I know that some wholesalers still size equipment and design systems for their contractor customers, but I wondered to what degree this still goes on nowadays. So I asked on The Wall at HeatingHelp.com, where there is a very large (and never shy) contractor base. A very large member base there and The Wallies are never shy) contractor base. Here’s some of what I learned:
“When I started in the business back in the 1980s,” the first contractor said, “the local supplier had a very knowledgeable guy named Jack. Jack likely designed the heating systems for about half the houses in my area that were built in the 1960s and 1970s. Jack never undersized a boiler or a heat emitter (cast-iron radiators in the ‘60s and hot-water baseboard in the ‘70s). As Jack aged he taught a few other people on the staff his methods, which he likely learned in college in the late 1950s.