The sky was falling in April and May. The outlook for the third and fourth quarters for the P-H-C industry looks like it will transition from horrible to merely bad BY ROBERT P. MADER Editor’s note: This was a feature that I wrote for the heating startup issue of…
Articles by Robert Mader
As the year comes to a close, I’d like to thank all of the people and companies for whom I (and www.VisionaryB2B.com) have had the privilege of working in 2018. First is my bud, Barry Campbell @AquathermBarry from www.Aquatherm.com, as well as my fellow magazine refugee, Ron Rajecki. I’d put…
Smart, connected, communicating controls offer myriad benefits for building professionals. Increased use of artificial intelligence will provide even more comfort and energy savings. Robert P. Mader This is an article that I wrote for publication in TMB Publishing plumbing-heating-cooling magazines. IF YOU AREN’T offering homeowners and building owners smart, connected,…
The American Gas Association has reacted to a seeming existential threat created by proposals of mandated residential electrification BY ROBERT P. MADER The American Gas Association commissioned a study by consulting firm ICF that came out this month (July 2018) entitled “Implications of Policy-Driven Residential Electrification.” AGA is reacting to…
As part of a story I wrote on IoT and smart, connected and communicating controls, I had the privilege of interviewing Stuart Lombard, the founder and CEO of smart thermostat pioneer ecobee. There are other brands that get a lot of hype, but Stuart Lombard created the smart thermostat…
You’ll want to check out this article by Christopher Ingraham in the Washington Post that covers a new report by the U.S. Geological Survey (https://wapo.st/2lzlGUR). USGS reports that in per capita terms, water use by Americans has dropped from 112 gallons per days in 1980 to 82 gallons per day…
BY ROBERT P. MADER I interviewed the iconic Canadian engineer Robert Bean, R.E.T., P.L. (Eng.) for a story I’m writing on the Internet of Things and smart/connected/communicating controls. Calgary, Alberta-based Bean, one of North America’s foremost experts on radiant heating and cooling, is calling B.S. on a lot of this…
Author’s note: This is a case study that I wrote for Aquatherm about use of its large-diameter Polypropylene-Random pipe for an HVAC retrofit project. The customer, deciding that it doesn’t like favorable publicity, opted to kill the story, so I’ve stripped out any information that might identify the owner or…
BY ROBERT P. MADER By “we”, I mean everyone in the residential home services market: manufacturers, distributors and contractors. I fear that if trends continue, we will lose control over our markets and our customers. We’ll have done it to ourselves. A typical homeowner finds buying plumbing, HVAC, electrical, and…