractor Ray Wohlfarth shares the things heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s learned during 30 years in the HVAC industry. Wohlfarth operates Fire and Ice Heating and Cooling in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (www.FireIceHeat.com). This is a very different book. It bears little resemblance to the textbooks and manuals that technicians struggle through as part of their training. Wohlfarth says right up front that it is not a design manual, it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take the place of manufacturerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s instructions or a solid knowledge of code requirements. What he does cover is, well, just about everything from the simplest principle (what is PPM?) to more complicated issues like choosing the right type of boiler, sizing systems, controls,

Contractor shares 30 years of working with commercial boilers By Simon Blake e often lament in this industry that as some of the old timers retire they take with them so many things that one can only learn through years of experience actually working on the equipment. A book recently came across the editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s desk at P&HVAC that provides a real nuts-and-bolts look at installing

Lessons Learned in a Boiler Room provides a down-to-earth look at working with commercial boilers.

venting, leak testing, combustion analysis, commissioning, glycol, etc. all in a down-to-earth manner that recognizes that in the real world things often donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work exactly the way they are supposed to. Wohlfarth goes into a lot of detail on virtually every detail â&#x20AC;&#x201C; covering many things that wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t occur to someone who doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; work with this equipment every day, like how to read gauge glasses when they are almost unreadable due to years in service, for example. He also talks about sales, selecting and working with

In the real world things often donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work exactly the way they are supposed to. customers (start with a small job and see if you really want to work with this person) and just generally getting along with other people in the work environment. All of this is done with a lot of humour and personal anecdotes. Wohlfarth relates a number of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Tales from the Fieldâ&#x20AC;? throughout. Anybody who works in hydronic heating is going to enjoy this book and, very likely, pick up a few good ideas. It is available from www.amazon.ca. :

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Left to right: Nuno D. (Stantec), Jerry L. (Uponor), Erik W. (Klimar), Brian M. (The Morgan Group), Kaveesh P. (HTS)

Both organizations stand as examples of companies which create progressive approaches to today’s building challenges. We strive to provide solutions to allow them to meet their goals, and combine this with local support through partners like Brian Morgan, The Morgan Group and Erik Walesiak, Klimar Agency together with members of our team like Jerry Leyte, Commercial Business Development Manager, we look

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The Future Is Enabling At Uponor “enabling the environments we will create” is one of our values and goals. It means that all our solutions provide you the flexibility, comfort and efficiency your clients deserve. We are proud that many of our partners within the marketplace share this ideal. Partners like Nuno Duarte Practice Leader, at Stantec, or Kaveesh Padiachy, Ottawa Controls Manager at HTS Engineering Ltd.

n Hot Water Heating

This unit vents to an inside corner. Fresh air? Zero!

nuts and bolts

tankless vent design

By Steve Bagshaw

If your jobsite’s venting requirements exceed the manufacturer’s limitations, use another appliance; don’t force the issue.

Rain, snow and leaves will get into this window well vent. And how about the air intake for the furnace?

Plumbing & HVAC – July/August 2012

n the last issue, we looked at some of the issues that affect vent design for on-demand tankless water heaters. In this issue we will get more into the nuts and bolts. To design your new vent system, add the total amount of straight pipe and count the total number of 90° and 45° elbows you expect to use. Refer then to the tankless manufacturer’s installation manual to ensure your proposed vent configuration conforms to the manufacturer’s allowable vent limits. Do not exceed the manufacturers’ maximum length and maximum elbow count; if your jobsite’s venting requirements exceed the manufacturer’s limitations, use another appliance; don’t force the issue. The more vent in the system, the more resistance you place on the fan and pressure switch and they have limits. The allowable length and number of elbows will vary based on manufacturer. It will also vary based on the diameter of the vent used; most tankless water heaters use three or four-inch vent although some now allow two inch. When using two inch, however, the limitations and restrictions are often significant. If using Type BH gas vent, the exhaust vent must be sloped upward from the appliance towards the exhaust termination at a rate of a quarter inch per foot. Do not inadvertently create any U-traps to maneuver around low hanging joists as condensate will collect. Remember that all exhaust vent joints must be sealed completely from the appliance collar to the exhaust. Not sealing the vent pipe into the appliance collar “to facilitate future service or re&re” is an absolute no-no and not approved in any jurisdiction; seal the exhaust pipe to the collar.

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Retrofit applications In a retrofit application, if you are removing an older, atmospherically vented, tank-type water heater and replacing it with a tankless unit, you may use the B-vent as a chase for your new vent but you cannot use any existing B-vent as the exhaust venting for your tankless heater. It is not designed for positive pressure and the condensate will rust through the rivets in short order. If the manufacturer allows, you may be able to use the existing B-vent as the air intake for your new tankless. It is very important to have an ample supply of clean combustion air. Insufficient air will lead to improper combustion and may damage the heat exchanger. Dirty air (laden with dust, dryer lint, pet hair, poplar and cottonwood fluff, insects, leaves, grass clippings, etc.) may collect in the fan, the burner and the heat exchanger(s) and over time, require service to clean.

Vent terminations Ensure the exterior vent intake and exhaust terminations are sufficiently apart from themselves and from other appliances to prevent exhaust from recirculating back into the intake as this may cause improper combustion and risks elevated CO levels inside the water heater and possibly inside the home. In winter, if too close together, freezing around the vent pipes (and related pressure switch errors) may occur. The minimum distance required between intake and exhaust and other appliances is just that: the ‘minimum’. If there is no

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A little creative landscaping got the installer out of a bind, or did it? ‘maximum distance’ between the intake and exhaust pipes specified by the manufacturer, the greater the distance between the two, the less chance of exhaust recirculation. Make sure you consider the direction of the exhaust and point it away from any intakes. For example, two turn down 90s side-by-side (one on the intake and one on the exhaust) might look nice on the side of the house but it is likely not as good for the appliance as it may recirculate the exhaust back into the intake. Beware of installing the vents near inside corners, beneath decks, in window wells, below grade with creative landscaping, where sheds will be placed in

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front, etc. etc. as all of these locations will restrict proper air movement. When selecting an exit location, remember to be courteous to the neighbours. If you’ve found the perfect exit point from your customer’s mechanical room, be sure to check you’re not blowing into their neighbor’s window or exhausting moist air onto their exterior finish. It won’t make for great relations when the stucco or paint on the neighbour’s house starts to peel. Deflect the exhaust away from directly hitting any neighbouring house. It’s just common courtesy. Venting is critically important to the safe and proper operation of the appliance although it is a variable that is left to you the contractor as it is constructed completely onsite. Let’s finish as we started last month: venting requirements vary significantly amongst manufacturers and amongst provinces: be sure to read the manufacturers’ instructions and to follow all local codes and directives. If unsure, call the manufacturer and err on the side of safety. Happy installing! :

Steve Bagshaw is based in Vancouver and has worked extensively with tankless water heaters in the Canadian market for the last nine years. He can be reached at bagshaw@ican.net.

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THINKING LOCHINVAR? As an engineer, I like Lochinvar—I’m confident that I am specifying something that is reliable. And when I want Lochinvar, I go to AquaTech. AquaTech is the master distributor for Lochinvar in Canada and for good reason—industry leading service. It’s what they do. With 20,000 parts stocked on the warehouse floor, an in-house training facility, and engineering support with deep experience in hydronics—they have what I need. Because it’s their business to support mine.

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July/August 2012 – Plumbing & HVAC

n Refrigeration

This volatile secondary system was installed at Flanagan Food Service in Kitchener, Ont. Visit www.flanagan.ca for more information.

Practical

CO2 refrigeration systems are increasing in popularity very quickly. At a recent Atmosphere Conference in Washington D.C. many major supermarket and retail chains expressed their desire to move away from halocarbons. Included in this list of retailers, the Canadian Sobeys chain indicated that they have committed to using CO2 refrigeration systems for all new store construction by 2015. Coke is going to be using transcritical CO2 refrigeration systems in almost 100 percent of their new vending machines by 2015. We haven’t seen very many Coke CO2 vending machines in North America because of a technicality with the US SNAP approval that allows CO2 as an alternative refrigerant – vending machines were not listed in the approved uses. A current SNAP application is in the process of being reviewed that would allow vending machines. Pepsi has taken a different approach and will be using a mix of hydrocarbons (a topic for another day) and CO2 depending on the climate area in which the machine is located. One of the only areas of refrigeration that hasn’t seen a burst of CO2 use is the medium sized commercial equipment such as walk-in boxes. I’m sure that in time these types of systems will be available using CO2 as well.

refrigeration systems Dramatic efficiency gains possible in commercial systems By Greg Scrivener

Volatile secondary systems Different CO2 systems In the last article we discussed some of the properties of CO2 and discovered that while there are some advantages to CO2 it has some significant

Plumbing & HVAC – July/August 2012

thermodynamic properties that can make using it difficult. In this article we’ll focus on three main types of CO2 systems: transcritical, volatile secondary and cascade. There are obviously other types of systems and many combinations of these types, but we’ll focus on these three for now. Standard cascade direct expansion systems are almost identical to the cascade systems used in the past. The condenser of a CO2 system is kept below the critical point by using an evaporator from another refrigeration system. Ultra low temperature refrigeration systems have been using systems like this for decades. In these types of systems it is necessary to maintain the condenser temperature below the critical point of CO2 which is approximately 88°F. The actual operating temperature would depend on both the efficiency of the refrigeration system used on the high side and the evaporating temperature of the CO2 system. These systems are not really that common by themselves because they don’t tend to be the most efficient choice in medium temperature applications. Instead, they are often used in combination with volatile secondary systems where both medium and low temperature refrigeration is needed. Figure 1 shows the basic cascade refrigeration cycle.

Volatile secondary systems are kind of like a cross between a cascade system and a glycol secondary. There are no CO2 compressors in volatile secondary CO2 systems. Instead, like a glycol secondary system, the CO2

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systems in most places with an average annual temperature of 50°F or less and are on equal footing in places with temperatures between 50°F and 59°F. Roughly, this geographical range encompasses all of Canada and the northern half of the United States. So far we’ve discussed some properties of CO2 and some typical system arrangements, but there’s one thing we’ve neglected. That’s heat! In the next issue when we are all starting to think in heating mode for fall, I will go through CO2 heat recovery and CO2 hot water heating and we’ll see why there are often huge overall system efficiencies that can be realized in applications using CO2. :

Fig. 1: illustrates a basic cascade refrigeration system.

Fig. 2: a basic volatile secondary refrigeration system.

liquid is pumped to the refrigeration loads. Figure 2 shows the basic volatile secondary system. The CO2 is condensed in a heat exchanger and collects in a receiver vessel. From that vessel, the refrigerant is pumped to the loads where a portion of it evaporates before it returns to the receiver. The capacity and temperature of the CO2 is dependent on the capacity and evaporating temperature of the high stage system.

When compared to glycol secondary systems, the CO2 volatile secondary is much more efficient. They can use close to 1/10th of the pumping power to deliver the same refrigeration capacity and they can do it with drastically smaller pipe. I have never heard of this type of system being used for comfort cooling, but given the advantages it’s probably inevitable.

They can use close to 1/10th of the pumping power to deliver the same refrigeration capacity and they can do it with drastically smaller pipe. In a lot of cases, these types of systems are used in industrial applications in order to eliminate the presence of ammonia inside the coolers and work areas. Obviously, because a heat exchange has been added, it is difficult (although not quite impossible) to have a volatile secondary system that is more efficient than an ammonia only system. The elimination of a toxic chemical in the workplace is often enough to warrant the application of these types of systems and with a little work in the design phase to take advantage of the properties of CO2 we can get pretty close to the same efficiencies.

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Transcritical systems The last type of CO2 system we’re going to discuss is the transcritical system. A transcritical system is very similar in arrangement to a typical vapour compression refrigeration system. The only difference is that when the system is operating transcritically the condenser doesn’t condense anything. Instead it is a gas cooler. The transcritical cycle is not as efficient as most traditional refrigeration systems at design conditions, so why would we bother using it? A transcritical system actually operates in both the transcritical mode and the subcritical mode depending on the condensing temperature. Recall that the critical temperature of CO2 is around 88°F. That means that if the condensing temperature is above 88°F then the system will be in transcritical mode and if it’s below it will be operating in the subcritical mode. A bypass valve and control is sometimes required to make this change. The advantage to transcritical systems is immediately apparent to those of us who live in cooler climates. It’s not very many hours a year that a refrigeration system has to condense above 88°F. Definitely the system has to have the capacity to do it, but it doesn’t have to operate in this relatively inefficient state for very long. According to Hill-Phoenix, transcritical systems are more efficient than a typical R404 direct expansion

Greg Scrivener is project and design manager for Polar Refrigeration Service Ltd. in Saskatoon. He is a journeyman refrigeration mechanic, a licensed gas fitter, holds RSES CMS designation in commercial refrigeration and is a mechanical engineer in training. He can be reached at gscrivener@polarservices.ca.

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July/August 2012 – Plumbing & HVAC

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n Plumbing

Cottage plumbing move the waste to a more suitable location. Whatever the final layout might be, I am confidant that our modern materials coupled with intelligent septic tank/weeping bed design represent benchmarks of the “green” movement. If used as intended, the rural plumbing system is in absolute harmony with the environment and will function effectively for the life of the building with very little maintenance. Annual inspection and pump-outs every three years are all that a healthy system requires.

Things to keep in mind

A properly designed septic system will keep both the cottagers and the lake healthy.

Upgrade that ancient septic system By Mark Evans s I sit in my Muskoka chair at the water’s edge watching all the activity in and around the lake, I enjoy a break from the city life. Weekends at the cottage give me some much needed relief from the daily grind and I can turn my mind to other things like... wondering what the bacterial count of that lake water is. Even in my relaxed state, I am mindful of the unclean conditions that can develop from the out-dated and improper plumbing systems that put pristine environments like this at risk. I know that most of the properties in the neighbourhood were originally developed by the current owners’ parents or grand parents and some of the old sewage systems are still being used. I don’t mean the outhouse ... I actually believe that in many cases, the “Loo” with its hole in the ground was more environmentally friendly than the systems that replaced it. Bizarre components and piping arrangements provided indoor plumbing and were considered an upgrade from the half moon hideaway. Seeing the condition of the systems at the cottages that I had already replaced left no doubt that the lake was

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receiving seepage from the dilapidated old septic tanks that even in their prime weren’t very good. They were typically just a single compartment metal box located directly under the building for some strange reason and their grossly inadequate drainage fields often terminated mere steps from the water. Not a good plan.

Bizarre components and piping arrangements provided indoor plumbing and were considered an upgrade from the half moon hideaway. Limited choices To build a recreational property sewage system properly, many site conditions must be considered. The soil conditions, landscape, location of the potable water supply and of course the proximity to bodies of water are a few of the limiting factors which will affect the type of system required for each job. Sometimes it is possible to get away with a simple gravity style arrangement, but other times the conditions warrant a pump-out chamber (or macerating toilet – ed) to re-

Here are some very important things to remember if you have a cottage that you rent out for extra income. Human waste and toilet paper are the only two things that are allowed down the drain but some renters are bad for using the plumbing as a catch-all when their holiday is over. A misused system can render the property uninhabitable. In extreme cases, solids pass through the tank and clog the weeping bed to the point that replacement is the only option. This is an inconvenient and expensive repair that is easily avoided if you pay as much attention to the cleanliness of the septic system as you do the carpets after each rental. Increasing the frequency of the pumpouts will help guard against such a situation. Without fail, every single renter will cook bacon while staying at your cottage. If you don’t provide an empty can or jar to collect the grease, it will end up down the drain. Grease is especially bad for creating major plumbing problems and in my opinion is the worst possible thing to put down the drain. Even the residue on the pan should be wiped off before washing, so be sure to supply your guests with a roll of paper towels for this purpose. The use of low phosphate laundry soap, restricted use of bleach and redirecting water softener regeneration will help keep the septic tank perking along as it should, giving you years of worry free service so you can enjoy your time at the cottage and your neighbours will benefit as well. :

Mark P. Evans is a contractor, master plumber and heating technician based in Waterloo, Ont. He can be reached at mark.evans@live.ca

July/August 2012 – Plumbing & HVAC

n Drain Tech

TODAY’S WATER JETTERS

ike so many things in the mechanical industry, water jet drain cleaning technology has evolved rapidly. Today’s machines are compact, powerful and offer the operator precise control. “Heavy duty (five years ago) was from 2,200 to 2,500 psi,” remarked Luis Furtado, operations manager for Bosco Home Services in Mississauga, Ont. “Now we can bring that down to 1,000 and go up as high as six or seven thousand psi.” Water jet machines have long excelled at flushing out “self-healing stoppages” like grease and sand that will close up when a cable is pulled out. They are very effective on ice blockages too. “And anybody that has a camera machine should have a jet machine,” remarked Marty Silverman, marketing manager for General Pipe Cleaners in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania. “Cameras only see under water as well as you and I do. If it’s murky, they are not going to see anything. If you jet the line first, you’ll get a much better picture.”

Choosing the right machine

More power with precision control By Simon Blake Manufacturers have put considerable effort into improving frames and wheels to make large machines easier to handle.

Plumbing & HVAC – July/August 2012

Water jet machines come in many sizes, both electric and gas powered. It all depends on what size lines the plumber plans to clean and how often he plans to do it, says Silverman. The biggest sellers are electric machines and they are fine for plumbers that do occasional jetting, primarily on lines inside a home or building. With electric machines it is critical that the electrical service in the building can provide enough power, noted Rob Trefz, director of marketing for Ridgid in Elyria, Ohio. Fifteen -amp breakers are common in homes. “If the machine requires a 20-amp breaker, you may end up popping the breakers all day long.” For larger lines, a gas-powered machine is a must. “If you’re going to be doing lines over four inches or over 100 feet, you should really get a gas machine because you don’t have the waterflow to clear a stoppage on a line of that size with an electric machine,” said Silverman. Contractor Bruce Maly (Bruce Maly Plumbing & Drains) in Peterborough, Ont. owns both. The electric machine gets a lot of use because it’s ideal for flushing out smaller lines like kitchen sink drains, while the gas machines are used primarily in larger drains. “The more volume of water, the better the cleaning is going to be no matter what,” says Maly. Furtado limits the use of electric jetters to lines two inches and smaller. However, a hose mounted on a cart reel with a footoperated control allows the contractor to use the power of a gas machine inside. “You can run the machine outside and leave the fumes outside, but have the high pressure water inside,” says Silverman. But gas machines can be heavy. “Some guys will use a trailer. Others will mount a machine inside the truck, vent the exhaust, and if they have a lot of jobs away

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Electric machines have many uses inside a building. from a water source they might buy an inexpensive plastic tank and mount that in the truck too.” Often contractors working in rural areas must bring their own water. “If I’m only getting four gallons (per minute) from a well, there’s no way I should be using an eight gallon per minute machine,” he said.

More water Adequate water flow is critical for successful jetting. The nozzle must be matched to the water pressure and volume of the machine, notes Trefz. “Nozzles are designed for a certain pressure and flow and if you mix and match nozzles the machine may not be operating to its full capability.” A foot pedal remote control and a hose reel Machines generally come with a basic set of nozzles. allows the plumber to use the power of a gas Beyond that, there are a number of options such as machine inside the building. rotary and root cutting nozzles. “One of the biggest changes (in recent years) is the rotating heads,” remarked Furtado. “They just have so warn the customer before proceeding, he adds. If the much power when it comes to cutting.” pipe is in reasonably good shape he usually recommends The rotating part of the head has two jets that angle lining it to prevent further damage or root intrusion. backwards, pushing the head forward while also rotating it and cleaning the walls of the pipe. “It rotates and gives More compact you that extra torque and cutting motion, while before Machines are getting more compact. “Our population’s the jets were constant so you would have to count strictly aging, and they just can’t pick up the weight anymore,” on your psi.” Last winter he cleared two and a half feet of laughed Silverman. “But there’s got to be a certain solid ice in a four-inch storm line with one. They require amount of weight in it to make it durable.” a powerful machine – typically Furtado would operate Frames are typically steel construction, even though the rotating head at from 3,000 to 3,300 psi. that may be heavier than some other options. “We Furtado also clears about 90 tinkered with aluminum years percent of roots with a water ago, but that just doesn’t hold jet machine. Most of these are up.” And some thought has even If there are a lot of light “hairball” root systems, he been given to using titanium, adds, “so you just work it the restaurants in your area, you which is stronger than steel and same way as grease.” With light as aluminum, “but it’s way larger roots he uses a C-type or can build a market for too expensive for our market,” chain cutter nozzle. said Silverman. your water jet machine New high performance But manufacturers have nozzles have been carefully before you even buy it. improved the wheels and machined to allow water to changed the balance point. flow as freely as possible with Considerable thought has little turbulence inside the nozzle. “You don’t lose the gone into jetter hoses as well. They have to be flexible power that is coming from the pump in the first place,” enough to get around tight bends and yet stiff enough said Silverman. They are more expensive, but the orifice to push down the line. They are generally made from is replaceable. “Instead of replacing a $300 nozzle, you slick thermoplastic, reinforced with either fibre or replace a $12 insert,” he added. metal braid. With the amount of water pressure available from Most jetters now have a pulsing feature that the today’s machines, it’s easy to damage the pipe. “You operator can turn on or off. This gives the water stream always want to put the camera down first,” says Furtado. a “hammering” motion that helps break through tough If there’s any chance of damage the contractor must blockages.

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Keeping it running Like any mechanical device, a water jet machine must be diligently maintained to keep it in top operating condition. The machine must never be allowed to run dry or freeze. As well, the water cannot be too hot – above 140 ºF. Some machines have a thermal relief valve to “dump” the water if that temperature is exceeded. In the cold Canadian climate, manufacturers generally recommend a machine with an antifreeze circuit to prevent it from freezing up in cold weather. Nozzles wear out. “If the machine is not able to build pressure, one thing to check is if the nozzle is worn and then replace it if that’s the case,” said Trefz. And, of course, the water filter should be cleaned before each use and oil should be changed periodically as recommended by the manufacturer.

Building a business Typically a contractor doesn’t buy a water jetter as a first machine. They are expensive, starting at around $2,000. But as drain service becomes a bigger part of the business, it will likely become a must-have. They excel as a preventative maintenance machine. “If there are a lot of restaurants in your area, you can build a market for your water jet machine before you even buy it,” remarked Silverman. “You go in and you say: ‘I know you’re going to have a clogged drain on a busy Saturday night when your dining room is full. I’ll come in on a slow Monday every other month and clean your lines.” It pays to have a sales strategy! :

July/August 2012 – Plumbing & HVAC

n Pipes, Valves & Fittings Flow through expansion tank The Desert Spring ACT Dual Port Safety Tank from Ontor Ltd. is a unique ‘flow-through’ thermal expansion tank for domestic hot water systems. Unlike traditional single-connection tanks, a dual port tank allows for the exchange of water inside the tank and does not trap ‘dead-branch’ water in the plumbing system. It is also ideal for use with tankless DHW heaters as it removes the ‘cold water sandwich’ effect and prevents water hammer. It is available in 2.1 gallons/eight litre and 4.5 gallons/18 litre sizes. Ontor Limited u www.ontor.ca

PEX alternative Sprinkler system approval The majority of ProPEX engineered polymer (EP) fittings, lead-free (LF) brass sweat and threaded adapters, and larger-diameter AquaPEX tubing (all up to 2”) from Uponor are now listed to UL 1821 and ULC/ORD-C199P for use in AquaSAFE Residential Multipurpose Fire Sprinkler Systems. This new listing allows more design options and material cost savings and also provides a comprehensive offering of fittings and cross-linked polyethylene (PEX-a) tubing for multipurpose fire sprinkler systems. Uponor u www.uponorpro.com

Three-speed pump line Taco’s new heavy-duty 0015-IFC threespeed pump is designed for mediumsized hydronic systems where installers require maximum reliability and versatility. A powerful, high performance motor and durable threespeed switch give it the highest starting torque in its class with fine-tuning capabilities for a wide range of flow and head requirements. These pumps are offered with in-line or rotated flange orientation and include a removable, uni-body integral flow check (IFC) that prevents gravity flow, reduces installation costs and improves pump performance. The 0015 is available in cast iron and stainless steel for use with open, fresh water systems. Taco u www.taco-hvac.com

Roth X-PERT S5 pipe is designed to deliver excellent long-term hydrostatic design strength in hydronic heating systems, without the need for cross-linking. This makes the pipe more flexible and offers a very smooth surface for better flow. The five-layer pipe consists of a layer of ethylene vinyl alcohol polymer (EVOH) sandwiched between two layers of Polyethylene Copolymer Resin and two layers of adhesive. The outer layer also provides a protective shield for the oxygen barrier. Roth u www.roth-america.com

Shorter tempering valve Therm-Omega-Tech has introduced a new drain tempering valve (DTV) that is half the size of its original DTV valve. ThermOmega-Tech spent extensive time designing and developing a valve that can be used in applications where effluent must be tempered with easy installation and minimization of waste water, but with limited available space; the result being the new ½” DTV. Therm-Omega-Tech u www.ThermOmegaTech.com

Stainless steel down-ﬁred Fire Tube design Nine models from 60,000 to 399,000 BTU/Hr Full modulation up to 5:1 turndown Advanced Sola Controller and Interface 97.1% AFUE efﬁciency

Plumbing & HVAC – July/August 2012

www.plumbingandhvac.ca

n Faucets & Fixtures Hot tub cleaning system

Specialized commercial applications

The Clear Ray Water Purification System from Jacuzzi reduces the cost of hot tub maintenance by eliminating chemicals while at the same time improving hot tub comfort by eliminating chemical odors. Built into every Jacuzzi hot tub, the system works by exposing the incoming water to a sealed UV-C light chamber to sanitize the water, disinfecting 99.9 percent of all bacteria, viruses and algae. Jacuzzi u www.JacuzziOntario.com

The new Monterrey top mount commercial faucets from American Standard address the special needs of healthcare, education and institutional markets with a wide selection of options. All combine heavy-duty solid brass construction with popular features and a full range of application-specific spouts and configurations. The new collection features dependable, drip-free ceramic disc valves and a 1.25 gpm (5.7L/m) water-conserving outlet that delivers a 32 percent water savings. American Standard u www.americanstandard.ca

The Ultimate in Performance

Hands free in the kitchen

Deep well lavatory

The Evolution Excel food waste disposer from InSinkErator is designed for high performance with minimal noise. The company’s MultiGrind technology offers three stages to grind more types of food waste without clogging. SoundSeal technology allows it to function 60 percent quieter than a standard disposer. Food waste disposers are offering an environmentally responsible alternative to transporting food waste to landfills, reports the manufacturer. InSinkErator Canada u www.insinkerator.ca

The Arbor pulldown kitchen faucet from Moen is the first faucet to offer the company’s new MotionSense hands-free technology. It utilizes advanced sensors to detect movement in two sensing zones and set water flow in motion. Faucets with MotionSense can be controlled in three ways: the Wave Sensor on top starts and stops the water flow with a simple hand movement above, the Ready Sensor near the base identifies when an object – like a cup or hand – is placed beneath the spout and the handle on the side offers manual control. Power is provided by a battery pack with six AA batteries or an optional AC power adapter. Moen Canada u www.moen.ca

The new Terreon Deep Well Lavatory from Bradley is designed to minimize splashing outside the basin. Ideal for health care and sanitation applications, it utilizes a molded single piece design featuring integral extra height splashes to help contain water, minimizing slips, falls and messes. In addition, basin ledges are pitched toward the center of the bowl to minimize puddling, while the basin bottom contours in the direction of the drain to encourage quick drainage. Bradley u www.bradleycorp.com

2010 National Plumbing Code

(;3/$1$725< '5$:,1*6 In light of the success of its illustrated version of the Quebec Plumbing Code, the Corporation of Master Pipe-Mechanics of Quebec (CMMTQ) offers its expertise to Canadian plumbing contractors and industry professionals with the publication of the 2010 National Plumbing Code Explanatory Drawings.

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The following chapters are included: NATIONAL PLUMBING CODE 1.4. Terms and Abbreviations 2.1. General 2.2. Materials and Equipment 2.3. Piping 2.4. Drainage Systems 2.5. Venting Systems 2.6. Potable Water Systems 2.7. Non-Potable Water Systems

NATIONAL BUILDING CODE 3.7. Health Requirements 3.8. Barrier-Free Design 9.14. Drainage 9.29. Interior Wall and Ceiling Finishes 9.31. Plumbing Facilities

To order a copy: www.cmmtq.org > Catalogue > Manuels, guides et publications or 1 800 465-2668 / 514 382-2668

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July/August 2012 – Plumbing & HVAC

n Tools & Instruments The Milwaukee cordless bandsaw makes quick cuts in many metals.

Product Profile

Quick cutting In June P&HVAC had the opportunity to visit the Milwaukee Electric Tool Co. in Milwaukee and try out some of their latest tools. The tool that left the biggest impression was the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s M12 Cordless Sub-Compact Band Saw. We used it to cut threaded rod, rebar, and angle iron, all of which it did more quickly and easily than any type

of power saw we have used, including a reciprocating saw with a metal cutting blade. It weighs only three kilograms (6.75 lbs.), making overhead cuts easy. And itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s well balanced for easy one-handed cutting. The manufacturer

says it should be good for 150 cuts per charge with its special 18 tpi blade. Perhaps surprisingly, the M12 bandsaw is a 12volt tool. That it cuts as well and for as long as it does reflects the remarkable advances in battery technology in recent years. Twelve-volt tools now offer the torque and duration of 18-volt tools of just a few years ago, but they are lighter and more compact. The bandsaw uses Milwaukeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s M12 REDLITHIUM technology â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a lithium ion battery that the company developed in its own battery plant. Milwaukee Tools u www.milwaukeetool.com

Compact cable machine The Speedrooter 92 from General Pipe Cleaners is a heavy duty cable machine designed for ease-of-use. One person can easily load it onto a truck. The machineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s frame slides smoothly from the loading wheel to the handle to the stair climbers and finally to the wheels. Generalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Flexitube spring distributor tube allows the cable â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Â˝, 5/8 or Âž-inch â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to feed and retract more smoothly. A knob on top allows quick adjustment for cable sizes. A Â˝ hp motor provides power. General Pipe Cleaners u www.drainbrain.com

Install the wrong bath waste system, and your beautiful bathroom could go down the drain. Announcing the Watco Innovator CableÂŽ bath waste system: fully repairable from inside the tub. Rarely does a Watco bath waste system need repair. But if it ever should, with our new Innovator CableÂŽ youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll never have to cut through thousands of dollars of custom tile or install an unsightly access panel.

Aged Pewter (AP) Nickel Polished (NP)

Brushed Bronze (BB) Oil Rubbed Bronze (BZ)

Watcoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new Innovator CableÂŽ was created speciďŹ cally to complement the ďŹ nest baths. It operates smoothly and reliably. It drains ďŹ&#x201A;awlessly in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Chrome Brushed (CB) deeper tubs. Its overďŹ&#x201A;ow drain rate exceeds all other cable drains. And, with Watco QuickTrimÂŽ, you can change to special ďŹ nishes without removing the drainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strainer body. With Watco behind the wall, bathrooms stay beautiful.

Polished Brass (PB)

Brushed Nickel (BN) White (WH)

Biscuit (BS) Chrome Plated (CP)

Watco Manufacturing Company A step ahead in bath waste systems Offered in several conďŹ gurations to adapt to virtually any tub or building environment.

Plumbing & HVAC â&#x20AC;&#x201C; July/August 2012

1220 South Powell Road Independence, MO 64057-2724 TEL s FAX www.watcomfg.com

View-only camera The new RIDGID micro CA-25 hand-held inspection camera offers a rugged 17 mm (Âžâ&#x20AC;?) aluminum camera head and one-handed pistol grip designed for multi-purpose visual inspection in hard-to-reach areas. Fitted with a permanently attached three-foot cable, images are transmitted to the deviceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s crisp 2.4â&#x20AC;? color LCD (480 x 234 resolution) display screen. A television output and included video cable allows attachment to a computer or television monitor. Four AA batteries provide power. RIDGID u www.ridgid.com/micro

Plumbersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; hole saws LENOX Tools has introduced a special version of its Bi-metal Speed Slot hole saw kit with the common sizes that plumbers use in the field. The plumberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kit includes: 1-1/4â&#x20AC;?, 13/8â&#x20AC;?, 1-1/2â&#x20AC;?, 2â&#x20AC;? and 21/2â&#x20AC;? hole saws. The â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;speed slotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; technology allows the plumber to lever out the plug with a screwdriver. The kit comes in a durable compact case with a heavy-duty metal clasp. LENOX u www.lenoxunplugged.com

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n People & Places

Big changes at Noble Significant changes are taking place at one of Canada’s fastest growing plumbing and HVAC wholesalers. On June 19 longtime president Michael Storfer announced his resignation effective June 22. And on June 25 Noble vice president of sales Jim Anderson was named to replace Storfer. “Jim is a trusted advisor and good friend. He is eminently qualified, and brings a breadth of experience gained over the last 20 years,” said Storfer. “His results-oriented approach and ability to think strategically will play a pivotal role in guiding Noble through its next stage of growth.” Storfer’s longtime friend and partner Brahm Swirsky, vice president procurement, previously announced that he would step down at the end of 2012. Storfer and Swirsky founded Noble in 1993 when they combined their two small Toronto wholesale companies – Jim Anderson Noble Plumbing Supply and Trade Plumbing Supply – to

form Noble-Trade. The company was acquired by RONA in 2007 as part of its Professional and Commercial Market Division. Today it has close to 60 locations in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia. Storfer and Swirsky enjoyed a relatively free hand to guide the company following the acquisition, using the financial backing of Rona to rapidly expand, acquiring long established companies such as Don Park in Brahm Swirsky, left, and Michael Storfer founded Ontario and MPH Noble in 1993. Plumbing Supply in B.C. Neither has announced specific plans for the future.

Taco opens advanced training centre Just one year after it broke ground, Taco has opened a new state-of-the-art training facility at its headquarters in Cranston, Rhode Island. The Innovation & Development Centre, a LEED Gold project, is the centerpiece of Taco’s Master Infrastructure Plan. The 24,037 sq. ft. facility provides classroom spaces, conference rooms, a business center and labs for testing and teaching. Working Taco products and systems are visible throughout the facility, forming a “living laboratory” that allows hands-on learning

and teaching and enables visitors to view and experience these systems directly. “The new Taco Innovation & Development Center is a wonderful showcase for our industry, where members of our professional community will learn about the latest technology and applications our industry has to offer,” commented Taco president and CEO John Hazen White, Jr., the third member of his family to operate the company since 1920.

Special guest Gianni assists Taco president John Hazen White Jr, along with Governor Lincoln Chafee and Cranston mayor Allan Fung in cutting the ribbon to open the centre.

New Technologies Got You Stumped? Join HRAI! Keeping up with the latest in new products, technologies and methods is Max

easy through HRAI. Whether it’s the newest codes or the latest trends and practices, our extensive offerings of

Uponor opens Quebec office Uponor Ltd. has opened a new sales office in Laval, Québec, a suburb of Montreal. The Mississauga, Ont. based company opened the new location to better serve its growing customer base in Quebec and the Atlantic provinces, reported Denis Montour, eastern regional sales manager. “Uponor Ltd. has provided solutions for clients within this region for the past 12 years,” he added. The new office at 2580 Le Corbusier Boulevard serves as the sales, design and field support centre. More than 150 industry personnel attended the opening June 28, including 10-year agency partner, Nimatec, Inc. “The new office reinforces our commitment to the industry, our business and the continued growth of our Eastern region team,” says Bill Gray, president, Uponor North America. “We look forward to a bright future for this key North American Market.”

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communications, training programs, meetings and shows ensure that our members are the first to know. It pays to be an HRAI Member! ...Isn't it time you joined?

Max

For more information call today: 1-800-267-2231 or online at: www.hrai.ca Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI)

July/August 2012 – Plumbing & HVAC

n People & Places The

both the Woodward and Kanata branches, has now accepted the challenge of managing the company’s largest branch in Gatineau, Que. Mike Walt was recently confirmed as the new Kanata branch manager.

People Wolseley Canada, Burlington, Ont., has made two appointments due to the retirement of Guy Laneville, senior manager, Shared Purchasing Centre and Mark Corriveau, vice-president of sourcing. Jamie Hebb has been appointed Shared Purchasing Centre manager and Louie Pepe has been named director of sourcing. Jamie Hebb Louis Pepe

Luc Frank DesRosiers Marcil

Claude Séguin

Mike Walt

Boone Plumbing & Heating Supply, Ottawa, has made a number of appointments. Luc DesRosiers has been named sales manager, replacing Frank Marcil who requested a reduced work week after 18 years as head of sales. Frank has taken on new responsibilities as senior sales analyst and will cooperate with Luc with the transition. Claude Séguin, who previously managed

12" Wide Trench Drain Just Got a Whole Lot Easier

The

Companies Superior Radiant Products Ltd., Stoney Creek, Ont., a manufacturer of infrared heating equipment, has successfully completed and passed the auditing requirements for ISO 9001:2008. E.S.Fox Ltd., Constructors, Niagara Falls, Ont. has acquired Techaire Systems Canada Inc., Brampton, Ont., a Toronto-area-based HVAC design-build firm founded in 1970. Direct Expansion Solutions, Houston, Texas, a division of HTS Engineering Ltd., has opened a new office to serve the greater Toronto Jean-Samuel Kartik area at 115 Norfinch Drive, Rancourt Singla Toronto. VRV product specialists, Jean-Samuel (JS) Rancourt and Kartik Singla will staff the office. DXS represents Daikin refrigeration products. Napoleon Heating and Cooling, Barrie, Ont., celebrated Canada Day by donating $50 from every furnace sold that week to Habitat for Humanity Canada. NCI Canada Inc., Aurora, Ont., has opened a new warehouse in Dorval, Que. at 1405 Boulevard Hymus. The new facility will serve customers in Quebec and Atlantic Canada. Gander Larvic Specialty Products, a supplier of specialty pipe fittings, has relocated to a new warehouse at 425 Newbolt Street in London, Ont. Wolseley Canada, Burlington, Ont., has opened a new plumbing and hydronics branch at 8039 – 5th Line

Wolseley Milton sales staff include, from left, Gary Chahal, Cheryl Molignano and branch manager Darren Wright.

Introducing the New Dead Level DX 12" Trench Drain TM

ustomers who have used our unique Dead Level™ Trench Drain system call it the best trench drain ever. And understandably so. The Dead Level™ system cuts installation time by more than half, and makes floating, pinching, and misalignment things of the past. Now we’ve made a great product even better. Dead Level™ Trench Drain is now available 12” wide. With radiused bottoms and smooth interiors, the new DX channels generate maximum hydraulic flow. For additional information, click on over to wattscanada.ca

Plumbing & HVAC – July/August 2012

A Watts Water Technologies Company

North, Unit #2, in Milton, Ont. The branch is housed with the company’s 300,000 square foot distribution centre. A grand opening was held July 19. This is the first of several new Wolseley branch openings scheduled for the greater Toronto area over the next few years.

In Memoriam Peter Gibbs, longtime president of Refrigerative Supply, Burnaby, B.C., died of cancer in his home in Vancouver on June 5. He was 58 years old. Well respected in the industry both in Canada and the U.S., Gibbs was president of the family owned business, with 160 employees in branches across the West, for over 30 years. He was known for his great sense of humor and his positive approach to life.

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n Coming Events

CIPHEX West returns to Vancouver

estern Canada’s largest mechanical show will take place at the Vancouver Convention Centre Nov. 7-8. Last held in Vancouver in 1995, CIPHEX West has occurred in Calgary in recent years. This year’s event will focus on sustainability, new products and new technologies. Visiting contractors, engineers and other industry personnel will see displays from manufacturers of plumbing, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, geothermal heating, solar/hydronic combi systems, fire protection, industrial pipe, valves and fittings, luxury bath and kitchen as well as water treatment products from Canada, the United States and overseas. A special “Hydronics Alley” section will showcase hot water technologies and a comprehensive program of technical workshops and seminars will round off the two day event. While the full seminar schedule is not yet available, two well-known industry experts have already been confirmed. Mechanical engineer and hydronic heating guru John Siegenthaler will speak on “Hydronics for low energy and net zero houses.” His focus will be on how

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to keep these systems simple and straightforward. Siegenthaler will also do a presentation on “Hydronically-enhanced heat pump systems” in which he will talk about how to couple geothermal or air source heat pumps to hydronic systems for maximum performance. Longtime HVAC controls trainer, author and heating technician Carol Fey will present sessions on “Quick and basic troubleshooting” on Wednesday and then “Technician Selling” on Thursday which, as its title suggests, will give contractors ideas on how to get their often reluctant technicians to work a little harder on the sales side. CIPHEX West is produced by the Canadian Institute of Plumbing & Heating (CIPH), with support from the Canadian Water Quality Association, the Mechanical Contractors Association of Canada, the Canadian Hydronics Council, the B.C. Chapter of the American Society of Plumbing Engineers, the Thermal Environmental Comfort Association and the Canadian Association of Pump Manufacturers. For more information or to register, please visit www.ciphexwest.ca or call show manager Elizabeth McCullough toll free at 1-800-639-2474.

Events

Calendar AUG. 23-25: Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI) Annual Meeting, Halifax Marriott Harbourfront, Halifax. Call 1-800-267-2231 or visit www.hrai.ca.

NOV. 7-8: CIPHEX West, Vancouver Convention Centre, Vancouver. Visit www.ciphexwest.ca or call Elizabeth McCullough at 1-800-639-2474.

NOV. 12-15: Mechanical Contractors Association of Canada (MCAC) National Conference, Maui, Hawaii. Call (613) 232-0492 or visit www.mcac.ca.

NOV. 28-30: Construct Canada, Metro Toronto Convention Centre, South Building. Visit www.constructcanada.com or call (416) 512-0203.

July/August 2012 – Plumbing & HVAC

Western Canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest and most important expo for

Plumbing, Hydronics, HVACR and Water Treatment

l More than 250 Exhibitors l Free Seminars l Technical Workshops l New Products l Emerging Technologies l Solutions for a Sustainable Tomorrow

CIPHEX West 2012

Wednesday, November 7- 10 am to 5 pm Vancouver Convention Centre Thursday, November 8 - 10 am to 5 pm

FREE ADVANCE REGISTRATION SAVE $20 PER PERSON Register online at: www.ciphexwest.ca

CIPHEXwest

n Shop Management

, d a P i e v Ha l e v a r t l l i w atest l s t p o d an a r e t e v y r sales t s o Indust o b gy to o l o n h c te lake B n o m i By S

ayne Langford has been in the HVAC industry for a long time. It was in 1971 that he joined his brother Dave at Design Air ClimateCare in Toronto’s north end. He quickly earned his gas fitter and refrigeration tickets and ran the operations side while Dave, a professional engineer, did the design work. However, 35 years ago Langford moved into sales and later adopted the role of president when his brother retired four years ago. Like anyone in sales, he struggles with how to get the message across to the customer. He knows he offers quality equipment along with professional design and installation at competitive prices. “The challenge is getting the customer to buy in and decide that’s what he or she needs.” That typically meant showing the customer catalogues, drawings and, in general, a whole lot of paper. In recent years Langford has spent considerable effort – and earned a couple of patents – making

W Wayne Langford learned a few things during 40 years in the HVAC business.

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Apple’s iPad tablet computer work as a sales tool. Now all that material is on his iPad, along with pictures and videos and a whole lot of other interesting things to show the customer. The paperwork is on the iPad too and the customer can sign on-screen from which it is immediately sent by e-mail back to the office. While Langford acknowledges that small handheld computers have been available to the industry for a number of years, the new tablet computers shine as a sales tool because of their larger screens and clear graphics. In the future he sees much of the communication in the industry moving to tablet computers, including training for technicians.

A new direction Incorporating tablet computers into the day-to-day operations at Design Air ClimateCare is just one of the special projects that Langford has taken on over the years. He turned 60 in April and is gradually working his way towards retirement. General manager Greg Elmer, who has been with Design Air for 25 years, now runs the day-to-day operations. In the past 40 years Langford has seen the industry grow and change substantially. Design Air ClimateCare began during the infancy of residential air conditioning. Less than five percent of Canadian homes had cooling and the company focused on that, getting into the heating side later on. In the early years there were only four major air conditioning manufacturers. Design Air became a Carrier dealer, which proved a huge boost. Installations “were very much cookie-cutter in those days,” recalls Langford. The company survived three recessions – the first in the early 80s, the next in the early 90s and it is still working its way through the latest one. It thrived during the first two because of the relatively affluent area in which it is located. Some customers took advantage of slowdowns to do retrofits and build custom homes because prices were lower and trades people more readily available. Custom homes still make up about 30 percent of Design Air’s business. However, the company had its worst year ever in 2011. It has had as many as 50 employees in the past but today operates with a more manageable 14. Langford is loathe

Please see ‘Increased’ on page 46

July/August 2012 – Plumbing & HVAC

n Shop Management

Increased competition Continued from page 45 to lay off experienced people even in the slowest times, although sometimes it’s necessary to switch to a four-day week to keep everyone working.

Increased competition The ongoing economic turmoil has forced many contractors to go back to selling on price. They compete not only against each other, but also against the unlicensed one-man shops Even an industry veteran can learn new spawned by the underground things. The I-Pad proved a game changer. economy. It’s tough! Langford has always sold on safety, efficiency, reliability and comfort. Today he quotes a bare bones installation with some things that used to be included now part of an “a-la-carte” list of options. The company did reduce its overhead by moving to flat rate pricing, something that took considerable time to implement. “We had to reshape ourselves to go forward,” remarked Langford. Careful hiring over the years helps. Langford tends to hire people more for their character than their experience. The big question is always: “Is that the type of person you would want working in your own home with your wife and kids around?” One thing that Langford has learned to accept is that mistakes happen. “I think we’ve built our reputation on how we handle those mistakes… If you treat people fairly, they will cut you a lot of slack.” He is also a strong believer in being involved in the industry, having served in various capacities with the ClimateCare Co-operative contractor group and the Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI). As he looks back on 40 years as an HVAC contractor, he lists his two biggest joys as getting off the tools and into sales and “seeing the world,” thanks to trips organized by manufacturers as sales incentives. He may be working his way towards retirement, but he expects to keep that iPad humming for at least the next five years. :

INDEX to

ADVERTISERS Allpriser ....................................17 Aqua-Tech.................................31 Bradford White Canada.............11 Chillventa..................................43 CIPHEX West.............................44 CMMTQ....................................39 Dahl Bros. ...................................7 Delta Faucet ..............................34 General Pipe Cleaners .................8 HRAI ...................................41, 46 Honeywell/Genetron Div. ..........10 ICP/KeepRite ...............................9 IPEX ................................6, 26, 47 Judo Water Treatment ...............25 Madok Mfg...............................16 Mitsubishi Electric .......................4

Plumbing & HVAC – July/August 2012

Mobilio .......................................5 Napoleon ..................................20 Noble ........................................24 NTI ............................................38 RaptorCutting Tools ..................33 RIDGID ......................................48 Taco Canada ...............................2 Uponor Ltd. ..............................29 Victaulic ....................................27 Viessmann ................................14 WatcoMfg.................................40 Watts Industries .......................42 Weil McLain Canada .................28 Woodford Mfg..........................22 Zurn Industries ..........................21

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MAKE ONE LESS LIST.

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