Product News

The first of its kind in North America, Uponor previewed an exciting new innovation at the 2022 ASPE Convention & Expo — the AquaPort™. Ideal in multifamily or hospitality low-rise, mid-rise, or high-rise applications, the AquaPort is a self-contained unit that converts a building’s hydronic heating supply to on-demand domestic hot water.

This solution eliminates centralized domestic hot water (DHW) and recirculation piping in a structure to provide numerous benefits, including energy and water savings, improved water quality, installation efficiencies, and reduced maintenance.

Compared to traditional pipe-routing methods, incorporating AquaPorts can reduce hot-water energy use by up to 35%, eliminate up to 40% of unnecessary piping, and remove more than 50% of the total DHW volume in a building for improved system performance, efficiencies, and hygiene.

The innovative and simplified design and installation provides efficiencies for installing contractors and facilities management to help keep projects on schedule, within budget, and running smoothly. It removes gas and electrical supply lines and venting in each dwelling unit to save on both short-term and long-term expenses, and it eliminates DHW supply and return piping for fewer piping supports, fire penetrations, insulation, and accessories required in a building.

The compact, in-wall design is only 25.6″ (650 mm) tall by 14.5″ (368 mm) wide and 5.4″ (137 mm) deep to maximize overall square footage. Additionally, the AquaPort is extremely lightweight at 47 lbs. (21.3 kg) for the 100K BTU/hr. version and 57 lbs. (25.9 kg) for the 180K BTU/hr. version, which makes it easy for one person to maneuver and install.

“Uponor is striving to innovate tomorrow’s buildings with high-performing solutions like the AquaPort to save water, minimize energy use, reduce risk, and eliminate waste,” says Aaron Stotko, director, Segment Marketing, at Uponor. “We anticipate the AquaPort will revolutionize hydronic heating and domestic water design to elevate building construction to a new standard.”

For further details about this new product innovation, refer to the AquaPort Brochure. For more information about the concept of decentralized DHW systems, review this white paper or watch this recorded webinar on Exploring Efficiencies of Decentralized DHW Systems.

Uponor AquaPEX^® Red pipe is now available and ready for your next plumbing installation in ½”, 300-ft. coils as well as ¾” and 1″, 100-ft. coils.

Designed for professionals that want complete color differentiation to easily distinguish hot-water lines, Uponor AquaPEX Red pipe features all the same benefits of Uponor AquaPEX White pipe, including PEX-a manufacturing for maximum flexibility and durability, kink repairability, resilience in freezing conditions, and resistance to corrosion, pitting, and scale buildup.

Uponor AquaPEX Red pipe offers the highest chlorine resistance rating of ‘5’ and provides six months UV resistance, all covered by Uponor’s trusted, industry-leading, 25-year transferable limited warranty.

Learn More about Uponor AquaPEX Red pipe.

Navien, Inc., the leader in condensing technology, has started shipping the new PeakFlow C scale prevention system for commercial applications and larger homes. The PeakFlow C is the latest model in Navien’s line of eco-friendly scale prevention products which includes the PeakFlow S and PeakFlow A.

PeakFlow C is a chemical-free and environmentally friendly scale prevention system meant to handle flow rates up to 20 GPM, and can be installed either at the main water line to prevent scale for the entire water supply, or at the cold water inlet line just before a tankless water heater or combi-boiler DHW system.

“PeakFlow C is an outstanding addition to the Navien line of water quality products,” said Ernie Lee, Water Quality Product Manager at Navien. “The use of the PeakFlow C scale prevention system will help reduce unnecessary service hours due to scale issues for contractors working on larger domestic hot water applications.”

Navien PeakFlow technology transforms potential hard scale build up to soft scale (aragonite and vaterite) that can easily be washed out with water flow. Without PeakFlow, the precipitated calcium carbonate forms as calcite, which is a very hard scale form that builds up in heat exchangers, lowering heat transfer efficiencies and blocking water flow.

To learn more about the new line of PeakFlow scale prevention products, visit Navieninc.com.

Introducing a newly revamped line of easy-to-install, advanced non-condensing tankless water heaters 

Rinnai America Corporation, a manufacturer of the number-one selling brand of tankless gas water heaters in North America, launches the RE Series™ Tankless Water Heater, the first and only non-condensing unit with a built-in pump, featuring Smart-Circ™ Intelligent Recirculation™. Rinnai raises the bar with a new line of advanced non-condensing tankless water heaters unlike anything else on the market, delivering a level of installation ease, as well as enhanced serviceability, reliability and usability.  

Proudly assembled at Rinnai’s recently opened manufacturing facility in Griffin, Ga., the RE Series is the first Rinnai product manufactured in the U.S., creating jobs, boosting the local economy and breaking new ground in tankless water heating.  

“To combat shipping delays and supply chain challenges, it’s important to Rinnai that the new U.S. manufacturing plant provides PROs with the latest in water heating technology promptly,” said Frank Windsor, President, Rinnai America Corporation. “As we all know, time is money, and we want to provide a product that makes our PROs’ jobs faster and easier.” 

The newly designed RE Series makes tankless water heaters even smarter to install with the addition of: 

• A new clean internal layout with a wiring harness and fewer fasteners to make it easy to see and access different components.
• A new safety handle and seating bracket for the heat exchanger and combustion system to protect different components.
• A new LED screen to set maintenance and service reminders, as well as provide error codes and alerts for when a lime scale flush is required.
• A new sliding wall bracket allows a single installer to handle and slide the unit horizontally to align with venting before securing the unit to the drywall.
• The new Smart-Circ technology makes installation even easier, as external controllers are no longer needed to ensure customers have hot water when they need it. 

The RE Series features Rinnai’s latest innovative Smart-Circ Intelligent Recirculation. This technology learns a user’s hot water usage patterns over seven days, then schedules the built-in pump and times recirculation patterns accordingly. Users enjoy hot water during regular demand periods while saving energy and money. The RE Series is also available with the control•r™ Wi-Fi module, to achieve scheduled recirculation or on-demand operations if that is desired.  

It’s never been easier for PROs to sell, install, service and maintain Rinnai non-condensing tankless water heaters. And for the first time, Rinnai now offers PROs both condensing and non-condensing tankless water heaters with a built in pump to deliver faster hot water at the faucet. 

Rinnai’s brand promise of “Creating a healthier way of living®” is at the forefront of all the company’s efforts. By continuing to offer new and innovative technologies, Rinnai is aiding in providing homes with energy-efficient hot water options for cleaner and healthier living.