The three sons of New York-based manufacturers rep Rathe Associates are ready for the future.

What impresses many Western visitors to China is the massive scale of public events, product quantities and population. Other impressions include the hazy air quality and limits on potable water at the taps in public restrooms.

During my three decades in the hydronics industry, I’ve heard terms that upon close scrutiny don’t accurately represent a concept or device. I even admit to using some of these terms myself, usually before I understood exactly what they meant, or considered what they might imply.

Here are top products from 12 different manufacturers that were featured in editorial coverage in Supply House Times in 2011.

I began writing about hydronic systems for Supply House Times’ parent company BNP Media about 16 years ago. Back then, each column was created on a boxy little Macintosh computer with a 9-in. screen, printed on a dot matrix printer and saved on a 3.5-in. floppy disk. Every month, a printed copy of the column along with the floppy disk were mailed to the editors.