Expert PHCP-PVF & HVAC Consulting Service
Expert PHCP-PVF & HVAC Consulting Service
Meet Dave Yates
Dave Yates began his career in the PHCP-PVF trades in 1972 with F. W. Behler, a third-generation plumbing/ HVAC firm he purchased in 1985. Besides running F.W. Behler, writing articles for industry trade publications and speaking at events, Yates also is an experienced teacher in the hydronics industry, serving as an adjunct professor and on the Technical Advisory Board for the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology. Dave is available to serve as an expert witness for PHCP-PVF & HVAC cases. You can Contact Dave Here or Learn More About Dave and Yates Consulting LLC here
Years of Industry Experience
Years of Consulting Experience
% Growth of FW Behler Sales '85-'19
Number of Industry Certifications
Dave Yates News and Articles
What’s in your radiant toolbox?
Ensure you do the job right the first time. "All I ever do is staple-up." That was my friend and competitor’s response after he asked me to determine why a recent radiant heating installation was not working satisfactorily because the owners were ticked off. Staple-up...
The Christmas turkey and the drain snake
The perils of industrial strength acids. Forty-eight years ago, I learned a valuable lesson as a plumbing apprentice. I had just begun my career in the mechanical trades when I was dispatched to lend a hand cleaning a kitchen sink drain in an apartment building. ...
Déjà vu
Do your customers a favor by educating them on the issues of PB piping. For you younger tradesfolk who have entered into a mechanical career within the past 20 years, you may never have encountered PB (polybutylene) tubing and fittings. To tell you the truth, it’s...
Dominoes
Failure of one part of a hydronic radiant system can cause the entire row to fall. The exhaust line should have a minimum of 1/4" fall per foot. Condensate is pushed forward and will pool potentially causing a safety lockout. As a designer/installer of any hydronic...
Honesty
The essential foundation for your business. Honesty is such a lonely word (from the song, “Honesty” by Billy Joel). It never ceases to amaze me when folks we deal with are not honest. As a new apprentice in 1972, Paul Strayer and I were doing demolition work...
The doctor is in
Contractors offer customers peace of mind with solutions to indoor comfort and plumbing problems. How to become a psychologist and therapist in one easy lesson: Open a mechanical contracting firm! With absolutely no disrespect intended towards those who are degreed in...
Heat pump mayhem
Two 2.5-ton air-to-water heat pumps were installed with each one connected to a 50-gallon indirect water heater. Both systems incorporated solar heat exchangers and there was a vacuum tube solar array mounted on the roof to, according to the installer, provide 100% of...
Corporate grand entrance
Success doesn’t happen by accident. After being contacted by the general contractor, we met on site to go over the possibility of installing a snowmelt system for the more than 2,000-square-feet of sidewalks, which also included two ADA-sloped approaches to the grand...
Deal or no deal
Crunch the numbers and have documented proof, then no one can argue. An architect, insulation installers, door and window salespersons/installers, and a mechanical contractor are in a classroom together, and the instructor asks: “Should you upgrade the building...
Figure it out
Ask Dave, he’ll know.” I had just walked into the inside sales area to give our salesman a list to quote. A friendly competitor was looking for answers and one of the salesmen told him to ask me for my thoughts. He had recently installed a new boiler with five zones...