Ten years after

 

BY Bob “hot rod” Rohr,

contributing writer

 

You may remember that British band that rocked Woodstock, with hits like “I’m Going Home.” I will borrow that title for this anniversary issue. And share my thoughts on 10 years after in regard to products we use. Hydronics, mainly, but not to forget solar and tools related to these products. And now I can’t get that song out of my head!

 

When is a product ready for market? Certainly, we, as the installers and contractors, are always looking down the road for new and improved versions of equipment, methods and tools. Of course the consumer, from where our paychecks hail, have an interest in better, faster, quieter and longer lasting products, too.

 

The automobile industry, until recently, has catered well to these whims. They dish out more power and conveniences every year. So, too has our industry embraced the concept of it’s never “done.” There is always room for improvement in a product. Have you seen some of the wild framing hammers on the shelves these days? Talk about redefining a fairly simple and basic product!

 

Perhaps the most requested improvements these days deal with efficiency. The desire to install a product that can do the job better, while consuming less energy in the process, challenges the installers. Boilers, or heat sources, come to mind. The hydronic side of our industry has heeded the call for a boiler geared directly to the low temperature radiant segment of the market. And in the truest sense of evolution our pleas were answered. But what we got was not only job specific, but also much more fuel efficient.

 

Savvy boiler manufacturers, familiar with the Euro ISH show, went shopping overseas for the parts and pieces to higher efficiency boilers. Product specific to hydronics seems to be a few years advanced over there. The size of their market drives this, along with much higher fuel costs, I suspect. The evolution to an Americanized version needs to be considered. As we have learned, or are still learning, it takes more than a voltage and thread change for this to happen. You see, somehow things change as those products bob their way across the seas to our shores.

 

Perhaps the biggest challenge has been deciding on which materials perform and last the longest. For some reason water, and fluid conditions in North America, seem to sometimes butt heads with the HX materials, for example. Whatever we put inside the pipes, tubes and boiler vessels can offer up some less than desirable surprises 10 years after. Also, the methods we use to clean and fill play a part in the lifecycle of a heat exchanger. Could our fuels, ever-changing and always “improving,” have a part to play in fireside failures? Can LP, oil and natural gas really be that different and unpredictable from shore to shore? It sure seems like that may be the case.

 

So how does a manufacturer plan and build with these unknowns? Research and development seems to be the department where much of this responsibility falls. I have switched from the contracting to manufacturing side of our industry. In this new job, I have been able to visit a number of factories and their R&D labs.

 

I will say that the companies I have visited are very serious about this part of the process. Some testing seems fairly straightforward — testing to failure of a pressure component, for example. The valve, vessel or component is put in a chamber and pressurized until it fails, breaks or leaks. Cycle testing is understandable. But cycling a switch under lab conditions does vary — sometimes considerably — from real-life conditions. (Throw in dirt, dust, vibration, job site installation abuse, for instance.)

 

Accelerated testing becomes even foggier to me. I have yet to see a reliable test to expose a product to real-life conditions for a 10-year life expectancy done in a lab in a 12-month or less period. I’m here to say our industry does not lack in the number of agencies that require large sums of money to list and approve a product. Still, at the end of the day, 10 years after, it usually comes down on the shoulders of the contractor or installer to “fix it.”

 

Yes, the contractors have a responsibility to learn the product, read the manuals and offer in-the-field critique. The best of the manufacturers will stand behind their product and trained installers, as well they should. A good manufacturer will ask for, and utilize, contractor input. I doubt many manufacturers are in business for the quick buck. I doubt hydronics would be the category they chose if that was their intent, considering the market size.

 

I know some contractors that will not sell or install a “new” product until it has a five-year, or more, track record. But we can’t all wait five years. The early adopters reap the benefits and shoulder the growing pains.

 

So we continue to learn, test, improve and engineer. Will we ever reach the goal of products that function as designed, trouble-free for 10 years after. Or should we? Your thoughts?

 

And on the occasion of Phc News’ 10-year anniversary, here’s to 10, 20, and many more!