As electrification reshapes the HVAC market, hydronic-based heating and cooling systems stand ready to offer plenty of design and performance benefits. One of them is the potential for thermal storage. After all, water is one of the best materials on earth for storing sensible heat.

The goal of electrification is to shift most of the energy currently supplied by fossil fuels to electricity produced by renewable sources such as large scale solar photovoltaic systems and wind turbine “farms.” We’re moving in that direction, albeit at a slower pace than desired by some politicians and climate activists, and arguably at a faster pace than engineers responsible for stable electric grids are comfortable with. I expect this trend will continue, but I don’t expect that the utopian notion of eliminating all fossil fuels will occur in my lifetime.