Pre-built or Jobsite built?

hr

some jobs lend themself to pre-buit panels and assemblies. Others dictate site built installations. I can't see it ever being one or the other specfically.

Tight working spaces or competing for space with the other trades in a tiny mechanical room pretty much requires site build. Or else plan on a lot of rebuilding and hours to modify a prefab panel :)

In either case the installer needs to know the concepts and engineering principles behind what they build or install.

hot rod

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marc

Pre-built or Jobsite built?

What is everyone's thoughts on the recent trend towards pre-built panels or kits? I believe that if your technicians only assemble without any (thinking) head scratching than you might as well have them on an assembly line. When something stops working or the design changes they usually are lost. Are technicians do it all, from tubing the slab, sub-floor tubing, low-voltage rough-in, boiler rough-in and boiler installation. This allows us to have ANY technician start or finish the job.

What do all of you think?

Marc

Weezbo

Education, is a Key ingredient,*~/:)

Skill,aptitude, experience , ability and potential are others

Jim_47

Pre built or .....

Marc, I am a very small company, but when the job presents itself I would much rather pre build a panel and keep busy prior to the installation date. If the job is just a 2-3 zone baseboard home with no radiant etc If I have free time I would much rather work in my shop listening to a little Pink Floyd or Zeplin than be in someones home listening to them argue upstairs. If a company has the luxury of an old guy or a dad that wants to keep busy in a shop enviroment then Prebuild is a good job for him. And is their any better enviroment to teach in than your own shop?
Each has its advantages and disadvantages as well. By prebuilding you cut installation times drastically, but the customer must wonder what did I spend all the money for they were only here for a few hours? If you can pre build, enjoy your shop enviroment, write an invoice to yourself for the time (don't even put dollars on the invoice) and leave the invoice there to show the customer how many hours of inconvienence they were saved.

Josh M.

Both here as well. Obviously it would be way too much planning to pre-build on a retrofit.

But we have found great success in pre-building on new construction. In the shop we have all of the copper pre-cut in drawers. What takes us a day on site takes us less than 2 hours in the shop.

heatboy

Many both ways.

It's nice standing in a heated/cooled shop working all day, as opposed to freezing/sweating my **** off in someone's basement, that's for sure.

That said, The quality is the same no matter where it's built.

Here are two panels. One is shop built and the other was site built. Both took a bunch of time.

hb

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John@WattsRadiant

Why Factory-Built Panels?

What would make you guys consider a factory built mechanical package? What are you looking for? What size? What mixing or temperature options? DHW? Accessibility? How do you determine if "it's worth it?"
Thanks for your feedback,

Norm Harvey

The main factor for my using a manufacturer built panel is the precieved value by the homeowner.

The maunfacturer built panels are very slick looking, and some customers want that as opposed to the copper pipe. They dont know what the pipes do, neither do the friends that they show their new system to, but if they see a nice neat cover over everything,.. "Thats nice"

Those kinds of customers aren't my everyday customer, so in most cases I can exibit the craftsmanship that is being lost these days. My ego is what makes me want to display MY work, but the bottom line is what the customer wants. Sometimes they want those neat covers with the same corporate logo as the one on their boiler.



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heatboy

Also, used quite a few..................

............factory built panels.

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Glen

but it also can lead to this -

not a sterling install IMO. As other posts said - expertise of the installer is necessary, and each has its rewards. We may get the rebuild of this system yet - HO still miffed with original installer.

Norm Harvey

I love the diamond plate!

Also everything is nice and neat, including the pex connections at the joists. No sloppy pex, excellent install!

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Mike.C

I think!

The company I work for is small so I do all the mechanical room buildup. Because every job is different and no two rooms are the same I can tweak a setup to make it fit and function properly. That is the most fun part of the job. Setting manifolds get's left to my helper while I work the main plumbing. I learn more on every job and apply it to my next job. Being small we can afford the time to be spent doing the buildup. I can see us getting busy enough in the near future that we will have to start purchasing pre-builts but untill then I would rather build it onsite or back at the shop.

Bob R

I use alot of the HPS panels. I also use alot of the Danfoss panels. To me it's a no-brainer because the single thing that will eat money on a job is the labor. If I can have the guys walk on the job and hang the boiler and pump panels the first day we're halfway home. The extra cost of the panels is minimal compared to a guy staring at the wall for a day.
The other thing is that builders and homeowners love the look. Like the wall mounted boiler the panels look like an appliance.
Bob