REHAU bringing a new product to US

Cam_2

Infancy stages and with a German manufacturer this will take some time. Thanks for your input...

Cam_2

REHAU Solus - Thoughts?

What do you think?

DanHolohan

Looks like

you'll still have to grind a lot of nails, Rick.

Josh_10

I'm interested in the performance for sure. Installation wise, it seems to solve allot of problems. I wonder how you would cut it though without warping it.

I called my Rehau rep about this today, and I will let you know if I find anything out.

Darin Cook_9

Interesting

I will be giving a quick presentation to the Central NY RPA tonight on the National Grid Natural Gas Rebate Program. I will try and get some input for you. Mr Kane will be there as well, maybe he will have some literature with him.


Darin

[Deleted User]

grinding nails?

the end clips and 8mm, 20g, plates are attached with staples. i didn't see a staple size listed, but i'd imagine 1/2" staples would work

scott337

looks flimsy

maybe its okay to wrap a sandwich in but looks like it is weak in performance. stick with the best: uponor (wirsbo)

Alan(CaliforniaRadiant)Forbes_4

When you're used to

working with Radiant Engineering's Thermofin plates (1.27 mm thick), the Rehau .50 mm plates do indeed look flimsy. But those Germans and especially a company like Rehau wouldn't put an untested product on the market.

I'm trying to compare Solus vs. Thermofin output. Thermofin output is easy from their engineering because their terms are familiar - BTU's/square foot at different floor R-values.

If I presume Rehau's HLK test is with 150°F water temperature (65°C) and their floor covering R-value is 1, then

52 watts/square meter = 16.48 BTU/square foot where Thermofin comes in at around 30 BTU's/square foot.

If my conversions are correct, Thermofin outperforms Solus by double the output. But you don't always need 30 BTU's/square foot and if it's cheaper to buy and/or easier to install, maybe it's just the ticket to tuck away in your arsenal of products. Just make sure your heat loss calcs. are correct.

Darin Cook_9

Do your homework!

Always do the math. You will never get caught with your pants down!

hot_rod

thickness, temper, and tube fit

are critical with aluminum transfer plates.

The thickness to prevent "oil canning" and the poping noise common with early "flashing gauge" aluminum plates.

The temper of the aluminum allows the channel to spring open to allow the tube in, but still grab it tightly to prevent noise caused by the tube sliding in the channel.

If the tube can be pushed in with your fingers, the fit may not be tight enough to prevent tube movement.

All of the above are easy to test, and they should be well tested before the are sold and installed.

hr

Jeremy_14

wow

I've installed the wirsbo aluminum plates for years and have been very happy with it but jeeze, the thought of installing one plate down a bay instead of two, all the time and money we'll save. Like a previous poster said, if the pipe fits in nice and tight, great. If not though forget it. Excuse me while I go rebid a job.

Unknown

they claim this plate is 0.8mm, not 0.5mm, which makes it about half the thickness of thermofin... 0.8 MM is something like 31/1000" and 1/16" of thermofin is about 62/1000".

Lightweights are typically 19/1000" or lighter.

So I would expect these panels to just about split the difference between traditional lightweights and thermofin... except for the fact that we are conducting only one way out of the tubing groove, instead of in two directions like we do with most plates. So perhaps the output really is more like lighter gauge plates that split the flow in two directions (which should be about the same transmittance as twice the thickness in one direction).. and that would corroborate your calcs there just about perfectly, so it sounds pretty right on to me.

So this seems to be performance wise a lightweight plate, with more heft (maybe noise resistant), and an easier tubing installation than traditional lightweights.

Unknown

also I forgot, this looks a lot like the plate Larry Drake made custom for his own home's retrofit a couple years back. I wonder if he's seen 'em yet? I bet he'd be tickled.

[Deleted User]

\"flashing gauge\" aluminum plates?

which is how me, as a die hard, gyro screw-loose does many things. and i'm happy to say that i haven't heard one bit of noise, and my floors heat very well

sometimes, math/science should be ignored. but not the time while rebuilding an engine, i bent a main bearing, straightened it by hand, and installed it. 2 weeks later on my way to work; bam-bam-bam-bam-bam. oops!