A new section

DanHolohan

Inspired by a fine conversation with my friend Mark Eatherton

RJ_4

good idea

I think one of the most misunderstood yet critical parts of our trade is flue sizing and application,  Maybe some info on flues can be shared as needed at this new category. I found the Selkirk co.  has great info.

Mark Eatherton

Thank you Dan...

Simply stated, you are the best...



Fellow Wallians. I have an announcement to make. Please read teh following statement.





Where is the Radiant Professionals Alliance headed?

By Mark Eatherton

Technical Director, Radiant Professionals Alliance



The Radiant Professionals Alliance has recently hired me as a full time staff person to guide the organization in it’s efforts to grow, and serve its members.



In my opinion, there is nowhere to go but up, and I believe that the organization will do so in relatively short order. Hydronic’s has been a part of my life, for over half of my life. Radiant has been a substantial portion of my life since 1995, a year after the RPA was conceived. I have watched the growth of the industry which in the beginning was a bunch of intelligent people doing things and using materials that were rarely seen prior to this radiant revolution. In fact there was a lot of controversy early on about what materials were ideal, and what materials shouldn’t be used, and the folks across the pond simply thought us crazy Americans were out of our minds. Those disagreements were finally settled, and the process of education had begun.



In the beginning, the RPA was essentially a place for like minded people to get together and brain storm about what they were doing, how it was working, and what not to do. And for the most part, that is still a strong attraction at conferences. The RPA has always been, and will continue to be the “Go To” organization for information on radiant floor heating. The organization has gone through some good times, and some bad times. Non profit organizations are not exempt from the effects of economic downturns, and our organization came quite close to closing its doors due to these very same conditions. Members had to make hard decisions about where their money was being spent, and unfortunately, membership fees were some of the first budget items to fall.

The RPA is a member driven organization. It is an organization for the members, run by the members, with the members benefiting from these actions.



The RPA was recently taken over by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO). This is an ideal fit in my opinion, because there is a real need to fill a major gap facing our industry in that, although there are a lot of ideas about how these wonderful comfort systems should be designed and installed, there are no codes that spell out how it should be done. Consequently, there are a lot of systems being sold and installed that don’t have the capacity nor ability to maintain decent human comfort conditions when it gets cold outside. This doesn’t make for happy consumers, and as we all know, one bad consumer tells 10 people about their negative experience, who in turn tells 10 more people about their friends bad experiences, and so on and so forth. You can see the end result, and its not a good experience. We now have a direct avenue through a very well established organization to create an industry “Standard of Care” as it pertains to designing and installing these highly efficient extremely intelligent comfort systems. And an integral part of this whole process allows us, the members of the RPA, the ability to have a say in the final outcome of this codification process. The IAPMO organization is a consensus based organization. In other words, all members can have a say in the development of this badly needed code. From the smallest one man shop, to the largest tubing/boiler/electric radiant panel manufacturer, everyone has an opportunity to state their case in this process.



In addition to this process, the RPA is involved in the development and refinement of the Solar Thermal code and an eventual Ground and Air Source Heat Pump code. This is important to our members, because many of them are already involved in designing and installing these alternative energy products, and their use with our highly efficient comfort delivery systems are a perfect mechanical match.



All of these initiatives have a need for one very important ingredient. That ingredient is YOU, the members. This is your organization, built by you, for you and it needs your direct participation. If you’ve not yet become involved, please take a moment, and become involved. It only takes a little time, but will have a significant, positive impact with very many benefits to our members, regardless of their size and status in the industry.



We are on a rocket headed for the top. Would you care to join us in guiding this extremely powerful rocket? We need you to be a part of this, because it is for you, the members.



Thank you for your participation.



And please, comment on this thread regardless of wether you are a member or not, because in many cases, the codes we will be constructing most probably WILL have an impact on your business.



Again, Thank you to Dan and The Lovely Maryann for allowing me to use this forum for our ongoing education and feedback purposes.

Tim McElwain

As pertains to Flues

are you looking for sizing and installing flues for Category I equipment or Category II, III and IV?

RJ_4

flue info

Thanks I have all that, I mentioned it because I thought it would be a good topic

SWEI

RPA renaissance

I look forward to see where this goes, and am really glad to hear that you are involved.



Codes are an issue for sure.  As has been pointed out so many times here, there are far too many standards and codes which apply and all of them are subject to interpretation.  It can get downright nutty at times in the field.  Anything we can do to make current best practices more the norm will be good for both the consumer and for the qualified professionals.  Godspeed...

Mark Eatherton

Thanks...

We appreciate your thoughts and support. It (running the technical side of the RPA) is an onerous job, but worth the outcome.



ME

Mad Dog_2

I find just about every code severely lacking

in good paradigm-sketches and drawings. It would help many newcomers to be a able to look at and study what a proper piping job looks like whether its plumbing, heating, flue pipe et cetera. When I was starting out I struggled with that. Mad Dog