By Leah Den Hartogh
A2L refrigerants, conducting F280 calculations, system treatments, and ECM circulators. These were just some of the topics explored during this year’s Canadian Hydronics Conference. Running from Sept. 24-25 at the Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel in Richmond, B.C., just over 400 attendees gathered to learn and network over the two days.
Due to upcoming elections in the province, there were some last-minute adjustments to the schedule, and as such, initial presentations had to be replaced with new ones, including the very first session of the day. But the day must go on!
And as such, Todd Backus, COO at TECA, stepped up to the plate and gave an insightful presentation on conducting F280 calculations in residential applications. “I hope this becomes so common that I don’t have to do these presentations,” shares Backus. He stresses that for a proper test to occur, each room must be calculated to accurately determine the home’s heating and cooling needs. “It has been very difficult to show compliance with the tools we have.”
Nowadays, there are a number of online tools that make it easier to conduct these room-by-room calculations. When conducting one of these tests, Backus warns attendees about windows and doors. These silent killers are easy to forget and will screw with calculations the quickest, especially with cooling load calculations. Backus wraps up his presentation with one final note to attendees, “trust the math and do the calculations.”
Modern pumps
Next up on the agenda was an educational session on ECM circulators. This presentation was timely with the upcoming changes to ECM motor requirements in North America, which will disallow manufacturers from producing or importing standard-efficiency circulator pumps that use traditional AC induction motors, effective 2028.
Starting with the basics, Omid Atayi of Grundfos and Mike Wills of Navien Canada explored key terminology and the mechanics of how circulators move water. “Back in the day, you had to manually set the pump to the required function,” explains Wills. “Nowadays, they are smart enough to operate on their own.” That isn’t to say that the best course of action would be to throw the pump into your system and call it a day. It is still required to ensure that the proper settings have been made, and the math has been done, to ensure the pump has been sized correctly.
Shifting gears, attendees gathered together in the main conference room to enjoy a technical discussion on the hydronics industry “during this transformational phase.” On the panel were Jean-Claude Rémy, Uponor, a GF brand, Adam Wills, Dave Holdorf, Taco Inc., Todd Backus, TECA, and Derek Schmidt, TECA. The first conversation topic for the panel was refrigerants, which shifted back and forth between A2Ls and R-290 (propane).
There was a general agreement that the use of R-290 is expected to increase in Canada in the coming years. While at the same time, working through this current refrigeration shift with A2Ls. As anyone who has fired up a BBQ can attest, propane is flammable, and as such, has earned itself a higher safety rating by ASHRAE — A3 to be exact. Whereas with A2Ls, they are considered mildly flammable. This means with the right parameters, it can burn and such safety settings are required to ensure human safety.
Water treatment in hydronics
As the industry embraces heat pumps more, the more dual fuel systems present as an attractive option for Canadian homes. “Dual fuel is where we have to go in Canada,” shared Holdorf. “Going straight to heat pumps in Edmonton means I might have to invest in a lot more sweaters.”
That being said, there needs to be an approach that isn’t one-size-fits-all. “If you don’t know a proper approach for how you will control your system, you have no business having your hands on that technology,” shared Backus.
This also applies to the water treatment in a hydronic closed loop systems. Whether it may be chemical or nonchemical water treatment options, there is always a case for which is the best course of action. The first step is to start with the end goal, rather than a specific product, shared Kirk Nagus, general manager of Axiom, during his presentation. Meaning, are you looking to clean, drain and flush, fill, or protect? “There is no single best treatment for every system. The best option is the one that controls corrosion and scale for the actual operating condition and can be maintained over time,” explains Nagus. The second step is to flush the system until it is actually clean. “All the options can work. The wrong choice is the one that cannot be maintained for that specific system.”
Star of the show
Ending the two-day conference was a session with Trevor Linden, former Vancouver Canucks ice hockey player and former team Canada player. He started out his presentation by polling the audience to determine who cheers for which hockey teams. There were plenty of Canucks fans and Toronto Maple Leafs fans in the audience, a few Edmonton Oilers fans, and what felt like one single Calgary Flames fan (this editor).
He discussed who some of his influences were in hockey, including Steve Yzerman, former captain of the Detroit Red Wings. Linden focused most of his talk on mental health and creating the right mindset for success. One lesson that he learned from his teammate, Mattias Öhlund, was, “It’s easy to point fingers when things don’t go right.” Another was that a great leader comes from what they do, rather than what they say.
Hockey was a big help when it came to his mental health, and it wasn’t until he retired that he realized he had some work he needed to do on himself. He ended the conversation with this — “Don’t suffer in silence and never stop growing or improving.”