My Mom used to say, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all” - but apparently, not all Mom’s say that.

Last February, UMA / Heliocol released their 2012 Solar Pool Heating Comparison vs. Aquatherm products which we rebutted with our own counterclaim comparison. Next, Heliocol took a stab at additional competitors with a <a title="Compare Heliocol to Others" href="http://www.heliocol.com/heliocol-vs" target="_blank">“Heliocol vs.” page on their website</a>. I addressed the inaccuracies repeatedly with Victor Eyal, who at the time was the President and CEO of UMA / Heliocol USA, but to no avail. After a heated conversation with Victor at Intersolar in July that went nowhere, I decide to take to take it up with Victor’s apparent successor, Itzik Amar from Magen Eco-Energy in Israel. I met with Itzik briefly at the SLASH Show in Brisbane at the end of July and he indicated that he would address any issues I had. Four months later, nothing on the site has changed.

I will be seeing Itzik again next week at Piscine in Lyon, but I am not optimistic. To that end, we have put together the following counterclaims to the false and misleading information on the Heliocol site.<!--more-->

<strong>More Heat</strong> – As stated in the disclaimer, Heliocol is using the SRCC Category A (-9 degrees F) / Clear Day (2,000 Btu’s per day) rating. As I’m sure you are aware, these conditions would represent a pool temperature of 85 degrees F with an air temperature of 9 degrees higher, or 94 degrees F with 2,000 Btu’s per day of insolation. These conditions can be compared to Florida in June in terms of both temperature and solar radiation; hardly a set of circumstances where pool heating is even necessary.

Category B (+9 degrees F) / 1,500 Btu’s would mimic a pool temperature of 85 degrees and an air temperature of 76 degrees F; a time when pool heating is needed the most. At this rating, Aquatherm products are rated <strong>85% more efficient than Heliocol.</strong>

<strong> </strong><strong>Better Warranty</strong> – Heliocol states that an Aquatherm panel is covered by a ten-year warranty with labor and that Heliocol covers the panel, plus parts and labor. As you know, any of our flagship collectors and parts are warranted for 12 years when installed by an authorized Aquatherm Industries Master Dealer. Additionally, Aquatherm does offer an optional 12-year labor warranty when a system is purchased through an authorized Master Dealer.

<strong>No Muss, No Fuss </strong>– Heliocol states that all Heliocol components are manufactured using “medical grade plastic” and that Aquatherm connects its panel with “radiator type hoses”. I have inquired with numerous industry sources about what makes a plastic “medical grade” and have found that there is no such accepted designation within the industry. In other words, it appears that this claim is completely made up. As for the description of our collector connectors, they are made from a specially formulated, dual-durometer material and are patent-pending, not corded-reinforced radiator hose as implied.

<strong>More Choices</strong> – Initially, Heliocol’s terracotta and grey collectors require as much as 30% more surface area when compared to black collectors. Additionally, because they can not use carbon black, a proven UV degradation blocker, they have been known to fade, which will further reduce performance.

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<strong>Follow the Leader</strong> – Heliocol indicates that they are an ISO registered company. We attempted to verify their claim with the International Standards Organization, but they do not list Heliocol as an ISO registered company. Only a company can be ISO registered – not a product.

Magen Eco-Energy is listed as being ISO 14000 registered, which is when a company agrees to operate in an environmentally friendly fashion; turn off lights, recycle, etc. This registration has nothing to do with product quality. Heliocol as a product again, is not ISO registered.

Heliocol further indicates that Aquatherm products received their NSF-50 listing in 2011, the same year as the Helicol product. In fact, Aquatherm products received their NSF-50 system listing in September of 2010 and the Helicol product was not listed until June of 2011. And mind you, that listing occurred only after Heliocol was issued two regulatory actions by NSF for falsely promoting the Helicol product as being NSF-50 listed.

Lastly, the material used to manufacture Heliocol collectors is in fact NSF-61 listed, but only since 2011, not 2009. This listing is based an “open method” test with potable water – not in a closed recirculating system under swimming pool water conditions. This listing has no validity in a swimming pool environment.

<strong>More Satisfied Customers</strong> – Heliocol indicates that Aquatherm has produced only 25 million square feet of panel area vs. 60 million for Helicol. Their source for this information was an Aquatherm press release that was for only two of our product lines, Sunlite and Ecolite produced between 2000 and 2011. Though we do not openly disclose Aquatherm’s total sales, our total collector sales for all of our solar pool heating product lines has far exceed the 60 million square feet that Helicol claims it has produced.

<strong>Protect Your Roof</strong> – Heliocol indicates that Aquatherm panels are of a “monolithic” design. The definition of monolithic is a solid or impenetrable shape. Aquatherm panels are not monolithic, but vented to allow for wind relief and venting of the mounting surface, such as a roof.

They also claim that their plastic Gator clamp allows for fewer penetrations to the roof. In fact, each Gator clamp requires two penetrations, and Heliocol recommends four per collector, for a total of eight penetrations per collector. Aquatherm’s standard installation with stainless steel mounting hardware requires just four penetrations and up to eight for high-wind installations.

Lastly, we would like to address two new Heliocol collectors; the <strong>eco-Flare </strong>and <strong>ECO-Spark</strong>. The Flare is a glazed, vented box version of the SunStar product – it was certified in May of 2011 and is being marketed as a domestic water heating product. The Spark, just introduced this summer, is a semi-glazed version of the Heliocol collector. This product is being heavily marketed as a “super-collector” for solar pool heating. The product uses a rectangular polycarbonate glazing over the loose tubes which end several inches from each header. This product has also entered the DIY market in a 2 x 4 ft. size through Maytronics – an Israeli pool cleaner manufacturer. They are promoting that one unit can heat an above ground pool up to 21 ft. diameter and two units for a 21 ft. or over, or a 15 x 30 ft. oval pool. We’ve even seem them marketed for inground pool with three recommended for a 16 x 32 ft. pool and four, for an 18 x 36 ft. pool.

Even with a pool temperature at 85 degrees and the air at 76 degrees F, the only thing a glazing does is block sunlight from hitting the absorber surface. There is no “greenhouse effect” as claimed. As time goes on, the glazing will even begin to loose some of its transmitivity, so performance will even get worse.

The SRCC ratings for each of these products can be downloaded using this link: <a href="http://www.aquathermindustries.com/portal/news/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/New-HC-Product-SRCC-Ratings.pdf">Heliocol New Product SRCC Ratings</a>

Referring again to Category B at 1,500 Btu’s, the Flare is rated at 15,400 Btu’s / 24.22 sq. ft., or .6 and the Spark at 30,600 Btu’s / 42.64 sq. ft., or .7. Since Aquatherm’s rating in this category is .9, <strong>our rating is 50% higher than the Flare and 29% higher than the Spark</strong>.

As I mentioned, I’ll be in Lyon, France next week at Piscine 2012 – the largest swimming pool show in the world, which only occurs every two years. This is the 10<sup>th</sup> time since 1994 that Aquatherm has exhibited. I know it sounds glamorous, but the Expo is four days, from 9 to 6 everyday. Add to that an hour metro / bus ride to the convention center, plus a six-hour time difference and some of the glamour starts to fade. Speaking of the time difference (Jim, Tom Lane, and Bill Park – listen up), no 5 pm cell phone calls please!