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Thermal bridges The new target in energy efficiency for buildings
Inside ■ Lead-free forum aims to clear the air ■ Contractors open wallets to fight blindness ■ New commissioning standard for health facilities ■ Housing starts expected to remain steady in 2014
NOV/DEC 2013
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â– Contents
Home Builders Issue
Departments Hot Seat .........................................5 Industry News ..............................7 Lead-free still causing confusion
People & Places............................51 Wolseley launches industrial division
Shop Management......................53 Establishing a flat rate system
Coming Events.............................54 ASHRAE looks at tall buildings
Products & Technologies Building Green.............................14 Heating ........................................17 Plumbing ......................................34 Refrigeration ...............................37 Trucks for the Trade.....................41
The new cargo vans
Ford, Chrysler launch new designs
Features
Tools & Instruments ....................44 Pipes, Valves & Fittings ...............45
Under the radar
47
Finding the right niche in the wholesale business
Cover: The need to make buildings as energy efficient as possible is putting every aspect of construction under the microscope. Please see our article on page 14.
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How much is enough? Insulating refrigeration system piping
37
Preventing a disaster
17
Regular maintenance checks for hydronic systems November/December 2013 – Plumbing & HVAC
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■ Hot Seat
November/December 2013 Volume 23, Number 8 ISSN 1919-0395
Sometimes it’s not the equipment Many things affect plumbing and HVAC systems that are, well, not plumbing and HVAC. Thermal bridging is one of those issues. It has been poorly understood in the past and needs to be taken into account in HVAC design. Thermal bridging is the idea that certain types of building design and construction practices can provide a conduit for energy to escape from the building. It can be structural steel, it can be concrete and it can be a number of other things. They can have a significant impact on heat loss/gain calculations. While contractors and designers have always had a vague idea that this happens, the science hasn’t been exact and, in today’s energy efficient world, rules of thumb just aren’t accurate enough. As reported elsewhere in this issue, ASHRAE – the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers – has been studying this and putting some numbers to it so that designers and contractors can more accurately calculate how different building design and construction details will affect the performance of the HVAC system and the building. While additional factors like this add complexity and, let’s face it, can be a royal pain, the awareness of things like thermal bridging at least allows the contractor to compensate – something they or the engineer must often do because they have so little influence on building design.
And having accurate data on how these things affect the building envelope and thus HVAC performance allows the HVAC designer to compensate accurately, rather than simply guessing how much to oversize the equipment which has so often resulted in substantially oversized equipment being installed. The other important benefit of ASHRAE’s work is that it may help explain why sometimes HVAC systems don’t perform as well as they should even when the designer has been diligent and used the best information available. When building occupants are not comfortable or the owner doesn’t get the energy savings they expect, the first inclination is always to blame the equipment and the mechanical contractor that installed it. But building envelope performance is critical too and a better understanding of thermal bridging and what causes it should prevent some of these situations – and just may take some heat off the engineer and contractor. And with that, I would like to thank all of our readers and advertisers for their support over the past year and wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and all the best in 2014!
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.
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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 2013. 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 of the Department of Canadian Heritage. 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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■ Industry News
CIPH forum aims to clear air on lead-free Provinces waiting for changes to National Plumbing Code By Simon Blake he move to lead-free plumbing products for potable water systems is moving slowly, about 90 delegates at a Canadian Institute of Plumbing & Heating (CIPH) forum heard on Oct. 24 at the Mississauga Convention Centre, Mississauga, Ont. Only Ontario has amended it’s building code to include the requirement by Jan. 1. Other provinces are expected to follow, but are still awaiting changes to the National Plumbing Code, which they can then incorporate into provincial codes. Ontario will begin enforcement in January. CIPH president Ralph Suppa said he expects enforcement will typically begin around June in other provinces, assuming that interim changes to the National Plumbing Code occur before the end of the year.
T
Quicker implementation urged As P&HVAC has previously reported, there is considerable urgency for Canada to adopt lead-free requirements because the Safe Drinking Water Act in the U.S. requires that all plumbing for potable water systems in the U.S. be lead-free by Jan. 4. The industry is worried that Canada may become a dumping ground for leaded product and has been urging the implementation of similar rules in Canada by that date. The U.S. law defines lead-free as containing less than a quarter of one percent lead by weight on wetted surfaces. Current rules allow eight percent lead content in brass fittings. Ontario bypassed the NPC process and adopted leadfree regulations through a “Ministerial Ruling” that incorporated the CSA B125 Standard, which covers potable water systems, into the 2012 Ontario Building Code (OBC). There has been some confusion because on Jan. 1 the 2012 OBC replaces the 2006 version, reported Joe Rogers of Ontario Municipal Affairs and Housing, one of four expert panelists at the forum. There are many other changes in addition to the adoption of lead-free potable water requirements. He noted that as long as a building permit is applied for before Jan. 1, it falls under the old rules.
What is covered? There was considerable discussion over which fittings are covered by the CSA standard. Supply stops, for example, are only required to be lead free in sizes up to one inch. The standard doesn’t specifically exclude larger fittings, but it is inferred because the tables only go up to one inch, explained Franco Di Folco, technical advisor, Plumbing & Drinking Water Products, CSA Group, Etobicoke, Ont.
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Cash Acme’s Rick Proulx, left, talks about his products at a well attended CIPH Roadshow in Edmonton Oct. 10. CIPH also held the one-day trade shows in Halifax, Quebec City and Winnipeg. “Will Canada eventually get closer to the U.S. on large ball valves (and other products)?” asked Jeff Vandervet, manager, commercial products, for Conbraco Industries Inc., Matthews, North Carolina. If Canada becomes a dumping ground for the larger leaded products, they will likely be added to the regulation, in Ontario anyway, said Rogers. CSA committees are currently reviewing the CSA B64 backflow standard and the CSA B137 standard for thermoplastic pipe (PEX) and fittings. However, no further change is expected prior to publication of the 2015 National Plumbing Code, reported panelist Kevin Ernst, chairman of the CSA B125 Committee and the Plumbing Industry Advisory Council (and general manager at Oakville Stamping & Bending, Oakville, Ont., during his day job).
Wholesalers carry torch The change will put a heavy burden on wholesalers, said panelist Al Hook, purchasing manager for Wolseley Canada, Burlington, Ont. “Wholesalers are left in the unenviable position of managing the transition,” he noted. That includes communicating changes to contractors, managing dual inventory streams, ensuring that leaded and unleaded product is clearly identified on all paperwork and managing the product change schedule. “The contractors will be looking to us to provide clearly compliant products.” And because the Canadian rules will be different from those in the U.S., it will be a struggle for wholesalers to keep
track of what needs to be compliant and what doesn’t. The change is going to be expensive for contractors and their customers. Pricing on lead-free fittings is coming in at 25 to 30 percent more, noted Brahm Swirsky of Next Supply, Vaughan, Ont. Most wholesalers don’t have the space to carry dual product lines, he added. CIPH president Ralph Suppa noted that all provinces are expected to have a “grandfather clause” to allow wholesalers and contractors to use up existing stock.
Uncertainty in the field Building inspectors in the field face a difficult time too because many lead-free products are not clearly identified. There is no uniform marking and some products are too small to incorporate a marking. This makes it critical to identify compliant products on proof-of-purchase documents, said Hook. At the end of the day, it’s going to be up to the contractor to prove to the inspector that products comply. The other problem is that there is no specific list of products that are required to be lead free. “Does a supply stop for a toilet need to be lead free?” asked Thomas Husebye, vice president of sales for Dahl Brothers Ltd., Mississauga, Ont., who represented manufacturers on the panel. “Common sense says no. But as the exact same supply stop can also be used for a faucet, most manufacturers will supply only lead-free.” CIPH will keep its members up to date as the different provinces implement their low lead regulations, said Suppa. The industry needs to make working towards uniform markings a priority, he added. ✚
November/December 2013 – Plumbing & HVAC
7
â– Industry News
Contractors step up to battle blindness Impromptu auction at MCAC conference far exceeds expectations By Simon Blake n impromptu auction at the annual conference of the Mechanical Contractors of Canada annual conference in Winnipeg Sept. 25-28 raised $35,500 for a charity that drills drinking water wells in developing countries. Chairman Brad Diggens (MJS Mechanical, Calgary) was hoping to raise $5,000 – enough to drill one well – at the event’s Manitoba Social, where delegates and companions dressed in Western garb to attend a night at the Hitch N Post Ranch north of Winnipeg. Several delegates were “arrested� by lawmen on horseback on the way for various alleged misdeeds and their colleagues were asked to bail them out of jail – or pay to keep them in, a far more popular option.
A
With shortened schedules and the intensity of what’s happening in the industry we’ve got to start working together better‌ Bidding was fast and furious as the 240 delegates and companions didn’t want to be outdone by their competitors with the result being a windfall for Operation Eyesight, a Calgary-based charity that works to prevent trachoma – the world’s leading cause of preventable blindness, caused by unsanitary drinking water. It has been Diggens’ chairman’s charity since being elected several years ago and MCAC has now adopted it as its charity of choice. “One hundred percent of the donated monies go to the cause,â€? Diggens assured delegates. (Visit www.operationeyesight.com for more information).
and adding new delivery methods such as webinars. He urged contractors to help their employees stay current. “People are going to get left behind if they don’t start training their staff, Please talk to people and get them taking courses because it will help their (and your) future.�
complex. As well the relationship between developers and contractors is changing with new delivery methods such as design-build and public private partnerships. “They all create challenges, particularly for small contractors,â€? he noted. Add to that the rapid changes in technology. “We have two to three-year cycles compared to 15-year cycles before,â€? reported Daryl Zimmerman (Lockerbie & Hole, Edmonton), chairman of the Canadian Mechanical Contracting Education Foundation (CMCEF). “The other thing has been the changing face of BIM (building information modeling). There’s still a little bit of a disconnect.â€? Increasing complexity makes it more important than ever to work together, he added. “With shortened schedules and the intensity of what’s happening in the industry we’ve got to start working together better‌ The old days of not sharing knowledge are gone.â€? CMCEF (www.cmcef.org) has made a number of steps to improve its own training, including adopting material developed by the provincial MCA associations
Achievements recognized A number of members received recognition for service to the organization. Winnipeg contractor James Derksen (Derksen Plumbing & Heating) received the Gary Grieg Memorial Award. The Lloyd McLean Memorial Award for outstanding commitment and volunteerism was presented posthumously to Jamie McNabb, of ABCO Supply & Service in Winnipeg, with his wife Rosy accepting. The Doug Crawford Memorial Award went to longtime Associates chair Tim Meadows of Victaulic. At the annual general meeting members elected a new executive that includes Gaetan Beaulieu (Beaulieu Plumbing & Mechanical, Edmundston, N.B.) as chairman and Del Pauliuk (R.F. Contracting, Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) as vice chairman and chairman elect. Diggins will continue on the board as secretary/treasurer. The next MCAC Annual Conference will take place in St. John’s, Nfld., Sept. 24-27, 2014. Please visit www.mcac.ca for more information. ✚
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■ Industry News
Housing starts to remain stable New home start numbers should remain stable in 2014, reports the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The fundamentals, such as employment growth and migration, continue to support the Canadian housing market, according to CMHC’s fourth quarter 2013 Housing Market Outlook, Canada Edition. “In the new home market, builders are nevertheless expected to limit the number of housing starts while inventories of unabsorbed units, completed and under construction, are drawn down,” said Mathieu Laberge,
deputy chief economist for CMHC. “In the resale market, home buyers have been motivated to advance their purchases and lock-in prequalified mortgages given the recent moderate increase in mortgage rates. It is expected that existing home sales will increase modestly in 2014 with improving economic conditions,” he added. On an annual basis, housing starts are expected to range between 179,300 to 190,600 units in 2013, with a point forecast of 185,000 units, down from 214,827 units in 2012. In 2014, housing starts are expected to range from 163,700 to 205,700 units, with a point forecast of 184,700 units. CMHC Market Analysis standard reports are available for free at www.cmhc.ca/housingmarketinformation.
New commissioning standard for health facilities CSA Group has developed a new standard for commissioning health care facilities. The new standard, Z8001 – Commissioning of Health Care Facilities, provides additional requirements and guidance to help engineers and contractors navigate the unique risks and challenges of these facilities. Based on the well established Z320 - Building Commissioning Standard and Check Sheets, the new standard: Builds on the core commissioning requirements of CSA Z320 to address special considerations involved in the commissioning of health care facilities
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In Brief Return on training dollars The Canadian Apprenticeship Forum is conducting a survey on return on training investment for contractors associated with literacy and essential skills training in Red Seal trades. Employers who complete the survey will receive a free profile of the costs and benefits of training. E-mail essentialinvestment@ malatest.com. The deadline is Dec. 31.
Water conservation challenge The Canadian Institute of Plumbing and Heating (CIPH) is challenging students across Canada to develop a water conservation plan for their school that will reduce its water footprint. The winning school will receive $3,000. The winners will be announced on World Plumbing Day, March 11. Visit www.ciph.com for more information.
Trade contractors head back to parliament The National Trade Contractors Coalition of Canada (NTCCC), made up of many construction associations, is heading back to Parliament Hill on Dec. 10 to meet with politicians and their advisers to push for regulatory changes in federal government contracts to include prompt payment provisions through the entire construction chain. Visit www.ntccc.ca for more information.
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November/December 2013 – Plumbing & HVAC
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© Union Gas 2013 UG20130175, December 2013
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■ Letters
Rooftop work safety needs to be addressed Dear Editor: I am a CHSO, HVAC/GF 1 technician who has been working for thirty years. I had a career ending injury in 2010 that saw me become more involved in health and safety. One of my biggest concerns is that we, as technicians, have to risk our lives to get to rooftop heating and air conditioning units to service or repair them. The greatest majority of rooftop heating and cooling units, exhaust fans, HRV’s, etc., are being placed on sloped roofs with no means to access this equipment or work on this equipment safely. I have brought my concerns to the management of the company that I worked for as well as the ministry of labour, city building inspectors, and work-safe organizations. I received no help from any of the above mentioned with regards to making it mandatory for any piece of equipment placed in a compromising location to be installed with safe access, egress, and a working platform. The Bi49.1-10 Natural Gas and Propane Installation Code clearly addresses my concern. Clauses 4.14.6(a)(b)(c) and 4.14.7 provides the answer to my safety concern. I cannot understand why this hazard is continually growing with new installations. There are companies that manufacture working platforms to surround
rooftop heating and air conditioning units and provide access and egress pathways to these pieces of equipment. All one has to do is look up while driving and you notice all of this equipment that I am speaking of. I have put in work refusals many times only to have the
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■ Building Green
Thermal bridges T
here is one area of building design that has been largely overlooked in the quest for more efficient buildings – until now. Thermal bridges are un-insulated, highly conductive wood or metal bridges along which heat loss or cooling loss travels. They are found mostly in the way we build floor-to-wall joints, corners, window or door transitions, concrete balconies, parapets, exterior insulation or brick shelves, clips, and so on. What do they mean to HVAC contractors and engineers? Not much, one might think, given that the design of the building and construction of the envelope
The next frontier for energy efficient buildings By Bruce Nagy
is typically someone else’s responsibility. But projects are increasingly complicated. Many are design-build. Progressive HVAC contractors and engineers want to be fully involved in these consultations as part of the indispensible building team going forward. Energy is getting more expensive, and thermal bridges are the missing link in accurate heat loss/gain calculations, so ASHRAE has studied them and released a number of reports. Building codes are incorporating energy efficiency targets and contractors can little afford to guess about energy conservation measures.
This night photo with a thermal imaging camera shows significant heat loss around the balconies. (Schöck USA)
Leaving the window open If you have a building in the Arctic and you keep the window open most of the time, it would not make sense to double the insulation to make the building warmer, without first just closing the window. Yet with some large buildings in the past, designers have doubled the insulation to get more LEED points, while metaphorically leaving a window open in the form of a series of thermal bridges. HVAC designers have oversized or undersized the heating or cooling system, while permitting someone to metaphorically leave the same window open.
With some large buildings in the past, designers have doubled the insulation to get more LEED points, while metaphorically leaving a window open in the form of a series of thermal bridges. Writing in the ASHRAE Journal, Joseph Lstiburek said, “For those who somehow missed high school physics, steel, concrete, aluminum and glass are all thermally conductive materials. Except for concrete, we make frying pans out of all of them.” New studies show that our bad building habits with small buildings scale up when we are constructing larger buildings and that heat or cooling loss through thermal bridges is more significant than previously believed.
How serious is it? Some building scientists are cautious about quoting a number because it varies with different kinds of buildings and numerous building details. The project lead on a new ASHRAE study, Patrick Roppel of Morrison Hershfield Limited in Vancouver, says, if pressed, he would estimate about “30 to 50 percent of
14
Plumbing & HVAC – November/December 2013
www.plumbingandhvac.ca
New design and construction practices are aimed at reducing thermal bridges. (Morrison Hershfield)
the conductive heat loss through the opaque areas of walls are associated with details that are largely overlooked.” The ASHRAE 1365-RP study that he led covered 40 common building envelope assemblies and details. At the end of this year, the company will have catalogued more than 300 details. A study in Ireland indicated that thermal bridge heat loss ranged from about nine percent to about 25 percent. A New York City guideline shows examples of wall details with nominal R-22 values that it says achieve an effective R-5.6 value. Medgar Marceau, who works with Roppel, reports that computer models of energy-use in buildings sometimes underestimate heat loads and energy use. For example, they found that for a new large office building in Minneapolis 20 to 25 percent of heating energy was ignored because thermal bridges were not accounted for in the models.
Looking for a solution Thermal bridges are found in the way we build houses, and even more in medium and high-rise buildings, where a huge percentage of the world’s population will live and work in the future. Badly designed cantilevered concrete balcony slabs can account for about 40 percent of total envelope heat loss (excluding windows). A better way to build these can reduce the loss by about one-half to two-thirds. Adding spray-foam in the stud cavity behind glazing spandrel (arch) sections is not that effective; adding two inches of foam (R-11.5) only adds R-4 to overall effective R-value of the spandrel section. You could install R-20 exterior insulation, and because of thermal bridges, they actually achieve only about R-11 if you use vertical Zgirts (insulation supports). Says Roppel, “There is a big potential difference in outcomes, with regard to the overall building envelope effective R-value for buildings built to energy standards that do not thoroughly address thermal bridging. This discrepancy widens as we add higher levels of insulation into wall assemblies but don’t consider the impact of details.” We’re talking about getting heating and cooling right, and also humidity, moisture and mold avoidance. No
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one wants a nightmare lawsuit years later. In Italy, a lawsuit is taking place right now relating to construction workmanship. Infrared photos show that mold has formed in thermal bridge areas. If this suit succeeds, North American lawyers will take notice. If you design an HVAC system relying on the cooling system to control humidity, added humidity from thermal bridges might make occupants uncomfortable and when they crank the thermostat down, the system cycles too much, making it inefficient.
Building code requirements Progressive builders have known for a while that if we’re serious about saving energy we can’t ignore thermal bridges. ASHRAE commissioned the studies and we now have the data to both prove the problem and help designers solve it (and to provide exacting metrics for enforcement). Roppel describes it as “a consistent methodology to account for thermal bridging (for North America) that is relatively easy to use in practice; and a catalogue of details that allow practitioners to use this information...” ASHRAE is providing HVAC engineers and architects with revised tables to work with when designing systems
Canadian expertise Canadians are leaders in this science. ASHRAE selected a B.C. company, Morrison Hershfield Limited in Vancouver, to do the first thermal bridge study using 3-D modeling, infrared photography and other contemporary technologies. Another B.C. company, RDH Building Engineering Limited, also of Vancouver, did a different, but similar study, involving a larger number of buildings. Both of these consultancies sell their research and advice to developers all over North America. The latter also has detailed expertise in thermal bridges in frame-built houses.
These are some of the most common areas of heat loss. (Morrison Hershfield) or buildings. Building code adjustments are virtually guaranteed to follow in the next few years. For a builder, ignoring thermal bridges and instead buying into extra insulation means wasted money on building materials and competing poorly in an increasingly energy conscious world. For a new owner or occupant, ignoring thermal bridges might mean inaccurate prediction of operating efficiency and operating cost. For a rating system like LEED, ignoring thermal bridges could affect the rating’s credibility. For those designing and sizing HVAC systems, you should either take the existing thermal bridges into account when calculating the R-values and U-values of a building; or advise the builder to eliminate these bridges. Obviously this article doesn’t qualify you to completely solve the problem of HVAC system design related to thermal bridges, which is a bit more complex. But it’s becoming simpler. So we all need to get the training through ASHRAE or elsewhere. ✚ Bruce Nagy is a Toronto-based freelance writer that reports on green technologies and solutions. He can be reached at bruce.nagy@rogers.com.
November/December 2013 – Plumbing & HVAC
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■ Heating
PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE, PART III
Preventing a
“Code Blue” You can’t help but notice the little junk pile in the corner. Two dead pumps immediately point the technician to a likely water quality issue.
The nuts and bolts of preventive maintenance in hydronic heating systems By Roy Collver
A
The next step is to try to move the handle on the four-way valve. It likely won’t budge. So we take a fluid sample. The side-arm filter and Y-strainer both offer easy ingress points. Pick one.
Lo and behold – crud! A magnet proved it was ferrous metal and we can see that the piping is steel.
preventive maintenance (PM) check of a hydronic system can take two separate tracks. A) the system has been checked previously, recently and regularly by your company or (B), it is the first time you have been asked to look at it. A heating technician is like a doctor. To be good, they have to think like one. They require the same types of diagnostic skills. A good service tech takes a long time to really learn the trade and never stops learning – just like your family doctor. If you have been fortunate enough to find a good doctor, you will know the drill. On your first (non-emergency) visit, they set aside extra time for you. They ask you all the relevant questions about your medical history, your family’s medical history, how you feel right now, and what if anything worries you. They are also sizing you up in general. If you say you feel great – but look like a wreck – they will filter what you say based on that observation. And then they will get down to the business of the actual physical examination, after which they will order a varying number of further tests based on the interview, and what is found during the initial examination. The service tech must take a similar approach
An unfamiliar system When dealing with a system you have never seen before: Document everything – every single step in the process. Remember, you are building a long-term relationship. You intend to come back every year, so you have to build a “chart” of the system to refer to. Hydronic systems today are diverse. One day you get a simple 1960s cast iron boiler/finned tube baseboard system –
Please see ‘Attention’ on page 19
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November/December 2013 – Plumbing & HVAC
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■ Heating
Attention to details Continued from page 17 the next day a multi-zone radiant system with DHW, solar, towel warmers, air handlers, pool heating and snow melting. You have to make a custom checklist for each system as you go. This initial check takes more time than a regular annual follow-up check, but proper documentation makes PM checks in subsequent years easier and faster. You will know what to look for before you get there, will have all of the proper tools and parts ready to go. Others in your firm will be able to do next year’s check just as easily, even if they’ve never seen the system. The interview: Step one is to talk to the owner of the system and get as much information as you can. Often the customer has just moved in and simply doesn’t know a thing. Other customers may know a whole lot about their systems. If they have had trouble, you will hear about it. Be careful to feed what they say through your knowledge filter of similar systems. Often they
Are there any outward signs of problems (fluid get wrong ideas, but listen to the patient carefully leaks, gas smell, soot, drywall dust, etc.)? If so, is it – always – they may not be exactly right, but they obvious what has caused the problem, or do you will give you valuable information you can use. need to order some further tests? This is where you start building the system Are there indications that any component of checklist. The initial examination: Walk around and look at the whole system. You have to locate and examine every component. That Document everything – can mean roaming around the whole building from the roof termination of a every single step in the process. vent to the wall penetration of an air intake, to the zone valves in closets and the Remember, you are building a thermostats in many rooms. Like a doctor, long-term relationship. you should be making notes the whole time. You have to envision the whole system and may want to make a rough sketch (a “premier” service package might include a the system been run too hard/abused? If so, is snazzy computer drawing – learn the skills). Get that part the right size, the right type, installed all of the installation and operation (I&O) correctly? manuals for everything in the system. The boiler Anything obviously wrong gets immediate manual is an absolute MUST have. Compile the attention and, after that, the detailed documents and your notes all examination looks at the “usual suspects” – in one place. standard maintenance items like filters, expansion tanks, condensate traps. These The detailed components may not show any outward signs of trouble but should be checked every time. This is examination During the walk-around, you where experience can help you focus quickly on should have answered the what needs to be done. following questions. A REALLY important point – look at all of the (Unanswered ones will controls and see that they have been set up require more detailed properly. Check any diagnostic information examination. Deal with the available from the controls – you may find all easy stuff as you go, and kinds of interesting information logged in them document and inform the (error messages, running hours, etc.). If you don’t customer if further actions understand the controls or the boiler or any other beyond the normal PM check part in the system - get a “specialist” – a controls items is required. Don’t take contractor, manufacturer, wholesaler, etc. – to stuff apart just to look like look at them. you are doing something. PM checks are a great and relatively Some components never inexpensive way to get your technicians up to need intervention; others speed on new equipment. Allow them the time need regular disassembly and to read the I&O manuals, and/or send a more cleaning.) experienced tech to help train them. Is the system designed Ordering the tests: There is no “one size fits properly? Does it have all the all check list, but here are just a few examples. bits and pieces installed Check the following items if applicable to your where and how they are system every year: supposed to be? Is it all to ■ ALL Safety devices code? ■ Venting and combustion air Does anything need ■ Ignition and combustion - follow I&O immediate cleaning, repair or manuals and local code requirements. At a replacement? Pay close minimum, test for CO, system fluid pressure, attention to venting and “Dr. Collver” does a hydronic heating system examination. combustion air systems. Please see ‘Boiler’ on page 21
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November/December 2013 – Plumbing & HVAC
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■ Heating
Boiler examination Continued from page 19 check the expansion tank and fluid fill. Other items don’t’ necessarily have to be done every year, but in some systems you may decide it is best. These tests allow you to build a base line file to refer to in subsequent years. Again, just a few examples: Examine the heat transfer fluid. Glycol? Chemicals? Contaminants? Order the tests if you’re not sure. Document the results. If you don’t have a clue what’s in there, you may want to do a transfusion and put your own mix in the system – document.
Evaluating the boiler For the boiler, check the manufacturer’s specs and do a full combustion test with print-out (there’s that documentation again), check the fuel supply – make sure it’s the right fuel at the right pressure, check the power supply – you may want to recommend surge protection or other power “conditioning” devices. Examine the heat transfer surfaces for their condition and cleanliness. For the boiler, this will likely require some significant disassembly for proper visual inspection and cleaning. For heat terminal units like fan coils and baseboards, minor disassembly and visual examination is usually sufficient. Other heat exchangers
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may be checked by comparing the delta-T under load to important bits and pieces, store PDF copies of the the heat exchanger specifications. manuals, and fill out interactive PDF checklists. All these Examine the heat output from each zone. This can be are simple and inexpensive to do now. (Well, maybe to tedious, but it has to be many people, but some of us are done. Turn up each technologically challenged – ed.) thermostat, and check One really cool tip – use the that heat comes out of camera feature to get pictures of Don’t take stuff apart the correct terminal unit. rating plates. There is a secret rule in I have been hailed a hero just to look like you are the appliance construction by more than one standards: “the rating plate shall be doing something. homeowner upon installed in the location that is most discovering mis-wired difficult to get your head into.” thermostats. Service tech occupational hazards Homeowner statements such as: “How come the kitchen include backs, knees, and short-distance reading ability, keeps getting hotter when we have the thermostat right which go downhill every year. Stay off your knees – just off, while the family room is always freezing” can be a sneak your smart phone or tablet camera up close to the good clue. rating plate, and snap a picture instead. ✚ Best practice is to check many of these items the second year, and see how they made out. This examination will allow you to determine if any should Roy Collver become an annual item, or if it can have a longer testing is an author and consultant on frequency. hydronic heating based in Use new technology: get one of those snappy smart Peachland, B.C. He can be reached at phones, or tablets (I would have paid a fortune for an hoth2o@shaw.ca iPad mini back in the day). You can document everything about the job on your device. You can take pictures of
November/December 2013 – Plumbing & HVAC
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What One Canadian University Learned About Zuba-Central.
And how this new study can lead to more satisfied customers. Every HVAC system claims to be energy efficient. But how many of these claims are backed by science? Ours is. An independent study*conducted by Ryerson University in Toronto proves that Zuba-Central: SAVES ENERGY With a COP ranging from 1.4 to 3.19, Zuba-Central delivers energy savings of up to 60% annually over conventional heating and cooling systems. OPERATES EFFICIENTLY AT LOW TEMPERATURES Our advanced system design and innovative compressor technology ensures effective and efficient operation in temperatures as low as -30°C. IS MORE AFFORDABLE THAN GEOTHERMAL Zuba-Central delivers similar energy efficiency at a fraction of the installed cost of a geothermal system.
Get the facts for yourself and see why Zuba-Central by Mitsubishi Electric is the proven choice for energy efficiency and cost savings. *Study conducted by Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and Ryerson University: Performance Assessment of a Variable Capacity Air Source Heat Pump and a Horizontal Loop Coupled Ground Source Heat Pump System
*When installed by an authorized HVAC (Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning) installer. Certain conditions, restrictions and/or limitations apply. See warranty terms and conditions for complete details.
ZubaHome.ca
photo courtesy of TRCA
■ Heating
Geothermal industry feels impact of new rules This state-of-the art installation in Cambridge, Ont. surpasses 41 EER and 5.3 COP, making it about 30 percent more efficient than previous systems.
As evidenced by this black and white photo from the early days, Dan Haskell has been drilling for a long time.
“Ill-conceived and hastily-written” regulations in Ontario dramatically increase costs By Bruce Nagy After the Shah was chased out of Iran in 1979 there was a North American oil shortage; by 1982 we were in a recession. The world’s largest oilrig was smashed by a storm and sank in the north Atlantic near Newfoundland; and gas at the pumps cost 24 cents per litre. But once recovery started, it felt like a new era with then prime minister Pierre Trudeau fighting to repatriate Canada’s constitution, ET in the theatres, Hill Street Blues on TV and Thriller on the radio. In a town called Oil Springs, Ontario, a young Dan Haskell established a new geothermal and seismic drilling business. He was
drilling for ‘free energy’ and thinks he may have been the first in Canada to do so.
An unregulated industry Drilling boreholes for geothermal heating systems was completely unregulated and Haskell soon had something going, drilling wells for many of the same HVAC dealers for the next 30 years. In 1997 Ontario passed some laws, which affected drillers, but it didn’t really impact Haskell’s business. More followed, especially in 2002 and 2006. There was never anything problematic. With his experience, he could adapt. In all those years his safety record was perfect. He and his team took training for pulling rigs on the highway, transporting dangerous goods, chainsaw safety, first aid & CPR, WHIMS, hydrogen sulphide, ground disturbance, blasting, water well technician licensing and so on. In some years his company drilled 100 wells. Times were especially good in 2009 with heat pump popularity and ecoEnergy grants for homeowners. The industry grew about 40 percent each year between 2005 and 2010. About two-thirds of installations took place in Ontario.
Over-regulated? Last year things changed dramatically. The grants dried up, electricity prices kept increasing against cheap natural gas, and a driller had a near catastrophe in Oakville, Ont., hitting a pocket of natural gas. It prompted Ontario to quickly institute a tough new drilling regulation that required geo companies to apply for an Environmental Compliance Approval (ECA), which would have to be posted for 45 days on the ECA Registry. The effect of the sudden change was to suspend drilling from mid June through August. “They were worried about hitting natural gas. I have
Please see ‘New’ on page 25
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November/December 2013 – Plumbing & HVAC
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■ Heating
New CSA geothermal standard Continued from page 23
New CSA standard
At the national level, a new CSA standard goes beyond been lumped in with drillers that are drilling 500 foot drilling, covering geothermal systems in general. deep holes,” says Haskell. “But I only go about 100 feet.” The CAN/CSA-C448 That’s deep enough under the new five-metre rule. At Standard covers new and 61 years of age, he decided he could not afford to meet retrofit projects for resithe requirements. After 30 years, Haskell left his two rigs dential and commercial idle in the yard and headed to Alberta to find work in buildings. It includes the oil fields. provisions on equipment Under Ontario Regulation 98/12 the new ECA and material selection, included engagement of an engineer or geoscientist to new allowances for sizing help prepare work plans on gas emission monitoring, systems, geological and emergency mitigation, local communications and hydrogeological site surreporting. They also needed new monitoring equipment veys, design, engineering, and training. installation, testing, veriThe geoscientist could cost more than $1000 per fication, commissioning, decommissioning and docuproject or several thousand dollars to prepare a blanket mentation for open and closed loop systems, direct workplan that covers a company’s different types of expansion (DX) systems, PEX, PE 4710 and HDPE pipprojects under varying geological conditions. And then ing, standing column wells, submerged loops, and so on. there’s the $1,400 ECA application fee. The expectation is that the standard will become bi-naOn top of this, geo companies must now travel with tional with the U.S., which will improve the North the means to immediately refill a well with grout should American industry as a whole. they hit, for example, natural gas. Drillers need an extra However, Tanguay says C448 continues the assault on trailer or truck containing monitoring equipment, a smaller companies. “They are hard hit because they now need more help from engineers, inflating the cost of small residential systems.” (Contractors) are hard hit because they He added that there was not enough consultation with the now need more help from engineers, inflating companies that would be affected and that the new standard does the cost of small residential systems. not cover many kinds of installations and technologies. In general, however, he says the CGC welhopper to mix grout, enough grout on hand to refill the comes clearer regulations. well, and a pump to pump it quickly into the hole, Denis Keating, owner of Keating Mechanical in reported Grant Blackmore, president of Eden Energy Landmark, Man. agrees. He says the regulations “put Equipment Ltd., a distributor in Guelph, Ont. “They call everyone on a level playing field – if they are enforced.” it a kill truck. It could cost as much as $15,000.” Economic impact Denis Tanguay, CEO of the Canadian GeoExchange Many geothermal companies, especially small ones in Coalition, called the new rules an “ ill-conceived and Ontario, have indeed disappeared. Many of those that hastily-written regulation (that) hurts Ontario’s green remain feel that reduced rebate programs and economic energy industry…and unfairly targets geothermal conditions have hurt the industry more than increased drilling.” He correctly predicted “layoffs of system regulations. Rebate programs such as the federal designers, installers…and product manufacturers…” EcoEnergy program along with those in most provinces “The moratorium in Ontario was a bit of an have ended and have not yet been restored. The overreaction,” remarked Marc Belanger of The Master exceptions are Quebec and Nova Scotia. Group in Boucherville, Québec. “Renewables pick up whenever there is a fossil fuel “You can hit a lot of things. Gas is only one of them. cost scare,” says Belanger. “2008 and 2009 were big years It happened to me in Trois Rivieres, but it was no big because oil was at $150 barrel.” deal. We stopped drilling and capped it and got an “Natural gas is cheap here,” says Chad Hayter, owner environmental assessment done.”
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of The Hayter Group in Alvinston, Ontario. “We used to do 25 percent of our installations in cities with natural gas availability. That has virtually disappeared.” “We’ve been applying the basic principles in these regulations since 2008,” says Patrick Lambert, president of Geo-Energie Inc. in Longueil, Quebec. “The reason the industry is rough is more about the economy and grants.”
Maturing industry, better technology Most operators in the Ontario market agree that generous government grants attracted a lot of people into the business, including some with inadequate training or experience. Many of these disappeared when the rebates ended. Blackmore suggests that carefully structured tax exemption incentives would work better than large rebates. “We want steady growth. I think if you took away the EcoEnergy boom, we still did achieve a steady level of growth over the last 10 years. With EcoEnergy there were some operators who lost out because they did not have a sustainable business plan.” “There are fewer contractors for sure,” agrees Hayter. “But there is more reality. Our company is lucky because we do solar as well and it has been very busy.” He is cautiously optimistic about the future of geo, pointing out that many of the best installers have survived and the business is maturing. He’s excited about new technology and talks about a recent installation of a heat pump (Water Furnace) in Cambridge, Ont. that is 30 percent more efficient than previous models. The house in question also features solar panels. “I’m glad we have some stabilization and some new technology, but the past few years have been rough for some good people like Dan Haskell.” Drilling veteran Haskell has come back home from Lloydminster now. He’s not doing very much these days. He doesn’t have a web site or a Facebook page or a Twitter account. “If I was 20 years younger I’d move permanently to Alberta or Saskatchewan. Everyone is hiring out there,” he says. “I guess I could drill some holes in Toronto, but it would be pretty dear. I’d need new equipment and a helper and we’d have to stay in expensive hotels. I think I’ll just hang around in Oil Springs for a while instead…I was one of the first guys in geothermal. I’ve worked for dealers from Kincardine to Windsor, but not now. I guess it’s different now. I guess things have changed…” ✚ Bruce Nagy is a Toronto-based freelance writer that reports on green technologies and solutions. He can be reached at bruce.nagy@rogers.com.
November/December 2013 – Plumbing & HVAC
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And those sales have increased every year since. In fact, n 2008, when the US economy was sinking deep into Jerry Cundiff credits ductless and VRF with re-energizing recession, Jerry Cundiff decided that if his company, the company “because we were able to go in a direction Cundiff Heating and Air Conditioning, were to survive that no one else was — during a time when the economy the economic downturn, they needed to carve out a was horrible.” Today, the company has over 100 employees, niche. Cundiff had been selling ductless and VRF comfort seven offices and thousands of customers systems since they were first introduced d across southeast and central Virginia. 80% and even though the technology was still ll The technology of their calls are referrals. And if projections unfamiliar to most Americans, Cundiff ff hold, this year they'll sell 500 ductless and knew the energy efficiency and advanced re-energized our VRF systems (Daikin VRV). features held tremendous potential, and business because we could help them get ahead of the curve as were able to go in a A large part of the company’s VRF expertise the economy recovered. He decided Cundiff involves their partnership with Daikin, would become known for their expertise in direction that no one which began thanks to Cundiff’s relationship the technology. else was – during a with Baker Distributing. “This industry has time when the changed more in the last six years than it has It was a strategy that paid off. The recession in the past 40 combined,” says Hart. Beyond created an extremely competitive HVAC economy was the introduction of the electronic expansion market with many individuals trying horrible. valve, Hart credits that change to Daikin’s to make a go of it on their own. Unlike – Jerry Cundiff VRV technology as well as the inverterCundiff, they couldn’t invest in the training driven compressor in heat pumps. or sales efforts required to actually change d the industry mindset. Since VRF and Cundiff appreciates how Daikin partners ductless technology are different than with a limited number of companies willing conventional air conditioning systems, that to train to become VRV and ductless experts. sophistication only added to the need for In fact, Daikin’s two- and three-day classes expertise. Cundiff’s Tim Hart says this was are essential to the many expert technicians part of the appeal. “Our ability to invest in Cundiff has on staff. training and to support the sales process enabled us to offer something nobody With such high standards and training, VRV else was offering. When we explained the and ductless from Daikin has made Cundiff benefits to our residential and commercial the area expert … and the area leader. customers — like different temperatures in each room, lower utility bills, using 70% less equipment than conventional, and a system that basically pays for itself in a very short time — it wasn’t a hard sell.”
■ Heating Auxiliary heater Ecoboot duct heaters from Stelpro are designed to be installed at the outlet of air ducts to boost heating where needed. They allow the temperature of rooms to be adjusted independently. Available in an end boot, angle boot and universal boot configuration, they include an electric heating element that is controlled by an electronic line voltage wall thermostat. There is a low voltage connection to the central system. In certain applications, they can also be used as the main heating source. Stelpro u www.stelpro.com
Combined water, space heating
Boiler control
On April 1 any heating appliance designed to provide forced air space heating along with domestic hot water must be tested to the CAN/CSA P.9-11 Standard in order to be recognized by the Energy Star for New Homes program. Navien Canada reports that its NPE24A condensing tankless water heater combined with a Sun Therm MMVE air handler is the first unit to undergo this testing and receive approval. Sun Therm products are distributed in Canada by NV Eco Vision Sales (www.ecovisionsales.ca). Navien u www.navienamerica.com
The award winners for the upcoming AHR Expo in New York were recently announced, with Tekmar Controls of Vernon, B.C. receiving an honorable mention for its Model 284 boiler control. It is designed to operate up to four boilers and to accurately maintain a target water temperature. It communicates directly with building automation systems through BACnet or Modbus. See it at the Watts Water booth, no. 2631, at the AHR Expo Jan. 21-24. Tekmar u www.tekmarControls.com
DHW sizing program Lochinvar recently released a new online version of its LochSpec Sizing Calculator for sizing commercial water heating systems. Once the user has provided the
necessary data, LochSpec uses industry-proven formulas to recommend appropriate Lochinvar equipment options, and provides customized energy savings information for the application. Lochinvar u www.lochinvar.com
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■ Heating
Residential heating has come a long way over the past 100 years. Remember the 30x30-inch single furnace register that existed in the front hall. The heated air came up out of the center circular section of the floor grille and the cold air went down around the perimeter. The earlier models were coal and wood fired and often puffed back coal gases each time they were stoked, which was every few hours or a couple of times daily. The next generation of furnaces consisted of large circular ducts extended from the round galvanized casing to registers located at various locations throughout the home. These heating appliances worked strictly by gravity as they belched high temperature air from the centrally located furnace in the basement. The homeowners became educated in when the fire had to be stoked and carried out this routine chore on a regular basis. The great array of massive ducts were referred to as an “octopus” system and took up considerable space in the basement. These circular ducts ranged from 14 to 26 inches in diameter. The traditional coal bin stored the winter supply of fuel. Chain operated dampers could often be operated from the floor above and the condition of the fire could be lowered or raised accordingly.
OIL HEAT’S LONG JOURNEY From coal smoke to clean efficient condensing furnaces By Art Irwin
the traditional parlour stove that everybody huddled around on those cold winter nights. By the 40s and 50s, oil burners were added to the mix and natural gas had also entered the residential heating sector. At one point, there were over twenty oil-fired furnace manufacturers in Canada. Gurney (American Standard), Anthes Imperial, Garwood, Conroy, Clare Brothers and Brock were just a few familiar names. At this point, the supply registers were first installed in the interior walls and the return registers were installed in the exterior walls. Many of the earlier larger furnaces manufactured for schools and churches had an attached blower that was purchased in addition to the furnace and connected to the furnace on site. Perimeter heating was a new breakthrough in the late 40s and early 50s; the warm air was supplied through floor diffusers installed along the exterior wall and the floor type cold air registers were centrally located towards the center of the home. Many tried to install these duct systems without a return register on the second floor and that did not perform very well. A second-floor cold air register was a great improvement. At this point, the size of the ducting was greatly reduced and, generally, consisted of a rectangular plenum extending the length of the basement with individual leads of either four or five inches, which distributed the heat evenly to each supply register.
Oil burner improvements During this era, oil burners produced solid state efficiencies in the 65 to 70 percent and the furnace manufacturers continued to improve their heat exchangers, which gradually “squeezed” more heat energy from the fuel. No great improvements took place until the development of the flame retention burner, which produced a higher flame temperature ranging from 100 to 300ºF hotter. The flame pattern was also changed, providing a more direct flame at the higher fuel pressures provided by a vaporized fuel pattern. Efficiencies then reached 84 to 86 percent, which are common today.
Please see “Condensing” on page 31
Forced air arrives The next improvement came in the 1930s and 40s with the addition of a blower that forced the air through the heat exchanger in the furnace and through the duct system, delivering heated air throughout the home. All of these changes in heating technology gradually replaced
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The Granby Paradigm condensing oil furnace reaches efficiency levels unheard of a few years ago.
November/December 2013 – Plumbing & HVAC
29
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■ Heating
Condensing oil heat hurdles overcome Continued from page 29 At this point, natural gas furnace manufacturers were manufacturing condensing gas furnaces that were reaching efficiency levels of 90 percent. It was obvious the oil heat industry needed to get into the condensing oil furnace marketplace. Anthes Imperial of Winnipeg contracted with Eneroil Research Ltd of Toronto to come up with a design. An atomized water scrubbing system was developed to capture heat from the exhaust flue gases. The spray system flashes into steam, mixes with the flue gases, scrubs out the sulphurous particulates, cooling down to dew point temperature and dilutes the acidic condensate while cleaning the heat exchanger. This unit was built as a stand-alone heat recovery unit and could be added to the cold air return of many furnaces. The
soot build-up in an average year. Low sulphur fuel results in less fouling and less corrosion for furnace heat exchangers. A few years ago, extensive studies carried out at the Brookhaven Combustion Test Lab in Long Island, New York indicated if low sulphur content oil were used, it would mean it would only be necessary to clean furnaces every four or five years instead of on an annual basis. This fuel will reduce wear and tear on pumping equipment and cleaner operation.
Condensing technology
To recap the background in the condensing oil furnace technology, heat is carried away in both the high temperature of the flue gases and also in the water vapour it contains. The water vapour produced when the fuel is burned holds a large amount of latent heat; with oil this is just over six percent and with natural gas it is over 11 percent of the heat energy in the fuel. Oil produces approximately one half the water vapour of gas when As oil contains only half burned. A condensing furnace uses of the hydrogen of natural gas, an additional heat exchanger the potential for improvements constructed of high-grade steel to extract more heat energy in efficiency by condensing the from the combustion gases before they leave the furnace. flue gas is much lower for oil The exit temperatures are dropped to 40-50ºC (104than for natural gas. 122ºF). Water vapour from the flue gas condenses inside the add-on unit was quite expensive when heat exchanger and releases its latent heat added to the cost of the furnace and this to the house air circulating through the concept did not fly. furnace. The combustion gases are now cool enough to be vented through a Condensing oil furnaces sidewall vent. The condensate runs out Many furnace manufacturers have through a drain outlet. unsuccessfully attempted to produce a As oil contains only half of the condensing oil furnace, but the main hydrogen of natural gas, the potential for stumbling block has been the high improvements in efficiency by sulphur content of the fuel oil. It condensing the flue gas is much lower for produced acid that quickly rotted out oil than for natural gas. The dew point is heat exchangers. Even type 316 stainless lower; therefore the furnace must work steel could not withstand the corrosion harder to condense less. problem. Traditionally, no.2 furnace oil has a Today’s state-of-the-art sulphur content of up to 5000 parts per Granby Furnaces Inc. of Parrsboro, Nova million (ppm). Today, Irving Oil is also Scotia have developed their Conforto producing ultra low sulphur content KLC condensing oil furnace, which has furnace oil with only 15 ppm at its Saint an efficiency of 95.8 percent. There are John, N.B. refinery. However, this is six models in the Conforto line but only available only in the U.S. the KLC is a condensing model. It has an The traditional high sulphur furnace output rating of 74 to 87,000 Btu/h and oil can produce as much as six ounces of a firing rate of 0.55 to 0.65 USGPH.
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The ECM blower has a 1/2 hp motor and five speeds. This unit was the recipient of the Product of the Year Award for 2013 at the MCEE trade show in Montreal last spring. The company also produces the Kerr Granby Paradigm 2G furnace rated for 95.8 percent efficiency. Dornback, Brock and Spartan have produced condensing oil fired units that have reached 95 percent efficiency. Adams is producing models in the 96 percent range. Adams manufactures their primary heat exchanger from Type 409 stainless steel and their secondary heat exchanger from AL249C stainless. The
Correction In an article titled “Following the Rules” in the October issue of Plumbing & HVAC the warranty period for Roth double-wall oil storage tanks that we reported was incorrect. The manufacturer’s warranty on these tanks is 30 years. We apologize for any confusion caused by our error.
Brock unit has reached 95.8 percent. The Coleman Echelon by Johnson Controls operates at 97 percent efficiency. We can now state that the oil heating industry has reached a new era in residential heating. This has been possible because of two main factors, a reduction in the sulphur levels in no.2 furnace oil and ongoing research in the development of more efficient heat exchangers. A number of furnace manufacturers have gone through trial and error with corrosion in their heat exchangers, but it now appears that many have overcome this major challenge. Several manufacturers state that a condensing oil furnace can reduce oil consumption by as much as 40 percent. These furnaces naturally cost more, but the payback can be as little as three to four years. ✚ Arthur A. Irwin operates Irwin Energy Consulting Services in Halifax. He can be reached at irwin.a@ns. sympatico.ca.
November/December – Plumbing & HVAC
31
■ Heating
Fun and games Strange sights from the HVAC field service rep’s world
By Bob Bettles and Brian Guttormson Working with contractors can be stressful from time to time, not only for us as factory tech support, but also for building owners, business operators and manufacturers. Some of the distress calls are passed along from the factory customer service department after the end-user has called the 1-800 number for help. An e-mail or phone call will request us to investigate and come up with solutions. In most job site visits, problems with the job get rectified fairly quickly. In most cases bygones and forgiveness from the owner is given out to all and life moves on. But sometimes, it is difficult to hold back and bite our tongues, but nevertheless the job is the job and we work with everyone to fix the problem. We would like this opportunity to wish you, your family and friends happy holidays and a prosperous New Year for all! And please enjoy the review of some of our pictures of job site visits. Just a reminder – if you happen to be the installer on any of these, please get some proper training.
pThe installation manual says install 12 inches above the snowline. It doesn’t mention condensers.
pSomewhere behind this connection we should find the Hi/Lo manifold adjustments!
It’s only a small crack; do we really have to replace the heat exchanger? (The fly was dead already.)
pThis is how not to purge a gas line.
pDoes the humidifier really have
But to have the nerve to try and claim warranty as well!
to be installed level?
Bob Bettles HVAC author and trainer Robert (Bob) Bettles is technical service adviser and product trainer for B&B Trade Distribution Centre. He can be reached at bbettles@bandbtrade.com.
We’ve used this before, but what were they thinking? u
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Brian Guttormson HVAC author and trainer Brian Guttormson is technical service advisor for Trent Metals Ltd. (Supply). He can be reached at techsupport@tmlsupply.com.
November/December 2013 – Plumbing & HVAC
33
■ Plumbing Doing repairs on copper systems without burning the building down can be a challenge. (All photos courtesy of Robert Szachury, Turbo Plumbing, Whistler, B.C.)
From copper to PEX A plumber’s view of the transition to modern piping materials By Mark P. Evans
A broken copper water line caused this leak under a building. The plumber’s life is not glamorous.
34
Modern plumbing connections rarely make full use of a seasoned torch-man’s expertise as the copper piping system goes the way of the Canadian penny. The art of soldering is seldom practised since the plastic invasion took metal out of plumbers’ hands. Today’s tube snipping, solvent welders don’t use a torch much, but not so long ago skillful use of an open flame earned me a day’s wage. With fire and molten metal I forged many of the hand hewn copper craftworks that local service plumbers still enjoy today. It was the late metal age of plumbing and I was that torch-man. During the last century, copper piping systems were common and it was then that I learned to build those magnificent mechanisms. Nearly every connection in the building was soldered because every drain, waste, vent and water pipe was copper or brass. With rare exceptions, the torch was the only tool that could make a watertight connection. My B-tank was the key part of my everyday tool kit from rough-in to finishing, but accessories varied depending on the situation. When I was part of a crew
The leak is found – it turned out to be Type L copper, not the Type K that should have been used.
Plumbing & HVAC – November/December 2013
that did high-rise apartments, my kit included tarps and jack-poles to build a temporary enclosure around my work station. I had to block the wind so the flame from my torch could heat the metal enough to solder. I needed a longer hose (insert “that’s what she said” joke here) to reach the suspended piping yet leave the tank on the floor while working from an eight-foot ladder. I would fill my jar with solder paste from a five-gallon pail and wrap a days worth of solder around my hand from the twenty-five pound spool and then climb the stairs to my work station. Running out of gas in the middle of the day involved a long walk back to the lock-up for another tank of acetylene or, occasionally, propane.
Change came slowly Residential water piping was one area that seemed to resist the change to non-metallic materials here in Ontario. Even when home construction switched to ABS drains, copper pipe still supplied the water for many years. But, just as copper replaced galvanised steel, “plastic” became the new industry standard for water supply piping and plumbers everywhere could breathe easier...literally. Using these materials greatly reduced their exposure to the billowing clouds of smoke that are an inherent by-product of soldering. There may be other seasoned torch-men among us that remember water-piping street after street of large, four bathroom homes in copper. Many had two laundry rooms, a couple of outside taps, multiple “wet” kitchen appliances and a cocktail bar, which made for a smoggy day in the basement indeed. The two-storey houses used risers to supply multiple outlets on different floors so there wasn’t quite as much connecting to do downstairs, but in some of the bungalows, almost every fixture was piped individually. Those basements would get unbearably cloudy by the time all the soldering was done. Looking back now, I realise that I should have ventilated the space better instead of just ducking under the dense layer of fog to get occasional gulps of air or to navigate.
The beauty of modern materials Historic buildings are being retrofitted with flexible
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satisfy the building inspector. There were times that I painstakingly secured those devices to wood structures. I had to question their effectiveness but did my job regardless and it was always a tight spot. Now when I have to bridge a firebreak I use XFR pipe. It’s much quicker and easier to install, but it’s not cheap and I don’t get to play with my torch at all. Lately, the only time I ever get to solder anything is when I connect meter bases and appliances in the basement, some shower faucets and the odd repair job. Sometimes it takes longer to set up the equipment than it does to do the work and even those few remaining areas of metal-craft might soon
be gone, leaving the torch-man to become a character of legend. “Plug n’ Play” style connecting is the order of the day, but on a clear night you can still hear the pop of the “Presto–lite” torch echo in the catacombs of the old boiler room. ✚
Mark P. Evans is a contractor, master plumber and heating technician based in Waterloo, Ont. He can be reached at mark.evans@live.ca
Your Integrated Project Delivery Partner A quick repair with press connections stopped the leak. modern materials as well and it’s so much easier than a rigid pipe installation. Multiple renovations to the old buildings over the years made it hard to thread pipe through the tinder-dry framing or to use an open flame to solder each connection. Now I use my cordless expanding tool and PEX pipe to quickly assemble intricate distribution networks even in tight spots and, as we all know, it’s always a tight spot. I simply pull tubing off a large spool and thread it along and through the construction maze from A to B then secure it where necessary (everywhere) and connect. It’s as easy as electrical wiring and it doesn’t hurt my lungs. Product availability seems limited to trades people through wholesale, but the PEX is gradually “leaking” through to the public sector. I know of one retail store that offers these materials to non-professionals and rents out the installation tool. I like the idea that some products are only available to qualified personnel; it’s in the public’s best interest and I hope PEX remains trade-exclusive. With good workmanship, a PEX system looks professional and functions like any other material. The complaint that plastic systems look sloppy is due to the installation, not the materials.
Looking good Some customers request copper because of its long history of proven trustworthiness. It is a more expensive option and when the acrid smoke cloud finally clears, they have a solid system that they describe as “more permanent”. I think some choose copper just because it looks so good. A polished copper piping system catches my eye in a way that no plastic ever could. The building code kept copper in the drainage picture for a while as a way to create a firebreak between units when combustible piping materials became acceptable for use inside the unit. We would position short pieces of copper pipe within the block walls as they were being built then connect ABS to each end and carry on. It was either that or run the flammable pipe straight through then attach a “fire doughnut” on each side to prevent the spread of smoke and fire, but mostly to
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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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■ Refrigeration This tidy installation includes piping with an unknown insulation (likely polystyrene) and colour coded PVC jacketing.
How much is
enough?
Best practices for insulating today’s refrigerant piping systems By Greg Scrivener We are all familiar with the closed-cell foam insulation that is used to insulate refrigerant lines. When I first started in refrigeration in the late 1990s the typical medium temperature installation had a 3/8-inch wall thickness and, on a low temperature installation, it was pretty common to see ½ or ¾-inch insulation. Over the last fifteen years this has changed substantially. The question is, how much insulation is enough and can you have too much? In order to answer this we need to consider why we use insulation in the first place. We want to prevent heat transfer for a variety of reasons, but the following list includes most of the common ones: • Protect people from injury • Prevent condensation • Prevent energy loss Before we can get too deep into the different applications of the insulation we need to take a look at the insulation itself. For hot pipe applications we are only concerned about the insulation’s ability to slow down the heat transfer. In other words all we care about is how well it insulates. Many people are familiar with the term “R-value”. For flat surfaces, the R-value is simply the thickness of the insulation divided by its thermal conductivity (usually denoted as the letter ‘k’). If you want to use “R-value” for pipe insulation, things change quite a bit because of the change of geometry. Significantly more complicated math is required. We usually use the thermal conductivity instead. Table 1 shows an example of different insulation types and their k values taken from manufacturer’s literature. For cold pipe Different insulating ma- applications, we are also terials are used depend- concerned about the vapour permeability of ing on the application.
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the material. In order to prevent condensation on the cold pipe (or in the insulation somewhere) we need to stop water vapour in the air from reaching the cold temperatures. Table 1 also shows some typical permeability values. Outside of industrial refrigeration, the insulation we use is almost exclusively the flexible elastomer type. This is because it is flexible, easy to install, and physical damage doesn’t significantly deteriorate its vapour retardant properties. Thermal Vapour Conductivity Permeability [Btu·in/h·ft2·°F] [perm·in] Flexible Elastomer
0.27
0.05
Cellular Glass
0.27
0.005
Fibre Glass (With Jacket) 0.22
0.02
Closed Cell Phenolic 0.15
2
Polystyrene
1.5
0.22
Table 1: Different materials off different insulating values and permeability.
Hot piping In refrigeration systems there a number of applications in which we want to insulate hot pipes. The first and most common is in hot gas defrost systems. Obviously, when we send hot vapour to defrost an evaporator we’d like it to reach the evaporator without losing a lot of its energy. The further the pipe run the thicker the insulation will need to be in order to be sufficient. It is actually quite difficult to find good recommendations specifically for this application, but let’s assume that we don’t want to lose more than five percent of the heat capacity of the refrigerant. On a 1-1/8-inch hot gas line that’s transporting 36,000 Btu/h of heat to defrost an evaporator coil, we are only willing to sacrifice 1,800 Btu/h to piping heat loss. If the pipe was 20 feet long we could lose 90 Btu/h
per foot; this could almost be accomplished with no insulation at all, so 3/8-inch wall flexible elastomeric insulation is more than sufficient. If this pipe was for a refrigerated case 200 feet from the compressor room, we would lose 4150 Btu/h using the 3/8-inch insulation. In order to achieve the five percent heat loss we discussed we would have to increase the insulation wall thickness to one inch. That example gives you an illustration of why it is difficult to find recommendations. While it’s a good idea, I only occasionally see insulation on hot piping to protect people. In situations where people other than service technicians (owners, operators, etc.…) have access to equipment discharge lines and other hot piping, it should be insulated to protect people from burns. I fully expect this practice to become more common as workplace safety continues to be a growing concern. A number of manufacturers and industry associations have selection tables or calculators for this exact purpose. In typical commercial refrigeration with pipe sizes less than two inches, 1/2 inch wall insulation is sufficient.
Cold piping Historically, the main reason that insulation was used on suction lines was to prevent condensation and ice build-up. Energy use was rarely a concern and didn’t often contribute to the selection of insulation. Again a lot of manufacturers and associations have calculators or selection tables for this purpose. Let’s take a look at a couple of typical examples.
Please see ‘Energy’ on page 39
November/December 2013 – Plumbing & HVAC
37
S A Y S A E S A W O N S I XFR
2 1 0 1 8
S ES D DE U U L L C C N I N I W W O NO R R N F F X X M M E E ” T T 2” 1 12 S Y YS & ® S & ® & S ” ” 0 0 & 1 1 , ” 5 , ” 5 8 1 R8 M1 OR EM FFO T TE S S S S Y G Y S G N S I N R I L R L A P A L P U UL OU PU CO OP LL C PO A A C RP I C I UR N O N OU A A H CH TTM M M EC ME Y Y E E R R G M MJJ G ® ®
ROGER PHANEUF, Estimator and Project Manager,
WES MAN Mechanical
“
System XFR & MJ Grey come from the same team who brings you Aquarise
“
Parkad e Winn ipeg
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■ Refrigeration
Energy use increasingly a factor Continued from page 37 Unlike when we are sizing insulation for overall heat loss, here we are only concerned about the surface temperature of the insulation. Any time the surface temperature of the insulation is lower than the ambient dew point there will be condensation. If this temperature is below freezing, the condensation will turn to ice. This outdoor installation uses flexible elasThis is why the relative humidity tomeric insulation with aluminum jacketing. and temperature of the ambient air play such an important role. Table 2 shows a quick selection guide derived from the calculator available from the National Institute of Building Science. Their software doesn’t have sizes below 1/2 inch but similar tables are available from some manufacturers that do and they explain why, when I started out in the trade, 3/8-inch wall insulation was sufficient for medium temperature applications.
For really short piping runs the sizes can be reduced by one size with no appreciable effect on energy consumption. You’ll probably notice that my recommendations are to use a bit more insulation than the current industry standard. Remember that if your goal is to only prevent condensation than you can get away with a lot less. Suction Line Temperature (°F) -30
-10
10
30
Typical indoor conditions
1-1/2
1
3/4
3/4
Indoor ambient temperatures over 100°F
2
1-1/2
1
1
Typical outdoor conditions
1-1/2
1
1
3/4
Outdoor temperatures above 110°F
2
2
1-1/2
1-1/2
Table 3: Recommended flexible elastomeric insulation thicknesses for the purpose of minimizing heat gain to suction line piping. We have only scratched the surface of the world of insulation and there are many applications and factors we weren’t able to discuss here. Remember that every situation is unique and hopefully these recommendations serve as a starting point to determine the appropriate insulation thicknesses for your installation. ✚ Greg Scrivener is president of Cold Dynamics, Meadow Lake, Sask. He is a journeyman refrigeration mechanic, holds RSES CMS designation in commercial refrigeration and is a mechanical engineer in training. He can be reached at greg.scrivener@colddynamics.com
Ambient Conditions [°F/RH] Pipe Temperature [°F]
70/50
70/80
90/50
-30
3/4
2
3/4
-10
1/2
1-1/2
3/4
10
1/2
1-1/2
1/2
30
1/2
1
1/2
Table 2: Flexible elastomeric insulation thickness required to prevent surface condensation for a one-inch pipe calculated by the NIBS online tool.
In situations where people other than service technicians have access to equipment discharge lines and other hot piping, it should be insulated to protect people from burns.
Saving energy
As energy prices increase and we work harder to conserve energy, insulation sizes have been increasing. Some jurisdictions have code requirements for up to 1-1/2-inch thick insulation depending on application. The ASHRAE Refrigeration Handbook offers some guidance on the issue, but suffice to say it’s extremely complicated to determine how much insulation is ideal. There is a rule of thumb to limit heat gain to eight Btu/h per square foot of outer surface area and ASHRAE has charts in the handbook for some typical applications. From my experience, we don’t quite achieve this in typical commercial refrigeration installations. So we are back to the question, how much insulation should we use? Since it’s beyond the scope of this article to go through the math and energy calculations (We’d need another three or four pages!), I’ve put together the following table of recommendations (Table 3). These recommendations are based on some simplified calculations and my experience for typical lengths of piping runs. The longer the piping run the more critical the insulation becomes.
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November/December 2013 – Plumbing & HVAC
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■ Trucks for the Trade The new Ford Transit replaces the company’s long-running E-Series.
The new cargo vans Manufacturers rediscover the contractor market By Simon Blake
All new for 2014, the Ram Promaster puts Chrysler back into the full-sized cargo van market.
Slow but steady evolution has marked the progress of full-sized cargo vans in recent years. Not so for 2014. Ford and Chrysler have launched brand new vans and Mercedes Benz has redesigned its offering. Chrysler has re-entered the full-sized van market with the new Ram ProMaster commercial van. A product of that company’s marriage with Italian auto giant Fiat, it is based on the third generation of the Fiat Ducato, which has been in production for over 30 years. Front wheel drive and unibody construction differentiate it from the traditional North American van. Front-wheel-drive allows the lowest floor and best-inclass step-in height along with a tighter turning radius, reports the manufacturer. The new van is available in two roof heights, three wheelbases (118, 136 and 159 inches) and cab chassis or cab cutaway versions for custom bodies. The standard engine is a 3.6 litre 280 hp Pentastar V6. The high torque 3.0 litre I-4 (four cylinder) 174 hp EcoDiesel, designed for fuel efficiency and long service intervals, is also available. Both operate through a six-speed automatic transmission or an automated six-speed manual transmission controlled by software that responds to road conditions. A trailer tow program comes standard with both. The new van features a large sliding door on the passenger side. A left-side sliding door is optional. The rear barn style doors open up to 260-degrees, or almost flat with the side of the van. Payload, depending on the model, is up to 5,145 lbs. (2334 kg) and there are up to twelve 1,000 lb. tie-downs on the floor. Sidewalls are vertical and because it’s front wheel drive, virtually all primary vehicle systems are located forward of the cargo area, making upfitting easy. A sophisticated electronic stability control system helps the driver maintain control in adverse conditions;
a standard trailer sway control system does the same when pulling a load. Electronics include Chryslers U-connect system that allows the tradesman to connect wirelessly to the internet, hands free phone system and an optional GPS system, among other things. The ProMaster is made in Saltillo, Mexico.
All change at Ford Ford introduced its Econoline van in 1961 and it quickly gained wide acceptance. It went through several generations and in 2001 became the E-Series. In 2013, its final year, it is the biggest selling cargo van in North America, just slightly ahead of the Chevrolet Express/GMC Savana. As we reported back in March, in 2014 it will be replaced with a new full-sized Transit van. Like the ProMaster, the Transit features unibody construction and is available in three body lengths, two wheelbases, three roof heights and in van, wagon, chassis cab and cutaway versions. It will average 25 percent better fuel economy and carry 300 lbs. more than the current ESeries, reported David Shuttleworth, commercial marketing manager for Ford of Canada. And yet it’s considerably easier to drive and park than traditional vans. “The big Transit drives more car-like. People are surprised. It’s like night and day compared to the E-Series,” he reported. Rack and pinion steering along with an automobile style suspension system consisting of MacPherson struts and a stabilizer bar on the front with progressive leaf springs and heavy-duty gas charged shocks in the rear result in a smooth ride and minimal lean in corners. A 3.7-litre V-6 engine is standard. Other engines include a turbocharged 3.5-litre EcoBoost engine and a 3.2-litre five-cylinder diesel, all tied to a six-speed automatic transmission. Cargo volume ranges from 250 to 500 cubic feet. Cargo doors open 270 degrees and LED interior lighting will make the cargo space bright when needed. Ford has gone to great lengths to minimize maintenance, with costs projected at 30 percent less than a conventional van. The Transit is engineered for a severe usage life of 10 years and 240,000 km. The Transit is made at Ford’s Kansas City plant.
A new Sprinter Mercedes Benz hasn’t been napping either, offering a completely redesigned Sprinter cargo van for 2014.
Open wide – the Promaster offers easy access to the cargo space.
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Please see ‘European’ on page 43.
November/December 2013 – Plumbing & HVAC
41
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■ Trucks for the Trade
European style Continued from page 41 Changes include a restyled body, a new engine and new safety technology. And while the changes to the body are obvious, the big change is under the hood as a four-cylinder 2.1 litre diesel engine mated to a sevenspeed automatic transmission becomes standard. The new engine puts out 161 horsepower and 265 ft. lbs. of torque. Combined highway/city fuel mileage averages 8.9 litres per 100 km. The existing three-litre V-6 diesel will continue as an option.
The Mercedes Sprinter has also undergone a substantial re-design for 2014. Five new electronic driver assistance systems are geared to avoiding accidents. Crosswind Assist minimizes the effect of sudden wind gusts. It kicks in at 80 km-h and brakes individual wheels on the side of the van facing the wind, preventing the vehicle from drifting sideways. The optional Collision Prevention Assist uses radar to detect when the driver is too close to the vehicle in front. Brake Assist Pro monitors road conditions and is triggered when a dynamic proximity warning sensor detects a vehicle too close and the driver brakes hard, optimizing braking for the situation. The optional Blind Spot Assist warns the driver of vehicles in the blind spot during lane changing with four close-range radar sensors. The optional Lane Keeping Assist uses a camera behind the windshield to monitor the road ahead and if it determines the driver is changing lanes unintentionally – or without signaling – it will provide an audible warning. As well, the new Highbeam Assist automatically switches high beams on and off depending of the situation, again controlled by a camera behind the windshield.
Still very new, there are few changes for the Nissan NV for 2014.
These new systems are in addition to the numerous standard safety features – anti-lock brakes, roll-over protection, etc. A rearview camera is optional. The Trailer Stability Assist system comes as standard where a factory installed trailer hitch is specified. A partition wall between the driver and cargo area is standard, as are numerous tie-downs and cargo rails. Like the other vans, state-of-the-art electronics and a navigation system are offered for trade contractors that need their van to double as an office. The Sprinter is manufactured in Dusseldorf, Germany.
A new contender Nissan is still relatively new in the full-sized cargo van market. Launched in 2011, the NV Cargo continues with a number of enhancements for 2014. There are three versions – the NV1500, NV2500 HD and NV3500 HD – available in standard or high roof. The automatic transmission now features a tow mode. A Class IV receiver hitch, brake controller prewiring and heavy-duty battery are now standard on V-8 engine equipped models. The driver’s compartment is like a pickup truck, with the engine compartment in front of the firewall, and the van is built on a traditional boxed ladder steel frame. The engine options are a four-litre V-6 or a 5.6-litre V-8, both mated with a five-speed automatic transmission. The Nissan NV is manufactured in Canton, Mississippi.
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With all these new and European style designs, one might say there has been a revolution in cargo van design. But mechanical contractors are a conservative lot and the standard ¾-ton van works well. For those not ready to embrace the new styles, there is really only one option left. The Chevrolet Express returns for 2014 largely unchanged. The big news is the addition of the Crew Cargo Van The Chevrolet Express is the last “standard” North American with seating for five. A bulkhead cargo van. It returns with minor updates. behind the rear three-passenger bench seat separates the passenger and cargo areas. The base engine is a 195 hp 4.3-litre V-6. A 280 hp 4.8-litre V8 is standard on some models. Other V-8s are available in 5.3 and 6.0 litres. There is a special version of the 6.0 litre engine designed to operate on compressed natural gas. All engines are backed by a
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four-speed automatic transmission except for the 6.0 litre models and the Duramax diesel, both of which come with a six-speed transmission. The Express sits on a traditional ladder type frame. Handling is enhanced with rack and pinion steering (on the 1500 models), a front stabilizer bar along with semi-elliptic multi-leaf springs with a semi-floating axle at the rear. Swing-out 60/40 split passenger side doors are standard with a sliding door as an option. There are numerous safety features including a stability control system, tire pressure monitoring and anti-lock brakes, not to mention numerous electronic options. In 2014, for the first time in many years, contractors have considerable choice. Manufacturers appear to have rediscovered the trade van market. In the next issue, we will look at small vans, where the choices have also multiplied. ✚
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November/December 2013 – Plumbing & HVAC
43
■ Tools & Instruments Drive a nut a long way File this under “why didn’t anybody think of this before?” The new HollowCore nut drivers from Milwaukee Tools feature not only a hollow shaft, but a hollow handle as well. This allows technicians to use them on threaded rods, regardless of length. And if
MAX or 12V MAX batteries to provide “hours of core body warmth and continuous heat.” (Battery life varies with heat setting.) Styles include a soft shell work jacket, a hooded work jacket, and a camouflage jacket. Each offers a water and wind-resistant outer shell, an LED controller with three temperature settings plus pre-heat mode. DeWalt u www.dewalt.com
Compact size, big connections they need more torque, they simply use a wrench on the standard-hex shaped shaft. A magnetic head ensures the nut stays in place. They are available in SAE and metric. Milwaukee Tools u www.milwaukeetool.com
Heated jackets If a technician spends a lot of time working outside, a heated jacket can make sense. DeWalt has announced a new line of jackets that use the company’s 20V
• No need to turn off water supply • Will not damage pipes or joints • No need to waste water • No need to drain down
The new Ridgid RP-340 press tool is a smaller, lighter option for pressing ½” to four-inch copper and stainless steel tubing. It is 17 percent lighter than the RP330 tool, uses 18-volt Advanced Lithium 2 or 4 batteries, and has a service life up to 42,000 cycles. It is compatible with all Ridgid pressing jaws and attachments. RIDGID u www.ridgid.com
Touchscreen friendly gloves The use of smart phones, tablet computers, etc. has become widespread in the construction industry, but that can be a problem for technicians in winter as they
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Plumbing & HVAC – November/December 2013
Drain camera update General Pipe Cleaners has updated its popular GenEye POD and MINI-POD with a large seven-inch LCD colour monitor. These units combine camera, reel, and monitor in an all-in-one package. The screen is mounted on a flexible gooseneck that swivels for best viewing angle. The full size Gen-Eye POD features a selfleveling camera and 200 ft. of Gel-Rod for trouble-shooting three to 10-inch drain lines. The MINI-POD carries 125 ft. or 175 ft. of push rod and the color mini-camera is small enough to trouble shoot two to four-inch lines. A video out connection allows recording on an external device. General Pipe Cleaners u www.drainbrain.com
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struggle with touchscreens either with frozen fingers or through gloves. The new “touch-screen capable” HyFlex 11-101 and 11-105 gloves from Ansell offer a solution. Both gloves are manufactured with a special conductive yarn designed to allow seamless interaction with touch screen equipment without removing the gloves. Ansell u www.ansell.com
The new wireless, four-port, digital SMAN4 manifold from Fieldpiece, with a built-in vacuum gauge, allows technicians to evacuate a system, pull a vacuum, add refrigerant and dial in the charge at one time. It wirelessly receives live indoor wet bulb (WB) and outdoor dry bulb (DB) temperatures, then calculates real-time target superheat and digitally displays both the target superheat and actual superheat on the large, backlit display, all while the tech makes adjustments outside at the condenser. Fieldpiece u www.fieldpiece.com
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■ Pipes, Valves & Fittings Stainless for fire protection The Viega ProPress system for installing 304 stainless steel pipe in sizes ½” to two inches has received UL certification of compliance for fire protection applications. This is the only UL-approved stainless press fitting system for fire protection systems, reports the manufacturer. The system offers a quick and easy way to pre-fabricate systems and features Viega’s Smart Connect feature, which guarantees easy identification of unpressed connections. Viega u www.viega.com
Warranty extended Dahl Brothers, Mississauga, Ont., has extended the warranty on its Canadian made Mini-Ball valves, dahl-in-one fittings and globe style valves sold after Sept. 1 to lifetime from the previous 25 years. The warranty covers all Dahl valves including the new dahl-Eco lead-free valves. “Dahl felt the best way to illustrate our commitment to premium quality is to step up the warranty coverage of every valve manufactured”, said Thomas Husebye, vicepresident, marketing. Dahl Brothers u www.dahlvalve.com
Gray water pump The Saniswift gray water pump from Saniflo Canada is a compact and powerful unit with a compact design that can handle multiple fixtures and is built for quick installation. The unit comes pre-assembled, includes the check-valves and does not require filters. Three inlets connect easily to a washing machine (indirect), a sink, or even a shower, and it offers quiet, clean, reliable and virtually maintenance-free operation. Saniflo Canada u www.saniflo.ca
Bigger pipe connectors Victaulic has expanded its range of mechanical pipe-joining systems with its Style 107 QuickVic rigid couplings in 10 and 12-inch sizes. They require only standard hand tools for assembly; there are no loose parts and no need to disassemble before installation. The coupling is simply pushed onto the pipe-end as a fully assembled unit, joined by a second pipe-end and tightened. Victaulic u www.victaulic.com
Submersible pump check Flomatic has expanded its stainless steel line with an all 316 stainless steel submersible pump check valve for use with variable-frequency drive (VFD) controlled pumps. The poppet assembly is designed for minimum flow loss and trouble free service under variable flow. A unique VFD valve turns the popper upside down and moves it away from the seat bore after opening under flow. It adjusts noiselessly from high to low flow rates. A special radius seat gives the valve a self-cleaning “one point swiping action” by the radius edged custom molded rubber seat disc. Flomatic Corp. u www.flomatic.com
Compact sewage grinder The ProVore 680 Duplex Grinder System from Liberty Pumps is designed for residential sewage applications with two one horsepower grinder pumps and Liberty’s V-Slice cutter technology. It easily shreds difficult solids - such as feminine products, rags and other unwanted debris. The compact system is only 24 inches tall, includes an alternating pump control unit and operates on 115 or 230 volts. Liberty Pumps u www.libertypumps.com
Geothermal textbook McGraw Hill Education has published a follow-on textbook to its highly successful Geothermal HVAC: Green Heating and Cooling textbook, published in 2011. Modern Geothermal HVAC: Engineering and Controls Applications was designed for industry professionals who wish to deepen their knowledge of geothermal applications and advanced hydronics. It contains fifteen chapters ranging in topics from geothermal open and closed loops and standing well methods and applications to HVAC basics, equipment, and the latest developments in radiant cooling with chilled beams, variable speed pumping and controls. It can be purchased through Amazon or ordered from your local bookstore. McGraw Hill Education u www.amazon.ca
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Gas line website Gastite, a manufacturer of flexible gas piping, has launched a new website based on customer feedback. “Our goal was to make Gastite.com less convoluted and more powerful for the visitor,” said Craig Barry, vice president. A technical resources section provides a library of documentation including a 3-D version of the Gastite Design and Installation Guide, engineering specifications and downloadable natural gas and propane sizing charts. Distributor and sales representative locators make it convenient for customers to find product and support. Gastite u www.gastite.com
November/December 2013 – Plumbing & HVAC
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■ Distribution Channels
Barry Cunningham, left, and Gerald Halford guide Triangle Supply.
Under the
radar Independent Alberta wholesaler carves out a successful niche By Simon Blake pening a new plumbing wholesale as it still does today, all of Central Alberta. Sales staff were business is never going to be easy. The on the road continuously, making sales calls to contractors market in Canada is crowded with large and delivering products at the same time. Contractors established players. Over the years appreciated the personal attention. It’s a strategy that they’ve created strong relationships with continues to this day, although deliveries are now done manufacturers – relationships that those manufacturers with two three-ton trucks and there are 15 employees. often don’t want to jeopardize by selling to Joining the Octo Purchasing Group, a cothe “new kid on the block.” operative of independent wholesalers So when Gerald Halford that works together to buy prodlaunched Triangle Supply in ucts, helped. “That helped put Red Deer, Alberta in 1986, he us on a level playing field,” had to come up with a says Halford. And Triangle strategy that would allow joined the Canadian Instiit to fly “under the radar” tute of Plumbing & Heatwhile building a solid ing seven years after business base. starting in business, which And he was well aware has also proven beneficial that few things draw over the years. attention like undercutting Today the company offers everyone else’s prices so, a full range of plumbing and needless to say, that option was hydronic heating products from never considered. numerous manufacturers. But The company focused its sales maintaining a high level of service efforts outside the Central Alberta Triangle Supply knows its customers. means that Triangle Supply is not city of about 97,000 and put a always the lowest cost provider, strong focus on repair parts – things that no one else was preferring instead to focus on providing value rather selling, recalls Halford, who went into the plumbing than the best price. business right out of high school in Calgary in 1969. “One thing we have trouble with is meeting someone The initial investment was about $50,000 and he had else’s price with our level of service,” Halford remarked. a small 1,000 sq. ft. shop. But in the early years just finding suppliers wasn’t Spare parts easy. “We would buy from whoever would sell to us.” As mentioned, the second part of the strategy was to There were two staff and a sales territory that covered, become the “go-to place” for those hard-to-find spare
O
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parts. A section of today’s 8,400 sq. ft. main building features floor to ceiling shelving lined with just about every conceivable part that a plumbing or hydronic technician might need. “You’re not going to make anybody happy if you don’t have it,” says general manager Barry Cunningham, standing amidst the floor-to-ceiling service and repair parts aisles. This means stocking parts that they might sell only one or two of in ten years, but having that obscure part has saved a contractor’s reputation on a number of occasions. “When it’s 40 below in Alberta, you don’t want your boiler down.” However, keeping track of so many parts is difficult and Triangle Supply is now equipped with state-of-theart Solar Eclipse inventory management software. It figures out how many parts to order and keep in stock, which means that staff must often override the system because sales are so low on many of these repair parts that the software won’t order them.
Remaining competitive If there’s a margin that contractors are willing to pay for excellent service, it’s a small one. Triangle Supply has to be competitive on price. And the way to do that is to purchase product in bulk. There is a second 8,000 sq. ft. warehouse that is crammed to the ceiling with things like water heaters, bathtubs and toilets that are purchased by the container load. “In order to get the right price you have to buy a whole bunch of it at a time,” explains Cunningham. Steel pipe is also kept inside so that it doesn’t get rusty.
Please see ‘Hydronic’ on page 49
November/December 2013 – Plumbing & HVAC
47
■ Distribution Channels
Triangle counter staff greet customers by name. From left are Brad Werchola, Kim Wilkins, Crissy Clarke and Frena Hamilton.
Hydronic expertise and training Continued from page 47
are busy. One other niche that helps Triangle Over the years Halford and thrive in a difficult market is its hydronic Cunningham have watched other heating design department. The company wholesalers build plumbing showrooms has developed a reputation for its and debated whether or not Triangle expertise in hydronics, although it carries Supply should do the same. But, at the service parts for air systems as well. end of the day, it’s not something their Under the guidance of technical sales customers have asked for, Triangle manager Ken Poffenroth, Triangle doesn’t want to deal with end users and works with contractors to develop hythe added expense of a showroom with a dronic heating designs using LoopCAD dedicated staff doesn’t make sense. And software – a program specifically dewhile they stock a wide range of faucets signed for radiant heating design. They and fixtures, “we’re do the heat loss, tubvery strong in rough-in ing layout, electrical and hydronics,” says and, of course, proOne thing we vide a list of parts. Cunningham. And – getting back have trouble with is And they offer to service – one thing considerable guidance that they do pride meeting someone to contractors. “We themselves in is that spend a good part of fixtures are all kept else’s price with our our day on the phone inside and delivered level of service. with guys that are carefully to the job site having trouble,” adds by Triangle staff who Cunningham. And are experts in handling sometimes they go out delicate plumbing to the jobsite to help components – so there are no chips or troubleshoot the system. “When a scratches. plumber has a problem, we want to deal with it,” says Halford.
says Halford, but paying a decent wage has to be among them. “I strongly believe in paying them a salary that they can support their family on.” Counter staff – which Halford refers
to as “the angels” – know and greet every customer by name. The philosophy of helping people also extends outside the business. Visitors may stumble across something they wouldn’t expect to find in a plumbing wholesaler – an art studio. But Halford believes in supporting the community and part of that is providing studio space to local artists. So what does the future hold? At 62 years old, someone of Halford’s age might be looking forward to retirement. But there’s a problem, he says. “I like doing what I’m doing.” And he’s got two daughters in university. His goal for the foreseeable future is simple – to see Triangle Supply continue to grow every year. ✚
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Training critical The same building also houses something else that is a key part of the Triangle strategy – the training room. “We really believe in training,” says Cunningham. “It makes money for everyone.” In fact Triangle may take its training on the road to contractor’s shops. This will help when contractors
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Taking care of people A solid business strategy and having the right stock all contribute to the success. However, a philosophy of taking care of people, whether customers or employees, is critical. Most Triangle employees have been with the company for a long time. There are a number of reasons for that,
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November/December – Plumbing & HVAC
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■ People & Places The
People The Mechanical Contractors Association of Alberta, Calgary, has appointed Russ Evans to the position of executive director. He replaces Hans Tiedemann, who has retired. Russ Evans Peter Steffes, right, was awarded the Gearld Inch award for chapter leadership at the HRAI Contractors Division annual meeting in Vancouver in August. Chairman Marc Gendron made the presentation. Mirolin, Etobicoke, Ont. has named John Pearce to the position of vice president of sales and marketing.
Tom Spracklin
Gerry DePalma
Jeff Emo
Kenny Labuffe
NEXT Supply, Vaughan, Ont., has appointed managers for a number of new branches in the greater Toronto area. Industry veteran Tom Spracklin has been named manager at the Vaughan wareMary-Anne house. Gerry DePalma is manager at the Leaside warehouse. Jeff Emo runs the Moretto downtown warehouse. Kenny Lebuffe has been named manager for the Etobicoke warehouse. Mary-Anne Moretto joins the company as credit manager, working at the Vaughan head office. NCI Canada Inc., Aurora, Ont., has appointed Neb Samardzic Neb as director of sales, wholeSamardzic sale. Giant Factories Inc., Montreal, has named Gabriel Mercier to the position of sales represen- Gabriel tative for Eastern Quebec. Mercier Peter Ashton, direcPeter tor of trade sales and commercial development, Masco Canada/Delta Faucet Ashton Div., has been elected chairman of the Associates Council of the Mechanical Contractors Association of Canada. Dan Milroy (Bradford White) and Michael Warne (Flow Design) have been elected vice chairs. Former Ontario Conservative MPP David and cabinet minister David Tsubouchi Tsubouchi has been appointed registrar and CEO for the Ontario College of Trades, replacing Bob Guthrie who has retired.
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Grundfos supports training schools Grundfos Canada, Oakville, Ont., has extended its country-wide technical school initiative to include SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary and Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) in Vancouver. Grundfos will contribute $50,000 to SAIT’s plumbing apprenticeship program over a five-year period while KPU will receive $12,500. Funding is determined by enrollment numbers. The program aims to enhance the training capabilities of colleges by providing equipment and teaching resources to instructors and students. The company launched the program in 2011 with one college. The initiative has grown to now include four colleges from across Canada and provides over $25,000 in funding annually. “This donation from Grundfos ensures we have the
Grundfos Canada president Simon Feddema, right, talks pumps with KPU plumbing students Ravinder Walia, Richard Baziuk, instructor Sven Rohde, and Aws Elmakayed. latest tools for hands-on learning in our state-of-the-art labs,” said Scott MacPherson, dean of the SAIT School of Construction. “These donations will be directly applied to our students learning and in times of restraint are very much appreciated,” added Henry Reiser, KPU’s dean of trades.
Wolseley launches industrial division Wolseley Canada, headquartered in Burlington, Ont., has launched a stand-alone industrial wholesale division. Wolseley Industrial includes Meridian, the company’s valve, valve actuation, pipe, fittings and flange business, and its Engineered Pipe Group, which provides “total solutions” for highdensity polyethylene projects. Over 2014, both the Meridian and EPG brands will be retired and rolled up Bryn Murray under the Wolseley Industrial name.
Royal moves B.C. plant Royal Building Products, Woodbridge, Ont., has moved its PVC pipe fittings facility from Surrey, B.C. to Langley, B.C. “Our new location is optimal for manufacturing and storing more than 1,000 fabricated and injection moulded fittings products that Royal supplies,” said Lorne Smyth, vice president, business development and marketing for Royal’s Pipe and Fittings Solutions business. “This new location, with proximity to the Trans
The
Companies Daikin McQuay, Minneapolis, Minnesota, will now be known simply as Daikin and will do business as Daikin Applied. Daikin Industries Ltd., Osaka, Japan, purchased McQuay International in 2006. NEXT Supply, Vaughan, Ont. has opened a new
Bryn Murray has been named vice-president of the new division and is responsible for the strategic direction and performance of the Canadian industrial business unit, including pipe, valve, and fittings distribution as well as industrial services activities. Murray joined Meridian in 2003 and was general manager of Meridian from 2008 to 2013. The changes are designed to allow the company to better present its full range of industrial products, services and expertise to its customers under one focused division. Visit www.wolseleyinc.ca for more information.
Canada Highway, will provide easier pick-up for customers in the lower mainland of British Columbia as well as easier carrier access for shipments across Canada.” All manufacturing employees will be relocating to the new facility, as will the administration, customer service and sales teams. Royal entered the fabricated fittings market in 1975 in western Canada, initially to serve the municipal market. Electrical, plumbing and industrial fittings were added in 1999 when the operation was acquired by Royal Building Products.
wholesale warehouse (branch) in Etobicoke, Ont. at 82 North Queen Street. The 11,000 sq. ft. location also includes a one-acre yard and front parking. This is the fourth NEXT location to open in as many months, with other greater Toronto area locations in Vaughan (161 Cidermill Ave), Leaside (55 Research Road) and downtown (17 Polson Street). More locations are expected in 2014, the company advises.
November/December 2013 – Plumbing & HVAC
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Gala Evening Join us as we celebrate 20 years of investing in our communities through support for Habitat for Humanity “ Jessica Holmes is one of Canada’s top comedic talents.” A favourite on CBC’s Royal Canadian Air Farce… Her comedic high-jinks and crazy antics, topped with her unique knack for skewering celebrities are sure to amuse.
Tuesday March 18, 2014 Metro Toronto Convention Centre ciph.com/gala
YEARS
■ Shop Management
Flat rate pricing Does it make sense for your business? By Ron Coleman We have referred to flat rate pricing many times over the will either go on flat rate themselves years, but it has been some time since we’ve done an or will be generating so much article specifically on the subject, why it’s a good thing additional profit that you will and how it works. So, in the next two issues we will take give them a raise or bonuses. a look at flat rate pricing in detail. The contractor will realize The first thing to keep in mind is that there is much higher profits due to higher more to a flat rate pricing system than pricing itself. selling prices. The average A study by former Ontario contractor and flat rate rate for flat rate pricing in pricing pioneer Gearld Inch a number of years ago Canada is $135 per hour. In the showed that most invoices for service work missed U.S. it appears to be about $155 per certain charges. If these charges had been included the hour. contractor would have charged an additional 15 to 25 The other huge benefit is improved percent, which would have been pure profit. cash flow because most customers pay For example, do you always recover a charge for the at time of service. Because the technician following items when they are used or do you include issues the invoice, it frees up office time and, them in your overall charge-out rate? therefore, reduces overhead. ■ Use of vacuum pump Flat rate brings a systematic approach to ■ Refrigerant business, the contractor is less likely to miss ■ Use of torches invoicing and it is inexpensive to implement. ■ Nitrogen test ■ Misc. wiring supplies Choosing the right system ■ Electrical contact cleaner There are numerous systems available for ■ Misc. copper fittings HVAC and plumbing. Some integrate with ■ Misc. glue accounting, customer service and dispatch ■ Electronic tester software. I am sure there are many other items you could add Do a web search under ‘flat rate pricing HVAC’ to this list depending on the type of work you do. As a (or plumbing) for a comprehensive list. I don’t plumber, you might use certain scopes or cameras on want to identify any as I don’t want to endorse any of some projects. the providers as you need to pick a program that suits In a flat rate system these can be automatically built your specific needs. You need to be sure that whatever into the pricing structure. Recovering those costs alone system you use covers the products that you sell and can pay for the changes you would need to make in service. There are regional differences across Canada, your business. never mind the U.S. Get references from Your customer is interested in the the provider that you are considering You are not overall cost of the work you do. If so that you implement the right you provide too much detail they system for you. going to be able will have a sense that you are Some systems come fully “nickel and diming” them. A to dramatically increase developed with pricing and fixed price with one figure makes full product lines. Some life a lot easier. Once the your prices without provide a raw database so that customer has accepted the price, you can build your own. Do adding value. then there is unlikely to be any issues your research. provided you do the work efficiently. Typically you can get into a good system for under $3,000. But what is a Different strokes… good system? Flat Rate Pricing means different things to different A good system allows you to determine a lot of people. variables, such as: The customer gets a firm price before the work is ■ What hourly rate to use for labour? started. This takes a huge amount of stress and risk ■ What mark-up to put on materials? (Put a higher away from the customer and firmly puts the risk with mark-up on inexpensive items and a lower one on the contractor (where it should be). higher ticket items.) The technician has to be able to diagnose problems ■ Put in an allowance for consumable items. effectively or you will lose money. A more efficient or ■ Put in an allowance for using equipment (vacuum entrepreneurial technician will earn more money. They pumps, etc.) and specialty items (see the list at the
www.plumbingandhvac.ca
beginning of this article). ■ Determine an allowance for using a helper. ■ Set your own diagnostic fee. ■ Set different rates for regular time; maintenance customers and overtime work. A good supplier will provide you with guidance on implementing the system. There are office manuals as well as manuals for the technicians. Some programs provide video training and some are usable on tablets or smartphones. As time goes on, you will have to upgrade your flat rate pricing system to reflect price changes in materials and labour rates. Even for small companies, the numbers for flat rate pricing make sense. A contractor with three technicians going from $75 per hour to $135 per hour and billing 140 hours per technician per month would generate an additional $300,000 in annual profit. And that’s with only three techs. However, you will need to reinvest some of that
Please see ‘Flat’ on page 54
November/December 2013 – Plumbing & HVAC
53
■ Coming Events
ASHRAE technical program geared to tall buildings
The AHR Expo attracts manufacturers and visitors from all over the world. As we reported in the last issue, the AHR Expo, North America’s largest HVACR trade show, will return to the Javits Convention Center in New York City Jan. 21-23. The 2014 ASHRAE Winter Conference Technical Program will run alongside the trade show Jan. 18-22 at the New York Hilton Hotel.
New York is home to about 600 tall buildings and that will be the focus of the technical program, which begins Jan. 19 and features more than 200 sessions. The Tall Buildings: Performance Meets Policy track looks at opportunities in the design, development and operation of tall and super-tall buildings. The track also presents the measured and
Flat rate
to go far. Sit in your favourite restaurant and order from their flat rate pricing menu and then make a list and include your dentist, doctor and car mechanic as they are all using flat rate pricing. Many other professions, including lawyers, are turning to fixed pricing as a way to minimize disputes about their charges. In our firm, most of our fees for year-end accounting are at a flat rate and likewise in my consulting work I use fixed prices as often as possible. So, if this is something that you feel would be of benefit to you, your employees and your customers then do
Continued from page 53 money back into your business to ensure that you really delight your customers. You need to create a very professional image so that you can retain your customers and get referrals. Customers buy differences they perceive. You are not going to be able to dramatically increase your prices without adding value. When you start to think about who else is using such a system, you don’t have
measurable use of utilities, envelope (infiltration and exfiltration), building pressure, waste handling, elevators, carbon and adaptive reuse. Sessions dedicated to building information systems investigate how building control technologies are integrated and used for building management, operation and efficiency. An interesting session of note is “App, App and Away: Enabling Meaningful Work for the Building Professional with the Development of Quality Apps for Smartphones and Tablet Computers.” It explores the evolution of apps; the methods for developing and establishing a reliable app to provide an accessible and verifiable way for building professional to solve practical problems; and looks at areas of potential app development. Hydronic System Design addresses innovative design, system components and research and case studies of their application, including unintended consequences. The Environmental Health through Indoor Environmental Quality track
some research and watch out for part two of this article in the next edition of Plumbing & HVAC. ✚
Ronald Coleman is a Vancouver-based accountant, management consultant, author and educator specializing in the construction industry. He can be reached by e-mail at ronald@ronaldcoleman.ca.
INDEX to
ADVERTISERS Arcticana ..................................44 AHR Expo .................................46 Bardon Supply * .......................48 Bosch Thermotechnology..........55 Bradford White ...........................2 Brant Radiant............................31 CMPX Show .............................50 CIPH Habitat .............................52 Daikin .......................................26 Delta Faucet..............................42 Fieldpiece..................................27 Fujitsu.......................................32
54
General Pipe Cleaners .................8 Hilmor .....................................40 Honeywell/Genetron Div. .........16 Imagewear..................................4 IPEX ....................................10, 38 Laars.........................................11 Mitsubishi Electric .....................22 Mobilio .......................................5 Napoleon..................................24 Noble........................................30 RaptorCutting Tools ..................43 Refrigeration Mgt. Canada........39
Plumbing & HVAC – November/December 2013
includes developing, evaluating and predicting optimal indoor environmental conditions. Additional tracks include Building Performance and Commissioning, Systems and Equipment and Fundamentals and Applications. For more information visit www.ashrae.org/newyork. For more information on the AHR Expo, visit www.ahrexpo.com. ✚
Events
Calendar DEC. 4-6: Construct Canada, Metro Toronto Convention Centre, South Building, Toronto. Visit www.constructcanada.com for more information.
DEC. 9-10: Solar Canada 2013 Conference & Exposition, Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto. Visit www.solarcanadaconference.ca or call 1-866-522-6742.
JAN. 18-22: ASHRAE 2014 Winter Conference, New York Hilton Hotel, New York City. Visit www.ashrae.org for information.
JAN. 21-23: AHR Expo, Javits Center, New York City. Call (203) 221-9232, e-mail info@ahrexpo.com or visit www.ahrexpo.com for more information.
MARCH 8-14: RIDGID......................................56 Rinnai .......................................28 Saniflo ........................................6 Stelpro ......................................21 Testo Inc. ....................................9 Union Gas*...............................12 Uponor .....................................20 Victaulic....................................35 Viega ........................................18 WatcoMfg. ...............................13 Woodford Mfg..........................36 Worx ........................................49 *Ontario only
Canadian Construction Association 96th Annual Conference, Westin Playa Bonita Panama, Panama City, Panama. Call (613) 236-9455 or visit www.cca-acc.com for more information.
MARCH 19-21: Canadian Mechanicals and Plumbing Exposition (CMPX), Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto. Visit www.cmpxshow.com or call 1-800-282-0003.
www.plumbingandhvac.ca
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