Viega fittings and solar thermal heating – it’s a combination that for AET Solar has proven to be a perfect match. AET Solar, one of the oldest solar manufacturers in the United States, worked on the largest solar thermal project in the country at the time in 2018. Viega played an integral part. The project Read more
ProPress
Viega fittings and solar thermal heating – it’s a combination that for AET Solar has proven to be a perfect match.
AET Solar, one of the oldest solar manufacturers in the United States, worked on the largest solar thermal project in the country at the time in 2018. Viega played an integral part. The project was in Hawaii at the U.S. Army’s Schofield Barracks. AET installed solar water heaters to provide hot water for a portion of the barracks.
There are eight buildings with a total of 560 solar collectors and seven mechanical rooms with custom skid-mounted pumping stations. The installations were done exclusively with Viega ProPress, copper and stainless, and AET was pleased with its choice of Viega.
“For us, it has been phenomenal to use the Viega components,” said Carlos Fernandez-Aballi, Ph.D. and Engineer with AET. “It’s a natural fit between a press fitting and the huge challenge of collecting the energy that the sun provides. Using Viega reduced our installation time and cost significantly.”
AET’s Executive Vice President, Andrew East, was aware of Viega prior to the Schofield Barracks job, and the company was looking for a more secure and labor-savings connection for its collectors.
“There are two attractive things about Viega for us,” Dr. Fernandez-Aballi said. “Once you set it up, there’s a huge savings in labor – thousands and thousands of dollars in savings in labor on a project of this scale. For a big solar collection system like this, you need large flow rates, which means using large-diameter tubing. When you’re talking about sweating large-diameter tubes on the roof in the sun and the wind and everything else, it’s very cumbersome, so a press solution is the ideal way to go.”
Using solar energy for the barracks will provide the Army enormous financial savings. Dr. Fernandez-Aballi explained that solar thermal solutions can provide 70- to 100-percent of water heating, creating huge energy savings over a traditional system. Solar collectors are seven times more efficient than photovoltaic panels and are the most economical alternative to water heating. In a location the size of a military base, the savings are phenomenal.
Viega LLC’s ProPress Automatic Recirculation Balancing Valve ensures a balanced domestic water recirculation system by dynamically changing with varying conditions. The valve can help prevent the growth of legionella bacteria by keeping hot water out of the growth zone temperature of 95°F to 115°F (35°C to 46°C), while still preventing scalding and conserving energy. The Read more
Viega LLC’s ProPress Automatic Recirculation Balancing Valve ensures a balanced domestic water recirculation system by dynamically changing with varying conditions.
The valve can help prevent the growth of legionella bacteria by keeping hot water out of the growth zone temperature of 95°F to 115°F (35°C to 46°C), while still preventing scalding and conserving energy.
The Automatic Recirculation Balancing Valve is a modification of a Viega product that has been used successfully in Europe for years. It helps keep water temperatures more uniform by adjusting flow with changes in temperature. The results are faster hot water delivery, minimized waste energy and water and less stagnation and chance of contamination. Among the valve’s features:
- Unlike with manual valves, temperature can be set once and be maintained automatically. Settings can be changed easily, if needed.
- Can be installed on risers or branches
- Remote monitoring with temperature sensor
- Optional thermometer provides visual indication of valve setting
- Threaded ends allow it to be used with Viega ProPress or Viega PureFlow fittings systems for easy integration with copper or PEX
- Includes bypass for thermal disinfection
Additional accessories that can be used with the valve include a thermometer, drain valve and optional insulation sleeve.
“Viega is committed to providing hot water quickly and efficiently while improving water quality and the new Automatic Recirculation Balancing Valve is a significant step toward that goal,” said Paige Riddle, Senior Manager, Market Manager. “This valve offers more features than any other on the market while requiring minimum work on the part of designers, engineers, installers and building maintenance personnel.”
For more information on the ProPress Automatic Recirculation Balancing Valve, click here.
There’s never a good time to lose hot water in a building – but days before a busy holiday weekend just might be the worst. It’s what happened at a hotel in New Hampshire. Father and son duo Kevin and Hunter Hart were able to get hot water going again for the hotel in just Read more
There’s never a good time to lose hot water in a building – but days before a busy holiday weekend just might be the worst.
It’s what happened at a hotel in New Hampshire. Father and son duo Kevin and Hunter Hart were able to get hot water going again for the hotel in just two days, instead of four or five, by using Viega ProPress.
“It was definitely an emergency. They had two boilers for hot water and two storage tanks. But they’d already lost one of the storage tanks back in the summer and waited to get it fixed, so when the second one went out, they were in a bind,” Kevin Hart said.
“We worked side by side for 14 hours, two days in a row to get it fixed up. But definitely with the Viega press, it cut the job time in half. That hotel could have been without hot water for five days.”
They used 2” to 3” ProPress adapters, elbows, tees and ball valves. They also needed MegaPress G fittings, in sizes ¾” and 1”, for the gas line to the boilers.
After first using Viega for a middle-of-the-night emergency repair a few years ago, Hart said he was hooked. Now he’s teaching 19-year-old Hunter the business. For Hart Plumbing and Heating, owned by Kevin and his brother Robert, the business definitely includes Viega fittings.
“We’ve got 13 guys in our crew and now all the trucks have a press tool and fittings,” Kevin Hart said. “When we do work in commercial buildings and things, it’s much safer to not have to light up torches for repairs. Being able to come in and say we’ll do a job in a short time is a huge plus for our business.”
When meeting a crucial deadline, many contractors know that using Viega products will get the job done well and without worries of missing a deadline. It’s why Moe Saavedra, General Manager of Devix Heating and Cooling in West Allis, Wisconsin, called on Viega ProPress and MegaPress fittings for a boiler repiping project. In September, when Read more
When meeting a crucial deadline, many contractors know that using Viega products will get the job done well and without worries of missing a deadline.
It’s why Moe Saavedra, General Manager of Devix Heating and Cooling in West Allis, Wisconsin, called on Viega ProPress and MegaPress fittings for a boiler repiping project. In September, when a 60-year-old large boiler at the Contessa Apartments in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, quit working, a fix was needed – and fast.
“It was all natural gas, and it was an oversized unit, so we converted the one very large boiler into a staged multi-boiler system,” explained Saavedra. “They work in stages, depending on the outdoor ambient temperature.”
Saavedra said there was a 2 ½” carbon steel water main coming in from the building, but everything else was 2” copper tubing, so his crew used Viega transition fittings to connect 2 ½” carbon steel into 2” copper. Their vendor, Ferguson, helped gather all the parts needed quickly so they could get the work done.
“Viega made this job happen quickly, because typically we’d cut back and use a threaded fitting, but in this situation it was all welded pipe, so MegaPress was the best repair option for this. We’ve used Viega ProPress for about three years, but this was our first time to try MegaPress,” Saavedra said.
Devix Heating and Cooling uses ProPress for nearly all its water heater and boiler repairs and installations. Saavedra said the fittings are a big benefit to the company.
“A job that might take us six days can take us just two or three (with ProPress), which means that it cuts our labor in half. And that means we can pump out twice as much work! It’s a huge win,” he said.
Saavedra admitted that after being introduced to Viega initially, he still wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from the products, but after putting Viega press fittings to work on a job, he became a believer.
“Everyone loved it. The job was done super quick. It was just phenomenal,” he said.
One of Devix’s customers is a building management company in Milwaukee that owns 40 to 50 buildings. The company regularly calls on Devix to do maintenance, repairs and replacement work, such as the Contessa Apartments. Before switching to Viega, Saavedra said they did things “the old school way” via solder and flux. Their clients are seeing the return on investment they’re getting by way of Devix using Viega.
“They love that we can replace a boiler in a day. We’re not a big company, but is allows us to cut and press and we’re done,” he said. “The only reason we can pump out these things so fast is because of Viega.”
New CircuitSolver® Union Assembly ProPress® combines CircuitSolver® balancing technology and Viega ProPress® ends. ThermOmegaTech®, a world leader in the design and manufacture of self-actuating, thermostatic valve technology, adds the CircuitSolver® Union Assembly ProPress® (CSUA-PP) to its distinguished line of products. The CircuitSolver® is a domestic hot water system balancing valve that continuously and automatically adjusts the Read more
New CircuitSolver® Union Assembly ProPress® combines CircuitSolver® balancing technology and Viega ProPress® ends.
ThermOmegaTech®, a world leader in the design and manufacture of self-actuating, thermostatic valve technology, adds the CircuitSolver® Union Assembly ProPress® (CSUA-PP) to its distinguished line of products.
The CircuitSolver® is a domestic hot water system balancing valve that continuously and automatically adjusts the flow through each branch of a water recirculation system to maintain the specified temperature at the end of each branch, regardless of fluctuations in demand. The CSUA-PP combines the CircuitSolver® technology professionals trust and Viega® ProPress® ends for improved ease of installation.
Lauren Berenato, Commercial Plumbing Product Manager at ThermOmegaTech® says, “The CircuitSolver® product line is revolutionizing the plumbing industry by making domestic hot water system balancing automatic and continuous. The CSUA-PP’s Viega® ProPress® ends makes it even easier for tradesmen to implement our technology into their systems, saving them time and labor costs.”
Each CSUA-PP incorporates Viega®’s Smart Connect Technology. Identifiable by a small dot on each ProPress® end, it allows installers to easily identify un-pressed connections during installation. The CircuitSolver® Union Assembly ProPress® is lead-free, resistant to corrosion, and all components are NSF 61 Certified. In addition, each and every CSUA-PP valve is leak tested prior to leaving the factory and comes equipped with a long service life and 3-year warranty.
ThermOmegaTech®’s CircuitSolver® Union Assembly ProPress® is available for purchase through your local representative. For more information visit www.circuitsolver.com or call 877-379-8258.