Burnham Hydronics, Lancaster, PA, hosted an editor's conference last September to highlight a recent multimillion-dollar investment to improve the company's manufacturing capacity, stock inventory and also to announce a new parts service and several new products.

New machinery at several points along the assembly line is designed to meet increased demand. And to help its wholesaler customers, Burnham also leased a new building to stock boilers.

"The amount fluctuates," Burnham Hydronics President Denis Marino said, "but we have a month's worth of stock on hand during the heating season. It's one thing to have our products readily available in May, but quite another to have them ready immediately in November."

In addition to new products, Burnham Hydronics created a new centralized distribution center stocking boiler parts. Hydrosource currently stocks, packages and ships all parts for Burnham boilers, including parts made from other companies, such as Honeywell and Beckett. Burnham Hydronics also has plans to stock installation accessories, related hydronic heating system parts and other parts that are not readily available. All Hydrosource orders go through wholesale distribution.

Burnham Hydronics also unveiled several new products:

• The Revolution" II gas-fired, cast iron boiler has an AFUE rating of more than 90%. A stainless steel heat recovery unit and a secondary heat exchanger with diamond pin configuration on the left-end cast iron section boost the boiler's efficiency.

• The MPO, an oil-fired boiler, will be on the market sometime in the first quarter of 2005. The high-efficiency boiler uses a three-pass design, common in many European boilers, and has an AFUE of 87%.

• A new heat distribution line includes four radiant products. The Convectray"