What to do????

kevin coppinger_4

one of my supply house branches here in NH. is putting on a long overdue addition in Portsmouth . The warehouse will be slab on grade. So as a radiant heat contactor the obvious form of heating should be radiant floor, or so I thought. The store manager talked w/ several mfg. reps and got commitment of FREE materials. Tubing from wirsbo, a boiler, the insulation and the time from a bunch of contractors including myself. The job would not have cost the company anything or at worst not much... I wanted to help because I want to have something to show prospective commercial customers...the corporate office said NO! we will put in a couple of modine units instead....I don't get it...doesn't say much for the company big wigs...are they trying to sell radiant too? maybe not. What to do? kpc

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Steamhead

Typical shortsightedness

maybe these are people you really dont want to deal with. If they won't use it in their building they probably don't care about selling it either.

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hr

I would

have to hear their side of the story to make a call There are some applications where radiant MAY not be the best heat method.

Buildings with lots of stored boxes for example. You can get to a point where the "uncovered" floor slab is not enough to handle the load. Cardboard boxes with WH's or toilets never turn into good radiators. Really overhead radiant ceiling, or tube type infared might be the best choice.

And, certainly there is a place for the good old unit heater, especially if comfort is not an issue, as with storage of "stuff."

I think they should still accept "free material" offer. They could share it with loyal contractor customers!

hot rod

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kevin coppinger_4

Well they have done it in two....

other of their warehouses...most of the "stuff" sits up off the ground or way up on racks 20-25' off the ground... either way it does not look good to the contractor to have the company say use our radiant product and then not use it in your own building...esp. considering the price...FREE! It would be like me paying to go w/ hot air with Burnham or Smith offering me a boiler and basebooard for my own house....do as I say not as I do....kpc

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steve_29

Kevin, have you tried talking to the people that are making the final decision.

Try asking them ... maybe you'll find out why!!!

Mad Dog

You've got to get their ear.................................

and sell them on the radiant, if as HR said, its appropriate. In a polite way, tell them theyare NUTS!!!!! not to go for it...talk about the big savings and efficiency......be enthusiatic...its contagious...if not, it is their loss . A good architect friend of mine had a new slab home built 4 years ago. I did my darndest to talk him out of scorched air and in to radiant......nahhh.....hE NOW regrets it, but we did put it in his new extension. Mad dog

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Tom Meyer

A client of ours ran into the same problem....

but we had a 3-way telephone conversation with the decision maker, and it turned out he really didn't know the advantages of using radiant heat. After we gave him enough information to make an intelligent decision, he did. He chose radiant. What about a compromise? Radiant heat in the floor and water/air fan coils near the shipping doors? If the application doesn't make sense to them, go after the dollar margin using their warehouse as a showcase. They may go for that. You never know what will tip the scales in your favor. But always know when to salute sharply and say "Yes, sir", and let it go.

Tom Meyer
Senior Designer/Trainer
Precision Hydronics Corp
www.precisionhydronics.com

Steve Eayrs

Sounds to me that they went the most expensive route.

The unit heater, overhead piping, and I bet the labor is not all free, can quite possibly add up to as much or more than the radiant as you described it. I bet there is some old gaurd, stick-in-the-mud, up in the ranks of the company, that doesn't want to try something "new".
If you could find out who that is and convince him.......... Maybe a price comparision, and pointing out that he doesn't need to overheat the upper 20' of the 30' high warehouse.

Steve

Dave DeFord

Does this supply house...

also supply the forced air trade? If not, I would have a chat with them about upon which side their bread is buttered and then maybe look for a new supplier (if there is a reasonable one available). If they do supply the forced air trade then maybe they are making the decision based on their relationship with that industry. There may also be some cost reasons for this. If the warehouse is only occupied 40 hour per week and the forced air can bring the building up to temp quickly there can probably be a large setback for the remaining 128 hours per week. Then again they may just be stick in the muds. Don't know just trying to look at the entire forest.