Selling Hydronics: How Wholesalers Can Create Contractor Demand for Hydronics Systems

“The reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.”
— Mark Twain, after reading his own obituary, June 2, 1897

I've always enjoyed this Mark Twain story, and from the news I am hearing from contractors, this same quote could apply to the opportunity that hydronic — and more specifically, radiant heat — is currently bringing everyone associated with the comfort industry. I've recently heard from contractors in California, Texas and Tennessee, as well as the more traditional hydronic outposts in the Midwest and Northeast, all telling me that consumers are driving them to provide hydronic and radiant heating solutions even in this challenging economy.

It seemed like just yesterday when hydronic heating systems appeared to most HVACR contractors like a dinosaur slowly waiting to die. Many had written boiler systems off as a fossil of the comfort industry. Contractors were retrofitting wet heat systems with what was thought at the time to be more “efficient” forced-air systems in record numbers.

For those of you who like underdog comeback stories, the emergence and renaissance of hydronic solutions happening right at this point in time rank up there with being as unlikely as the 1980 United States Olympic ice hockey team beating the Russians. As unusual as it may seem, homeowners, engineers, green builders and contractors have put hydronic systems on the “most wanted” poster for comfort and energy efficiency solutions for home-owners today. In fact, growth in radiant heating, particularly in the United States in the last 10 years, has been 100 percent to 200 percent a year.

Yes, the emergence of new equipment and some pretty cool engineering creativity have made the same principles the ancient Romans used to heat their bathhouses 2,000 years ago the new “in” thing to have for the family of the new millennium. The push for greener energy consumption, better comfort and the perceived higher-quality equipment is mainly responsible for this resurgence. Who could argue that the new generation of hydronic heating equipment cannot only compete with but really blow away what forced air can do from a total system efficiency standpoint? Plus it still offers the unlimited flexibility of applications that has always been part of the hydronic heating industry.

With all the hoopla going on, what is standing in the way of the opportunity for contracting professionals in the United States? As much as contractors talk a good game when it comes to these systems, they are far behind their European counterparts, who have clearly taken hydronic and radiant heat to the front burner. In fact, the industry in the United States is less than 10 percent of what it is in Europe.

To borrow a line from the movie Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come.” I really believe that the hydronics industry manufacturers have done a great job of not standing pat. The significant increase in not only the sheer number of applications but also in the technology of the solutions available today boggles the mind. It is the local HVACR supplier who is ultimately responsible for filtering all of this information on what is now available to contractors to perform their job of selling it to the public.