AHR Expo 2024 is in the books! Early reports stated that roughly 50,000 attendees travelled to Chicago from January 22 through 24 to see the latest and greatest technology that the heating, cooling and plumbing industry has to offer, and they weren’t disappointed.
For those of you who stopped by our booth (we displayed our newest products in booth N2024), thanks for stopping by! For those who couldn’t make it, the strong attendance numbers paint a good picture of how the show floor felt. On Monday, it was sometimes difficult to move from booth to booth. On Tuesday, traffic thinned out enough to make walking around more convenient, but most booths still had plenty of visitors.
Maybe the strong attendance is tribute to Chicago being a great venue for both heating and cooling technologies, or maybe enough time has passed post-pandemic that international travelers are once again comfortable flying to the US. Maybe both?
Another thing we noticed was that there seemed to be a strong showing from installers. The guys and gals in the field were well represented. Here too, we can only speculate, but milder weather during the week of the show (following a stint of severe weather the previous week) may’ve allowed more tradespeople the freedom to go to the show. It could also be that the growing online communities of heating and cooling pros had an impact on attendance. After all, where better to see your online buddies and the industry influencers and experts than AHR?
No matter the reason for solid attendance, it was a good show. For our part, the U.S. Boiler Company booth included three main product exhibits, two of which were existing products that have rapidly gained popularity the field, and a third, just released, that we hope will do the same.
The SteamMax gas-fired steam boiler was onsite, piped up nicely with a drop header. While steam heat isn’t quite as prevalent in the Great Lakes region as it is in PA, NY and New England, there’s still plenty of steam within driving distance of Chicago. Some contractors mentioned that the SteamMax is the update that residential and light commercial steam heating has been begging for. We tend to agree!
Of course, the gas-adaptive Alta and Alta Combi were in the booth. Here too, we enjoyed the feedback, the praise, the questions, and the occasional suggestion. After all, the Alta was built to address the needs of the modern hydronic pro.
Last but certainly not least, the Ambient air-to-water heat pump made a true launch at AHR! There are plenty of units currently installed in various climates for final field testing, but we intentionally kept the system a secret until the show. It really raised eyebrows!
The heat pump is designed and built to provide customers with a great option to efficiently and sustainably heat their homes with electric.
The Ambient heat pump joins the new Ambient electric boiler as part of our Ambient electric heating line. It can be purchased alone or as part of a kit that includes a buffer tank and connections allowing the system to be part of a dual-fuel application. In this scenario, the heat pump can serve as the primary source of heat, allowing a conventional, fossil fuel boiler or an electric boiler to serve as back up or stage two heat.
You can read the heat pump press release here (link), but the quick stats are as follows:
- 5-ton capacity (rated at 60 MBH)
- Outdoor operating temperatures down to -13°F
- COP of up to 3.95 (395% efficiency)
- Supply water temperatures up to 140°F
The show wasn’t all work and product, though! We kicked it off with a rooftop party at The WITT. Despite the big venue, the Burnham Holdings party drew a maximum capacity crowd, where we spent time networking with our customers, reps, wholesalers and industry friends. We even saw some competition among the crowd. Good competitors drive innovation!
U.S. Boiler Company also sponsored the 2024 HVAC Tactical Awards Ceremony, a night of laughter and recognition among industry leaders, top-tier manufacturers, influencers and friends. We were proud to support this event on Monday night because HVAC Tactical’s goal is to elevate the trades.
Next year, the AHR Expo will be held in Orlando, February 10, 11 and 12. Again, if you stopped by our booth to say hello or look at new product, thanks for visiting. We hope you all returned home safely and in good time. Until next year!
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