Not just anyone coming to tame the infrared wild west

Those are some nice brushes. Which should we use to paint the entire wall?

Slightly longer post warning. Bear with me.

For our next class, “Learning about Large Building Heating and Control”, we have a lot of speakers and subjects. Infrared, makeup air, roof fans, air curtains, destratification fans.

We’re kicking the class off with a treat. The President and owner of Detroit Radiant Products Joseph Wortman is our first speaker.

I have to say, it takes a man of great patience to toil and succeed in this niche of the industry. More on that in a moment.

Here’s an excerpt of the discussion Joe and I had concerning the content of the class.

Joe: “Tom, when folks come for factory training, it’s 2 days just to cover the basics. You’re giving me an hour.What’s the plan?”

Tom: “Joe, you’ll forget more about infrared than I’ll ever know.”

Joe: “That’s true.Do you have a point?” (Oh, that Joe. Always right to the point.)

Tom: “What do you wish we’d all understand about infrared?”

Joe: “Lots.It will challenge your audience to see the difference between EFFECTIVE and EFFICIENT when the products aren’t the same.

Tom: “Amen. It’s a tall order.We do have a bright audience, and you’ll pull it off.”

It should be easy to compare infrared, just like you compare any two systems.

It should be easy to compare infrared to other systems.

You can’t.

There is an AHRI Standard (1330) that governs infrared; however, the necessary 2018 updates have not been accepted, there is no minimum standard, and there is no compliance testing.

Uhhh, what’s that mean?

It means there’s room for bad actors, bad products, and bad information.

For anyone who wants to nerd out on this, here’s the white paper.

How will Joe and Detroit Radiant make believers out of you despite these obstacles?

Only one way to find out.

See you in class.

Tom

Tom Gelin
Air Flow Inc.
8355 West Bradley Road
Milwaukee, WI 53223

414-351-1999