Threaded Copper Tubing
A discussion on The Wall: Paul S. asked, "Has ever heard of screwed copper pipe? I have it on a job and sizes are way off.
Hot-Water Heating Help Topics
This section is your guide to hot-water heating systems with information about system design and piping, air elimination, pumping away, primary-secondary pumping, valves, radiators, troubleshooting tips, and more.
Hot-Water Heating Categories
Air Elimination
Antifreeze
Boilers
Case Study
Circulators
Combustion
Commercial Heating
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Domestic Hot Water
Gravity Hot-Water Systems
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Heating System Conversion
Indirect Heating Systems
Indoor Air Quality
Loop Systems
Piping and Pumps
Primary-Secondary Pumping
Pumping Away Piping
Radiant Heating
Radiators
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Snowmelt Systems
System Pressure
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Tees
Thermostatic Radiator Valves
Troubleshooting
Valves
Venting
Water Quality
Zoning
Recent Articles in Hot-Water Heating
Dissimilar-Metals and Electrolysis Corrosion
I asked this question on The Wall: When do you think you need to protect against electrolysis corrosion from stray electrical current, and corrosion caused by dissimilar ...
Air in a Hot-Water Heating System
Air is the enemy in a hydronic (hot-water) heating system. It blocks the flow to the radiators. It rattles around and annoys customers.
Watch the Tailpipe
Start your car on a cold morning and walk around to the tailpipe. See that water dripping? That’s the way a high-efficiency, condensing boiler works.
Grocery Store Radiant
The grocery store is a great place to understand radiant heating (or to explain it to your customer). Stop first in the gadget aisle and pick up a thermometer. It will pr...
Why Closely Spaced Tees?
Primary-secondary piping systems call for the tees that go off to the secondary circuit to be close together, ideally not more than six inches apart. Think like water and...
Radiator Paint Colors
Ever wonder why so many of the old radiators you see are painted silver? Back in the day, they were mostly plain grey metal, but then the Spanish Influenza arrived during...
Pumping Away Piping
This is an excerpt from Dan Holohan’s book Pumping Away and other really cool piping options for hydronic systems. Since you've read this far, I figure you must be pretty...
Water Quality with High-Efficiency Boilers
The majority of the hydronic boilers we install today are low-mass, modulating condensing boilers. Sure, we still install a few atmospheric cast iron boilers on occasion,...
Old Radiator Ratings
If you're replacing a steam boiler, there's only one right way to size that boiler, and that's to measure the radiators. If you're replacing a hot-water boiler, you'll do...