O’Brien, president, Technical Heating, Mount Sinai, N.Y., and Reinhardt, Genz-Ryan Co., Burnsville, Minn., submitted hydronic photographs and were chosen by Taco’s 16,000-plus member online FloPro community as contest winners. They were each awarded a new Flip camera for submitting the winning entries.

O’Brien’s entry detailed a hydronic system installed in a new 1,500-square-foot raised ranch home designed for a wounded veteran. The house was dedicated to the soldier on Veteran’s Day.

The system, which included an oil-fired boiler and indirect water heater, was built by a team of 12 installers by the Long Island chapter of Oil Heat Cares, with components donated by Taco, Wales Darby, and several other companies.

O’Brien assisted with the installation of a one-zone, hydro-air unit with priority to an indirect tank for domestic water. The installation also included a Taco air separator, two 007 circulators with IFC, isolation flanges, and a Taco 329 pressure reducer.

Reinhardt’s photo depicted a parallel primary/secondary system after a storage tank to serve both radiant floor heating and pool heating. The system is primarily sourced using geothermal heat. The fossil fuel backup is provided at 97 percent AFUE.

“I often find that the bigger the system, the smaller the space we get for mechanical systems,” said Reinhardt. “It just doesn’t add up. So with that comes the need for smart use of hydronic components, all sized to do a big job, yet with little space required to get it done.”

Reinhardt explained that they installed four Taco VDT circulators and several zone valves, 10 “00” Series circulators, and three 2400 series pumps.

“Geothermal was chosen early on as the primary heat source for the 13 radiant in-floor heating zones throughout the home,” said Reinhardt. “We also installed three zones for snow and ice melt and summer-time pool heating.”

Publication date: 7/23/2012