may 2007vol. 8, no. 4

A Publication

Supplier Profile Issue

Old home receives hydronics makeover . . . . . . .Page 116

PVF & economic analysis . . . .Page 36

See what’s cookin’ at NAOHSM . . . . . . . . . . .Pgs. 94-100

COVERSTORY

PVFREPORT

NAOHSMPRODUCTS

2007Supplier Profile Issue

Profiles begin on page 56

HYDRONICS BEST PRACTICESHYDRONICS BEST PRACTICES

There was once a little house ona Pennsylvania prairie. It wasbuilt in rural Manheim, Pa.

around 1850. And winters were cold. Two fireplaces and a coal stove

provided heat. And because mudand straw were the only insulation— pushed in between logs — thewashbasins inside would freeze. Butfrozen pipes were no concern. Themodern convenience of indoorplumbing wasn’t added to this homeuntil 100 years later, in 1950, thesame year when the home’s firstboiler and baseboard heat broughtunimaginable comfort to theWolgemuth family.

But it was 30 years before that, in1920, when the Wolgemuths boughtthe house and farm. Four years later,Naomi Wolgemuth was born in thesecond floor, cast-iron bathtub. “Momtold me I was born in the tub andthat’s where it stood for decades,” shesaid, 82 years later, pointing to a smallalcove showing three layers of scarredlinoleum. “But my three brotherswere born in mamma’s bed. We had arubber plug for the tub. We usedbuckets to fill it, and to empty it, too.For heat, the buckets were placed ontop of a coal stove in the kitchen.”

The bathtub still serves its purpose,though is now enclosed in the home’sonly bathroom just down the hall.Naomi admits she still favors the out-house over the flushing toilet.

But one modern amenity shelearned to love quickly was the hotwater heating system installed by

Frank Haldeman, then the owner ofManheim-based F.L. Haldeman andSons Plumbing & Heating founded in1939. In 1950, Frank ran copper linesto several sections of standing radia-tor and fin-tube baseboard and con-nected the one-zone system to astrangely space-age, circular, oil-firedGeneral Electric boiler.

“Mr. Haldeman assured us the boil-er was the best on the market at thetime, and he was right. It served uswell for 56 years,” added Naomi. “Irecall Daddy marveling at the

thought of using the thermostat toset the temperature inside. He could-n’t get over what a long way we’dcome. Back then, oil was cheap, buthe still protected it like gold, notwanting to spoil us with real warmth.We always went to bed with manyblankets and quilts.”

During those 56 years of service,the Haldeman company serviced theboiler, oil line and filter whenevernecessary. “They were always therewhen we needed them. Daddy trustedthem like his own kin,” she said.

Connections like that were impor-tant, and in a small community, acompany’s relationship with familieswas the root of its success, or failure.A handshake or a man’s word sealedthe deal, better than any written,notarized contract. These qualitiesstemmed from hard times and hardwork. The Great Depression left in itswake a toughened, self-dependentculture, and the Wolgemuth familyhad paid their dues.

They subsisted on produce fromtheir fields, selling chickens and eggs,and milk that was sent to the HersheyChocolate factory 15 miles away. Oneday, hitching a horse for field work atthe house, Naomi’s youngest brotherClarence was dragged to death by ahorse in 1938. He was 10 years old.Several years later, Katie (her moth-er) and Irvin Wolgemuth (her father)

were harvesting corn with a mecha-nized corn picker. Her mother losther balance and fell into the huskingrolls and was fortunate to have lostjust a finger.

Reaching a doctor was always diffi-cult, but their Amish neighbors werealways quick to help. Even today,they pass by the Wolgemuth homeroutinely in their horse-drawn bug-gies. Grandchildren and great grand-children of the folks Naomi grew upwith now wave at her today.

Most of the farming back in the “olddays” was done by mule or horse. “Afarming family in those days could getby. If a farm had 400 layer chickens,a dozen dairy cows and several broodsows, they could make a decent liv-ing. We did quite well because Daddyalso got extra work as an overseer atother farms nearby.”

Through the years, Naomi nevermoved from the house and nevermarried. However, she was away longenough to attend college nearby, andthen taught at a local school for 24years. Her father passed away in 1961and her mother, in 1973.

“But I outlived that ol’ GE boiler,”she said, chuckling. “When I calledHaldeman’s to service the boiler notlong ago, they came out to see whatthey could do.”

But the verdict was that the oldmachine had finally met its match.

Frank’s grandson, Mark, who pur-chased the company in 2001(renamed Haldeman Mechanical,Inc.) told Naomi that it was time toreplace the system. They couldn’t getreplacement parts for the old GE, andit wasn’t operating at an efficiencymuch better than 55% or 60%.

“I agreed,” said Naomi. “The oldboiler was in no shape for another

Contractor-customer relationshipcrosses years and generations

116 Phc News — MAY 2007

“Setting up an indirect on apriority zone in a hydronically

heated home works well becauseof the minimal loss of heat to

comfort zones while the systemidles and allows the full power

of the boiler to quickly regeneratethe domestic tank.”

‘We want a boiler as good as the last one’

Haldeman Mechanical heating service manager, John Dodson, and Naomi Wolgemuthexamine the old GE boiler's original operating instructions; “Still in a drawer after allthese years,” said Naomi. The form, signed by Frank Haldeman, is dated 10/8/57.

Haldeman technicians (from left to right) Gary Forry, Bill Aller and Tavi Nistor, com-plete the Laars Max boiler and indirect water heater installation.

The Wolgemuth home, site of a hydron-ic makeover by Manheim, PA-basedHaldeman P&H.

HYDRONICS BEST PRACTICESHYDRONICS BEST PRACTICES

winter. But I told them to be sure thatthe new boiler would be as good asthe last one!”

A few weeks later, Keith Eshleman,inside sales rep for Mount Joy-based

HVAC Distributors, delivered the boileron site to a Haldeman Mechanicalinstallation crew made up of installersBill Aller, Gary Forry and Tavi Nistor.

“HVAC helped us choose just theright boiler for Naomi’s home,” saidMark Haldeman. Together they select-ed a 75,000-Btu oil-fired Laars “Max”boiler and its partner, a 40-gallonDuraFlow indirect-fired hot waterheater, easily meeting Naomi’sdomestic water needs.

The boiler is a low-mass, direct-vent unit with a two-pass cylindricalheat exchanger that delivers about87% efficiency. According to Aller,the new boiler, matched with aCarlin burner, would use up to 50%less fuel than the old one whileretaining 30% of the heat previouslylost to the chimney.

“Balanced flue” for the sidewallventing is Laars’ term for direct vent-ing of the Max boiler, Aller explains.“It’s a quick and easy connectionwith stainless steel lines between the

boiler’s exhaust and outdoor air andthe termination box where theincoming air passes over the outgo-ing, inner stainless steel piping —this pre-warms the incoming air. Noflue draft regulator is needed whenusing this kit.”

The Laars DuraFlow indirect-firedwater heater would replace a free-standing electric unit that began dutynine years ago. “It was limping alongOK, but was beginning to have a fewproblems,” added Aller.

“With just one heat zone, the indi-rect’s load was not a real factor insizing the boiler,” said Nistor.“Setting up an indirect on a priorityzone in a hydronically heated homeworks well because of the minimalloss of heat to comfort zones whilethe system idles and allows the fullpower of the boiler to quickly regen-erate the domestic tank.”

They also chose to installGrundfos multi-speed circulators forthe two hydronic zones. “The keyadvantage for our guys is to match apump’s performance, or flow charac-teristics, to the specific job that it

needs to perform within the system.A single-speed pump has one perfor-mance curve — a measurement ofhead (ft.) and flow (gpm) — andoperates at that level only. But thesenew circulators — Grundfos now hasthree of them, each with three oper-ating levels — offer a much broaderrange of performance,” said JohnDodson, heating services manager.With the flick of a switch, variousspeeds can be chosen, easily chang-ing head and flow to meet the specif-ic needs of the system.

“We were introduced to Grundfos’SuperBrute pumps through a job thatspecified the circulator,” addedHaldeman. “We were very impressed

with the concept of having threespeeds to choose from.”

“Our core heating business is withhydronics,” continued Haldeman.“Most of our installations are split intomultiple zones. Some have large radi-ant heat zones requiring high flowrates and some are small zonesrequiring low flow rates.

Dodson explained that he alwayscalculates heat loss, flow rate andpressure drop for each zone. He usesthis information and the manufactur-er’s pump curve to choose the properpump for each zone. In the past, theymight have three or four differentpump models on one job, all selectedto match the exact needs that we’vedetermined. “But with the Grundfosmulti-speed pumps, I can use onepump and select the speed to matchthe flow and head that we want.”

“We had a situation recently wherethe multi-speed pumps got us througha pinch,” added Dodson. “One cus-tomer wasn’t getting enough heat inthe kitchen floor. Then the circ went

out on it. Rather than doing an exactreplacement of the single-speedpump, we replaced it with a multi-speed circ. The pump’s middle settingdid the job well, but the high settingperformed perfectly.”

Another key advantage, saidHaldeman, “is the ability to standard-ize on one pump line. Multi-speedpumps can serve so many needs thatour firm can standardize on onepump line.”

Last winter, temperatures stayed inthe single digits for three weeks or so.But Naomi’s house was warm and thesupply of domestic hot water wasplentiful. Another source of comfortwas the greatly reduced need for heat-ing oil to fuel the system.

Frank Haldeman passed away in1991. “But no doubt, if he’d havelearned about Naomi’s new heatingsystem, replacing the one he installedthere 56 years ago, he’d be happy forher,” said Mark Haldeman. “And I’msure Naomi’s father would have beenjust as pleased with this one, too.” n

Phc News — MAY 2007 117

Haldeman technician Bill Aller makes anadjustment to a Grundfos three-speedSuperBrute circulator.

Bill Aller, hydronic technician, installs a Grundfos three-speed SuperBrute circulator.

Haldeman technicians (from left to right) Tavi Nistor, Gary Forry and Bill Aller takepride in a job well done. “The system works like a charm,” said homeowner NaomiWolgemuth.

Haldeman technicians Bill Aller, left,and Gary Forry, begin installation of thenew Laars boiler.

Haldeman technicians and KeithEshleman, Mount Joy, PA-based HVACdistributors (center) remove the new,oil-fired Laars Max boiler from thetruck prior to installation at theWolgemuth home.