HYDRONICS | RADIANT CONVERSION |
Radiant heat does the heavy lifting at this makeover
Mechanical firm, sturdy friends and manufacturers team-up for a much-needed retrofit – a gift, just in time for Christmas
snow in four months, with lower- than-normal temperatures. “Even with all of that, and being out of work for months, what I remember most painfully was the deregulation of electric prices on January 1 of last year,” recalled homeowner Randy Steffy. Randy and Deanna Steffy’s home,
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a small Manheim, Pa., ranch built in 1985 was heated by electric resistance baseboard and had a builder-grade
ast winter was a brutal one for central Pennsylvanians. They received a decade’s worth of
Things got ugly when the economy tanked and, soon after that, the full effect of deregulation hit. The last thing Randy wanted to do was to close the gym. “I refused to close
the gym, and I needed to heat it too. Today it’s more for the community than it is for me. I like to think I’m helping build people of character,” Randy said. “And yet, I’m not doing the work. They are. I’ve only given them a place to evolve and mature.” Steffy’s gym has the look and feel
of boxing rings from long ago in urban New York, tucked-away places where athletes first became enthusiastic about the sport. Walls are covered with a patchwork of mirrors, an Arnold Schwarzenegger poster, and a printout of The Power Lifter’s Prayer. There is a punching bag and the sturdy weight gear that Randy crafted throughout the years. Closest
electric water heater. “We were paying up to
$400 a month for electric before the prices increased 30% to 50%,” Steffy said. “With no income, our savings were dwindling. All we could do was keep the temperature at 60° and pray for work.” Yet, one facet of Randy’s life
wasn’t going to change, at least without a fight. Randy was a natural body builder in his younger years and, at 57, still puts up a lot of weight these days. Over the years, he turned his basement into a miniature Gold’s Gym. In an effort to reach out to the young people in the community, Randy allowed anyone to lift weights in his basement, free of charge, all the while getting expert instruction. In a typical week, 30 to 40 young men and women spend time in the gym. Being an industrial welder by trade,
Randy bypassed the high cost of serious weightlifting equipment by fabricating most of the gear himself.
to the leg sled is the record of bench- press accomplishments by the gym’s users, often referred to as Randy’s Wall of Pain. Three flat benches topped off with Olympic bars are the meat ’n potatoes of the operation. There are also two incline benches, a full power rack, York weight plates and dumbbells of every size. Along one wall, two lifters were
spotting for a young athlete, Jesse Tornabe, squatting 405 pounds, enough to bend an Olympic bar. Earlier in the year, Tornabe made Randy’s Wall of Pain with his 300-lb. bench press, an impressive feat for anyone, let alone a 180-lb. 17 year-old.
“Randy’s a real inspiration to all of us,” said Tornabe.
“Physically, socially and spiritually, he’s always here for us.”
Out with electric heat Hearing of the Steffys
plight and with donated gear from several manufacturers, Mark Haldeman, owner of
A preassembled, two-zone HydroControl panel from Watts Radiant includes two Taco variable- speed, sT pumps, a 4900 Series air separator and a zone control. Watts provided a backflow prevention/auto-feed valve; a two-gallon expansion tank; ISO valves; pressure, temperature and relief valves and balancing valves.
The skilled crew of Tavi Nistor (left), Bill Aller and Gary Forry of Haldeman Mechanical Inc. proudly show off the radiant system they installed to replace an outdated electric- baseboard system at the Steffys’ home in Manheim, Pa.
Manheim-based Haldeman Mechanical Inc., and John Dodson, heating services manager, offered to help. In April, Dodson visited Randy and Deanna’s home. He did a heat load calculation and spoke enthusiastically about doing a
“radiant heat makeover” — with a little help from their friends. A few weeks later, he called to say
that Haldeman pros would install and connect a donated Bradford White CombiCore1, a Watts Radiant Hydronex panel and radiant manifold, Taco pumps and components and Watts hydronic gear. In June, Randy’s lifting crew
volunteered to install the 2,000 lineal feet of 3/8" EPDM synthetic rubber Onix radiant tubing and to reinsulate the ceiling. “Over the years, the baseboard heaters, installed when the house was new, eliminated our
phc february 2011
www.phcnews.com
Jesse Tornabe squats 405 pounds in Randy Steffy’s basement gym.
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