When you look at the big picture of hydronic heating on a worldwide basis, one of the most evident trends is migration toward low-temperature distribution systems.
In many parts of the U.S., the summer of 2013 was a banner season for solar energy collection. Many solar thermal systems, especially those in the over-baked western part of the country, undoubtedly collected enough heat that they reached the upper temperature limit of the storage tank and had to dump excess heat.
I was fortunate to grow up in a family where both of my parents lived through the Great Depression of the 1930s. Surviving during that period of American history established strong traits in both my mother and father. Neither was very keen on throwing away anything but absolute garbage.
There’s an old saying: “The devil is in the details.” This could certainly be applied to almost any HVAC system, including those using hydronics technology.