Newsletter:  November 2005 a "We can offer this as a water saving and money saving product. In Santa Rosa it would lower your water bill and also your sewer charge." – Jim Kempers, LeDuc & Dexter Residential Manager, speaking about Sterling Rockton toilet. "The project also has a tight schedule and Andrews & Thornley has had everything very well organized to make it all work." – Bill Zeeb, LeDuc & Dexter Commercial Manager, talking about the Harvest Inn project in St. Helena. "This could be a 60% savings on natural gas use for the school." – Tom Schefer, LeDuc & Dexter Hydronics Department Manager, speaking about the Munchkin boilers installed at St. Vincent High School in Petaluma.

Sterling Toilets – Efficiently Conserving Water

Residential

When the subjects of ecology, the environment and conservation come up the construction industry does not come to mind immediately as a positive force for change. Not unless you consider the energy saving materials used to build with or the alternative energy systems available to the homeowner or the water saving products the plumbing industry is perfecting.

Since the 1992 water usages laws introduced the 1.6-gallon, low-flow toilet model to replace the standard 3.5-gallon toilet numerous engineering improvements have made water conservation the norm in residential housing. "The first round of low-flow toilets was not quite ready for prime-time. Customer complaints were many and plumbers were in the bad position of installing products that nobody wanted to use. Recently, in the wonderful world of plumbing, things have changed with new and updated products," writes Terry Love of Love Plumbing & Remodeling in Bellevue, Washington in his online low-flow toilet report.

DUAL FORCE TANK INTERIOR Flapperless, Dual Force flush valve with durable valve system design ensures long-term operation and reliability.

TWO-BUTTON ACTUATOR 1.6-gallon, left and .8-gallon, right.

One of these new and improved products is the Sterling Rockton toilet with Dual Force technology that offers a choice for every flush, 1.6- or .8-gallon water consumption, which can save an average family of four up to an amazing 25,000 gallons of water each year. Jim Kempers, Residential Manager for LeDuc & Dexter has this to say about the Sterling Rockton toilet, "We can offer this as a water saving and money saving product. In Santa Rosa it would lower your water bill and also your sewer charge."

The Sterling Rockton toilet has a two-button actuator, one button for each, the .8-gallon and 1.6-gallon, flushing mechanisms. Flushing with the .8-gallon water level saves the average family of four up to 6,000 additional gallons of water each year. Because of the technology and engineering this toilet is as efficient as the old 3.5-gallon toilet in flushing power. With advances like this the plumbing industry and companies like LeDuc & Dexter are quietly positioning themselves as water conservation advocates. (**Trapway changes from 2" at the outlet to 2 1/2" at its largest point to provide exceptional one-flush performance.)

Harvest Inn – Phase Two

Commercial

The bucolic surroundings of the Harvest Inn on the left are next to the new buildings on the right. (click image to enlarge)

After a three-month hiatus LeDuc & Dexter's commercial department is back on the job at the Harvest Inn in St. Helena. Phase one of the project was completed in June. Then the project was stopped during the summer tourist season to accommodate guests at the 54-room wine country resort. Construction noise and dust settled during the break in an effort to not annoy vacationing guests at the Harvest Inn and now construction has resumed under the leadership of Andrews & Thornley, Inc., the general contractor on the project.

The project consists of three lodges that will contain 20 guest rooms and a community room for meetings and events. "This is a very sensitive construction site," says Bill Zeeb, Commercial Department Manager for LeDuc & Dexter, "We had to move very quickly during phase one when we completed the underground plumbing and then we moved everything out including our trailer. Now we've moved everything back in. The site has very limited access with a narrow driveway going into the construction site. The project also has a tight schedule and Andrews & Thornley has had everything very well organized to make it all work."

The community building will be used for meetings and events. It has a 16-foot ceiling. (click image to enlarge)

One of three lodges that will add a total of 20 new guest rooms to the Harvest Inn. (click image to enlarge)

The roofing for the four new structures is being completed before the heavy rains sets in. The compact construction site has been kept immaculate to allow movement of cranes, vehicles and personnel in and out of the site and within the confines of the future courtyard located in the center area of the new addition that will give the Harvest Inn a total of 74 guest rooms overall.

The St. Helena area has become a hot spot of activity for LeDuc & Dexter's commercial department. The dormitory for the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone was recently completed at the other end of town on Pratt Road with Wright Contracting, and construction is scheduled to start at Grace Episcopal Church in town with James Nolan Construction.

LeDuc & Dexter's Skip Caster and Bianca Perez go over the plans for the kitchen area of the community room. (click image to enlarge)

LeDuc & Dexter's Brandon Curtis cutting vent piping. (click image to enlarge)	Brandon Curtis installing vent piping moments later. (click image to enlarge)	LeDuc & Dexter's James Dillard installing more vent piping. (click image to enlarge)

Years of Experience & Expertise

Hydronics

LeDuc & Dexter's hydronic department is officially into the "boiler season". With colder weather come the phone calls for boiler repairs and replacements. This is crunch time for the hydronic department because boiler problems and down time can cause discomfort and hardship for homeowners as well as production loss for businesses. Tom Schefer, LeDuc & Dexter Hydronic Department Manager, has an impressive team that includes Yvonne Burch, Service Supervisor, who has 18 years of hydronic experience.

Tom Schefer, LeDuc & Dexter Hydronic Manager, has 33 years of experience in hydronics.

Yvonne Burch, LeDuc & Dexter's Hydronic Service Supervisor, has 18 years of experience in hydronics. Here she works on a hydronic floor heating manifold. (click image to enlarge)

"Yvonne Burch is an expert on the laptop computer for Munchkin boiler service and troubleshooting," says Schefer, "She has made repairs on all kinds of boilers, from very small types to boilers that run wineries and manufacturing plants. Yvonne is also training Bianca Perez, an apprentice, to become a service technician and run her own truck." Tom Schefer, who has been in the hydronic business for 33 years, also has his son Brad Schefer working in the hydronic department. Brad is experienced in repair and installation and has 11 years of experience in hydronics.

One of the recent hydronic projects took place at St. Vincent High School in Petaluma. "We replaced two very inefficient boilers. We took out two old Ajax boilers and a 500-gallon storage tank. We installed two Munchkin 399 M boilers, which can produce 399,000 B.T.U. We also put in a new vent system. This could be a 60% savings on natural gas use for the school. We're going to monitor their PG&E bill to compare it," says Schefer.

LeDuc & Dexter's hydronic department installed these two Munchkin 339 M boilers at St. Vincent High School in Petaluma. (click image to enlarge)

LeDuc & Dexter's hydronic department installed a new, more efficient vent system on the right. The old vent system is on the left. (click image to enlarge)

Schefer figured the heat calculations by sizing out the rooms in the school and estimating 35,000 B.T.U. for each classroom and then tallied the number of rooms for the total B.T.U. requirement. Based on that information the two Munchkin 399 M boilers running in a lead lag system to share the heating load was the perfect solutions – one of the many solutions that the experience and expertise of the LeDuc & Dexter hydronic department will come up with during this year's "boiler season".