Contractors and technicians asked for equipment improvements and they found it at Bosch Thermotechnology Corp. The company listened to the feedback from its customers and did some tweaking to make its products save time, energy, and money. These are three important areas for Bosch when it comes to both commercial and residential, especially in product sectors that are more mature than others.

Demand for hydronic comfort solutions is heating up. According to a report by Technavio, the global market is expected to increase by more than 7 percent from 2018 to 2022, driven by a desire for more energy-efficient and energy-neutral technologies to improve the indoor climate. With more homeowners and building owners looking to advance the technologies in their structures to make them smarter, more efficient, or just more comfortable, it’s in a contractor’s best interest to become proficient in radiant heating and cooling systems to further expand their market — or, to dominate a niche market.

As HVAC products and home appliances get “smarter,” so too is the boiler — although perhaps with less flash and bang than the smart thermostat, smart doorbell, smartphone, or the new smart furniture that’s hitting the market. (Smart sofa, anyone? It’s a thing.)

From keeping up-to-date with technology to simply finding folks to lay the pipework, hydronics contractors face a unique subset of challenges within the HVAC industry. Learning to navigate the hurdles make the race to the bottom line smoother and much more profitable. The NEWS spoke with some industry experts to identify the top five challenges contractors face and the steps they should take to make sure nothing stands in their way when it comes to optimizing their workflow rate.

The models come with a patented in-house designed and manufactured heat exchanger, low-profile burner, advanced controls, a built-in DHW module, common venting capability up to eight units, cascading capability up to 16 units, and built-in hardware to connect up to three zone pumps without a need for additional external controllers.

Industry figures are estimates that are derived from the best available figures supplied by a sample of AHRI member companies.

Today, systems are just more complicated. As technologies advance and systems become more intricate, their life cycle, too, is evolving.

Within the limits of ultimate system functionality, hydronic/mechanical artists can “paint their own canvas” — free to explore greater functionality, performance, and energy efficiency — all the while having the time of our lives (mechanically speaking).

This unit meets all market-driven bid specifications and is designed for most heating needs, including applications in schools and other educational facilities, public institutions, health care buildings, offices, hotels, multifamily housing, churches, and more.

A one-paragraph, simple overview of the basic CHP approach reads like this: A building’s (or campus’) system uses fuel to make its own electricity, and then it applies the waste heat from that process toward its HVAC needs.