Sun Mountain radiantly warms high desert homes

Richardson assists his crew during the installation of 1,300 lineal feet of Watts Radiant Onix tubing at the Las Campanas guest house.

Running a successful plumbing and heating enterprise in Santa Fe, N.M is no easy task. Just ask Mike Richardson, president of Sun Mountain Plumbing. He’ll tell you that demanding clients and erratic climate conditions test the merit of installers and heating systems alike.

Here in the desert mountains, it’s not uncommon for winter temperatures to swing 70 degrees in a single day. Heating systems need to respond quickly, maintaining comfort for folks who take comfort seriously.

Mike began business as Sun Mountain, working chiefly on custom homes in the Santa Fe area, in 1992. Today, he and his four employees work regularly for six home builders with jobs commonly ranging from 4,000 to 6,000 s.f., and up to 12,000. “All but a very few have radiant heat, and that’s become our specialty,” said Richardson.

Mike and his crew work on 15 to 20 homes a year, with about 80% of those in the large, gated residential community of Las Campanas, about five miles northwest of downtown Santa Fe. The large-lot development will have 1,700 homes when complete.

Phc News went on a tour with Mike this summer, visiting several of his jobs in the Las Campanas development. His hydronic recipe, developed over years of carefully monitoring system performance, includes Laars boilers; Bradford White CombiCor and standard water heaters; Watts Radiant’s Onix, an epdm synthetic rubber tubing that easily tolerates the rigors of job site exposure; Waterpex by Watts Radiant for domestic water; and Grundfos SuperBrute 3-speed circulators and hot water recirculation pumps.

One of the jobs we went to in the high-end residential development was a guest house under construction. It would soon mimic the adobe-style home architecture so common throughout the region.

Richardson and Helen Gates of Dahl Wholesale Plumbing & Heating, Santa Fe, observe a radiant heat installation with Onix tubing in the Las Campanas development

“But the similarity to centuries-old adobe homes pretty much stops at their appearance,” assured Richardson. “Many homeowners like the organic look and feel of adobe, but they also demand energy efficiency and all the comfort that modern technology provides, including radiant heat.”

Richardson explained that the mud-colored, adobe-like homes look rustic from the outside, but within the super-insulated walls, homeowners often choose all the conveniences of modern, luxurious living.

The 1,000 sq.-ft., 1-bath, 1-bedroom guest house received in-slab radiant heat throughout the kitchen, common area and bathroom areas, all to be covered in earth-colored tile. About 1,300 lineal feet of Watts Radiant Onix epdm tubing was tied to wire grid above a sand and insulation base.

They used a 100,000 Btu natural gas-fired Laars Mini Combo boiler/hot water heater to handle the space heating and domestic water needs of the guest house. “This building was the perfect size for this application,” added Richardson.

But the job he’ll be talking about for some time is one they’ve been at work on for many months: a 200 year-old, Spanish-style home on a 70,000-acre ranch 20 miles from town.

 

The 18-zone mechanical system will have all the bells and whistles, including Laars modulating, condensing boilers, a wall of Grundfos circulators, Caleffi hydronic controls and miles of Onix tubing. Stay tuned. You’ll read about it in Phc News.