ASHRAE to ASHRAE and Duct to Duct

archibald tuttle

OK, what neat stuff did everybody see after i left to attend to the polar vortex.



I am hot on the heals of Wika who told me they have a low pressure sensing transmitter that I can use for testing pressure in steam systems with a siphon.  it isn't set up as a separate control but i can use it to log to a laptop.



i'm hoping the TACO iworx could solve a btu metering headache i've got.  they claim HUD is using them to bill tenants extra for excess heat usage. not only am i glad that is happening, maybe the rest of us have something we can use at affordable cost for divvying heat loads among users whose costs aren't being subsidized.



Carlin cover for the EZ gas with outdoor air intake (new to me, maybe everybody else already knew).  They need to work on limitations for air adjustments while the cover is in place, a little access of some sort or a redesign, but still think this is good enough to put right into use on a couple jobs.



Grundfos told me their european pump housings actually have air elimination right in the housing.  I thought there was a such a thing as the internet and international phone calls and stuff.  how come we can't get that stuff here.  (probably only available in G nut style housings but beggars won't be choosers).



Caleffi is working on marrying their DISCAL vertical air  eliminator and dirt separator. 

Right now they are using the same casting facing up for air and down for dirt.   Much as I think that is clever, i'd just as soon have both functions which means a new casting (oh drat and another 50 bucks or so i would imagine) Spirothem didn't even show up. I had wanted to compare their vertical offerings.   So i shelled out some bucks today to for a Caleffi , cause i can't wait until they  come out with the combo. (TACO tells me they are working on a vertical too. the best thing about the competition here is that the prices aren't gonna be so different but you have all these great minds working on the best way to get the air (and dirt) out.



Thanks to Hot Rod and John Barba on the panel and other wallies in the audience at the mechanical town hall on tuesday sponsored by contractors magazine as well as caleffi and a few manufacturers. 



And Thanks to TACO for their hospitality tuesday night, And sorry john barba that i felt compelled to wear my own coat walking over there.  that was a wool blend suit wasn't it? Amongst the many TACO dudes on scene (including the guy whose hair is about as long as mine) there were many allied lines but, lets say there were some folks who might not go green (paint that is) on all there stuff.  And i can't remember who from TACO was gracious enough to say, with a degree of sincerity, "our competition isn't Grundfos or other folks who make pumps and hydronic equip.,  its ducts."



Nice to bury the hatchet, and not in the other guys skull (although i think that corner for seattle was pretty reasonable in being a little hot headed after the guy refused his handshake).



And noticed Mark Eatherton and other Radiant folks singing the praises of hooking up with the R -718 group to promote hydronics. I come away from the polar vortex with one caution for all we R-718 promoters, which (unknown to me, but maybe not everybody else) is the refrigerant designation for water. Everybody is always focusing on vaporization points, condensing points and latent heat.  We need a hell of a lot more focus on the solidfication point for R-718.



It can't be doing hydronics much good the amount of frozen baseboard we're facing this winter. Even if that isn't our emitter of choice, it is installed base married to the notion of R-718 heat exchange. Between the ability to use pumps to sense load and pressure differentials and an exploding number of zone and pump controls that can take cognizance of outdoor temps, there is no excuse for not having more redundant built in capacity to avoid or alert in case of conditions that might freeze baseboard, which are quite different from those that might freeze house plumping since the baseboard is generally on the outside wall and depending on the envelope and routing of pipes zones can be lost well before consumers notice discomfort indoors. And this is exacerbated by setback thermostats.



So there's my take away.  What's yours, what did i miss?



Brian



Oh yeah, try the spin cutting pex cutter from Sargent.  They are in CT. great tool.  never seen anything cut pex that straight. And, sioux chief is making press sleeves, despite my having cornered the market on the Veiga ones in RI because Veiga is only making loaded fittings.