newbie

onedriven

Hello

I am very new to the hydronics industry. I own and operate my own HVAC company but we deal strictly with furnaces, A/C, hot water tanks and duct work. I want to desperately branch off into hydronics specifically with in floor heating but i have no experience. I have just completed a course in basic hydronic heating installations but have left it with more questions than anything else. I get offered a lot of work in hydronics but always have to turn it down. Currently I have an opportunity to do a 600 sq/ft in floor heating job for a client who would also like to run there domestic hot water off the same system. Does anyone have any suggestions to A) what type of application I could use. B) how I could get the experience to do the work and C) How hard would it be to do it on my own through reading some hydronic books. Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

David

mikearmorplumbing

hydronics training

I had the same problem...go to youre supply shop and get a manufactures rep..I had uponer rep come out and size and layout complete job for me....also they will help troubleshoot when you have an issue if they help from day one.....good luck

STEVEusaPA

One suggestion....

Do you sub your hydrinics jobs out, or just turn them down? You should associate yourself with someone who's work you like, and offer to subcontract them the work, and work with them. I do agree the right manufacturer's reps are a great resource, but remember they will push their own agenda as far as products/methods.

mikearmorplumbing

factory reps

that is agood point......they are only interested in sales......but they also dont want you to badmouth there product...sometimes they do good and sometimes they do bad....use them for what they are worth....mike

Harvey Ramer

I was a newbie 5 years ago and I am still a newbie.

Although I am now putting together systems that has my suppliers scratching there heads and giving me disturbing looks. They have resigned themselves to my inconvenience though, I give them the model numbers and they order it in. What I have found is that your suppliers, company sales reps and people along those lines are of little help. You can learn all about there product but knowing how and when to apply it is more important. What I did is read every hydronic book I could get hold of. I also attended various seminars and training courses. Perhaps the greatest favor I did for myself is finding this WALL. Practically every hydronic question has been asked and answered on here. Another thing I did was troll the internet and famialarize myself with every hydronic product conceivable. I learned how they work and how to apply them. Learn how to do your own heatloss. You will find that pratically every system demands that you do something different then you did for the last one. The market is full of exciting new products that when properly applied will make your homeowners very comfortable and let them keep more $ in there pocket. They will look out for you. Soon you will be the goto man in your area. You will not learn how to do this from your suppliers. They will try to sell you a 007 circ when you need a 006. This might seem like a small thing but it could make your customer less comfy.



Learn all you can learn and then start doing it. You will never stop learning.

icesailor

Don't Do This:

""Currently I have an opportunity to do a 600 sq/ft in floor heating job for a client who would also like to run there domestic hot water off the same system.""



Don't do that unless you don't care about the safety of your customers.

Zman

The customer is always right?

I have to agree with Icesailor. My motto is "The customer is always right" "Unless of course they are wrong" You are the professional and will get the blame when it does not work correctly. The customer will always conveniently forget it was their idea. I the case of this system need to explain the health hazards and design the correct system.

Tim McElwain

newbie

check out the books Dan sells here and also Siggys books along with Hydronics Institute books here.



Contact Larry Drake for some good training materials on radiant ldrake@tealinternational.com

onedriven

thanks

Thanks for all the info and advice. I will look into some books and I have already contacted a good radiant floor heating installer that might help me. I just have one question. How come its not a good idea to do radiant floor heating and domestic hot water off the same system. I have done some research and the com-bi core tanks work well with this setup. Have i been mislead??

Mark Eatherton

Isolation is key...

I think what Ice was referring to is the use of a single appliance, contiguous water system. In other words, using the 40 gallon DHW tank for doing the DHW and using the same hot water with pumps etc to d o the space heating with the same fluid. Bad idea. Bacteria, specifically Legionaires disease WILL flourish during periods (Summer) of little to no use, then when you fire up the system in the fall, you get covered with deadly bacteria.



As for learning HOW to do this stuff, as people have said, there are a LOT of really good books available, and hanging here and bouncing your ideas off of experienced fellow associates is a substantial resource.



Hang here at The (original) Wall. You WILL learn a LOT from some of this country's best.



Doing your own home first will make you a better sales person, because you will be able to tell the customer about your first hand experiences with hydronic radiant. Look to more than just floors. Do walls, ceiling, countertops, and where applicable (bathrooms) floors.



Welcome to the greatest hydronic heating resource/website in the world.



ME



ME