Matt McLean, Hayter’s newest employee presented information on solar power and described the benefits of solar energy for homes and farms.  Following the presentation, significant interest was shown in the solar division that Hayter’s started late last summer.

Dueling Pianos from Detroit was the entertainment for the evening!  They were a dynamic pair who played and entertained the crowd with their wonderful musical talents and making sure everyone was participating and having fun!

During the evening, Chad Hayter introduced the Hayter Foundation.  Over $10,000.00 was raised that night from customers and key suppliers.  This money will support community initiatives and an endowment will be established at local high schools for students who will be continuing their education in the trades of refrigeration, plumbing and heating.

The evening was a huge success so Hayter’s will be doing a similar event in the future.  Donations will be accepted all year long and charitable receipts will be given.

About Hayter Plumbing & Heating

Hayter Plumbing & Heating was established in 1952.  We have served our customers in Southwestern Ontario with all their needs for heating, cooling, water well repairs to all the latest in plumbing needs.

We have experienced several changes but perhaps our largest one was the ground source heating and cooling.  In 1983 we started installing geothermal heat pumps and the business has continued to grow to become one of Ontario’s largest Waterfurnace install and service company.

In 2009, Hayter’s won the Sarnia Lambton Chamber of Commerce “Large Business of the Year” award.

Our most recent recognition is one of the first Ontario Companies to achieve GeoPro status for their dedication to the Waterfurnace Geothermal Industry.

The Hayter Group, formerly known as Hayter Plumbing and Heating, started in 1952 as installers of indoor plumbing, boilers, cattle feeders and eavestroughing. In 2003, with the help of the Sarnia-Lambton Business Development Corporation, they began work on a formal business plan that put them on the road to extraordinary growth and the recent recognition of their success.

“The Hayter Group is truly a success story that should be recognized and celebrated,” said Mike McDonough, general manager of the Sarnia-Lambton Business Development Corporation. “In six short years, this business has grown exponentially and has been appropriately recognized for sales and business excellence.”

A large part of their success story hangs on geothermal heating and cooling, an economical and environmentally-friendly form of home and business comfort. The Hayter Group was one of the original suppliers and installers of geothermal in Ontario, beginning their relationship with the product over 25 years ago when the environment wasn’t the focus that it is today.

“If it wasn’t for my dad, we wouldn’t be into geothermal,” explained Chad Hayter, president of The Hayter Group. “He got the company involved long before I took over the company.”

“It’s always been important to consider the environment when making business decisions,” said Jim Hayter, Chad’s father, original owner of The Hayter Group and the man behind the decision to get into geothermal over 25 years ago. “As a heating and cooling company, we have the opportunity to influence the choices available to people for their home comfort. Getting into geothermal over 25 years ago was seen as a real risk, but time has shown it was the right decision.”

“Unlike other companies that have recently gotten into geothermal because of all the grants and rebates, The Hayter Group was one of the first,” he added. “This gives us more knowledge and experience than any other company in the area.”

Geothermal uses the heat naturally stored in the earth to heat homes in the winter and puts heat back into the earth to cool in the summer. The systems do not burn any fossil fuels, providing safe, reliable comfort without flames, fumes or the threat of carbon monoxide poisoning. The WaterFurnace geothermal systems installed by The Hayter Group can save home and business owners up to 70% off their heating and cooling bills. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, geothermal systems are the most energy efficient, cost effective and environmentally‐friendly space conditioning systems available.

Through Eden Energy Equipment Ltd., the top distributor for WaterFurnace geothermal systems in North America, The Hayter Group was recognized for the top WaterFurnace sales in Ontario.

“We are incredibly proud to have The Hayter Group as part of the WaterFurnace dealer network. Their commitment to WaterFurnace is very apparent with their tremendous sales last year,” said Grant Blackmore, president of Eden Energy Equipment Ltd.

Over the last year of stock market crashes and recession, WaterFurnace Renewable Energy Inc., makers of the geothermal heating and cooling systems sold and installed by The Hayter Group, has been consistently increasing its sales and stock presence, according to InvestorGuide.com. Waterfurnace stocks have shown positive growth over the year when compared to the Standard & Poore 500 (S&P500).

“I think this really says something,” commented Chad Hayter. “When we’re in a recession and other companies are struggling, WaterFurnace keeps increasing its sales. Whether it is the quality of the product, the attention to the environment or Hayter’s great customer service, it remains that this is a great way to heat and cool your home with savings on your monthly bills and protection for the environment.”

Various levels of government currently offer grants and rebates up to $11,000 when a geothermal system is installed.

Keeping their eye on environmentally-friendly and renewable sources of energy for homes and businesses, The Hayter Group is looking to a future that includes solar energy as part of their product and service delivery.

ABOUT THE HAYTER GROUP

Headquartered in Alvinston, Ontario and serving Lambton, Kent, Middlesex and western Elgin counties, The Hayter Group works with leading suppliers in heating, cooling and plumbing. They are proud of their record in eco-energy. They sell and install only high-efficiency heating and cooling products. Their staff numbers have grown 200% year over year to continue to supply their customers with the best in technicians and customer service. Shute Geothermal is a subsidiary of The Hayter Group.

Business Owner Wins Award

Posted By TARA HAGAN, THE OBSERVER
Click here for full article

Maria Nassiokas is living her dream: operating her own, successful clothing store.

So it’s no surprise the local 27-year-old was thrilled last week when she was awarded the Outstanding Business Achievement Award for Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

“I’m very excited, and I appreciate the fact that I was nominated,” said Nassiokas, who runs “LUX butik” on London Road in Sarnia.

“This is my dream, and I’m happy to have the community behind me.”

Nassiokas, who earned a bachelor of commerce from McMaster University and Fashion Merchandising at George Brown College, opened the store in the fall of 2007, and has earned a solid customer base.

The trendy boutique offers brand name clothing as well as private labels from Los Angeles.

“I’m lucky that I have a lot of connections with suppliers, support and networking,” said Nassiokas, who worked in fashion in both in Toronto and overseas.

“And I like the fact that I’m able to develop my own ideas, make decisions, and go ahead with them.”

Nassiokas joined a number of others for the 20th anniversary of the Sarnia-Lambton Chamber of Commerce OBA awards, held March 27.

The winners also included:

* Employee Relations — sponsor NOVA Chemicals: McDonalds Restaurant

* Young Ent repreneur — sponsor Sarnia Lambton Business Development Corporation: Maria Nassiokas — LUX butik

* Business Leadership — sponsor Sarnia Lambton Economic Partnership: Rich Bouchard — Innivity Marketing Group

* Technology & Innovation — sponsored by Bell Aliant: IMAP Audits Inc.

* Marketing & Promotions — sponsored by Innivity Marketing Group: Breast Cancer Society of Canada

* George Wood Jr. Volunteer of the Year — sponsor Imperial Theatre: Julianne Higdon — Enterprising Women Marketing & Design

* Not-for-Profit — sponsor LEHDER Environmental: Community Living Sarnia Lambton

* Customer Service — Individual sponsored by CIBC: Paola Ventresca — Alcove Gift & Art Gallery

* Customer Service — Small sponsored by RBC: Oxford Street

* Customer Service — Medium sponsored by Best Western Guildwood Inn: McKenzie & Blundy Funeral Home & Cremation Centre

* Customer Service — Large sponsored by OPG: Paddy Flaherty’s

* Business of the Year Small sponsor Bluewater Power

* Business of the Year Large — sponsor Assante Wealth Management: Hayter Plumbing & Heating.

Monday night we were also the finalists for the Canadian Geo Exchange Coalition (CGC) award for innovation. This award has to do with the chicken barn featured on other news articles in this area.

Canadian Geo Exchange Coalition award for innovation

At the 2006 Western Ontario Farm Show in London, Ontario, as usual we had our display demonstrating the benefits of geothermal to our rural customers. Traditionally we have been a residential hi efficient heating and cooling company, since 1983 we have installed WaterFurnace brand geothermal products. Because of the cost of heating barns we knew that there would someday be a market for geothermal heating due to the increase in energy costs.

At the show I talked to a very progressive chicken and hog farmer who was doubling his chicken barn to 32,000 square feet which he planned to heat with radiant floor heat. I mentioned to him that we could put a package together that would make financial and environmental sense. The customer was a little hesitant as he was already building the addition and planned to install wall mount natural gas boilers.  He had thought about geothermal before, but the contractors he talked to said they would put a package together, but never did.

We went straight to work on a design with a few challenges already in place; A chicken barn does not have a continuous heat supply, when the chicks are small the temperature in the barn needs to reach 90* F, then drop slowly until the birds are large enough to produce almost all the heat themselves.  This cycle continues year round. Ventilation is also a big factor in the heat demand time frame, the balance has to be matched, the more ventilation the better the chicks will do, but the more ventilation will increases the cost of heating.

The old part of the barn was also to be heated by geothermal (built in 2002) it already had the floor heat installed and working, but the radiant floor heat loops were almost double what we had ever worked with before at 600 feet each.   The 1.25” underground piping was already in place feeding the new addition which was only 1 ¼” feeding an area of 18,000 square feet!

Three phase power was not available from the road, smaller single phase units would have to be installed, but there simply was not enough space to install the units in the barn. The only sheltered area we had to work with was a generator room 20’ away. For this to work we had to install 2” insulated underground piping through the slab on grade and below a 4.5’ foundation wall, the customer also wanted the piping to be as close to the wall as possible. The loop field piping also had to come up through the existing slab, not an easy challenge in an existing building.

The largest challenge of all was the incorporation of the geothermal units with the existing boiler system to work only when required. In our calculations the natural gas boiler needed to come on to support the heat load. Upon investigation with the WaterFurnace design team in Indiana they suggested we either go with 100% geothermal or natural gas boilers, they had never heard of our idea of using two different heat sources with hot water. With determination a call was made to Oklahoma State University, but they had no experience with a large scale chicken barn, they suggested there was no reason it won’t work, but they didn’t know how to design such a system.

Our Company together with Noble Trade (plumbing wholesaler) came up with a plan to incorporate a boiler as backup, set up on an outdoor thermostat. The heat for the floor heat would come primarily from 4 WaterFurnace EW60 hot water geothermal heat pumps, with two 120 gallon insulated storage tanks. The geothermal units are controlled by a Tekmar 264 boiler controller to stagger the start times of the units and monitor the temperature of the storage tanks.

When one of the four floor heat zones has a call for heat a signal is sent to the manifold pump, which signals the Tekmar 365 variable speed injection pump to start and regulate the predetermined temperature. The injection pump pulls the hot water from the generator room storage tanks, and the Tekmar stage controller determines if the boiler needs to start and supply more hot water.

The loop bed consisted of individual piping to each unit with 1.25” supply and return piping. We used a local plow style tiling machine to install 14,400’ of  ¾” pipe.  The field drainage tiles could not be located and the customer did not want a large excavator brought in to ‘dig up his farm’ he is quite particular and was concerned about mixing topsoil with sub soil.
Our company has over 550 man hours involved in this project and it has worked better than we expected, the owner is very surprised at how little it is costing him to heat the barn.  In fact he has doubled the size of the barn, but it is costing him less to operate (he did add more insulation and hi efficient lighting as well).

This system was the first large geothermal heat chicken barn known in North America. The media attention has been great, there was a report for the South African Alternative Energy newsletter, and the story has been featured on the front page of Ontario’s leading farm publication (the Ontario Farmer).  It also prompted the London Free Press to make a four page report on our company and how geothermal heating is benefiting the areas residential market.

The Ontario government has taken an interest in this project as well, giving the owner the Premiers award of Agri-food excellence.  The owner also received the 2007 Innovative Farmer of the year award for his unique geothermal installation.

Since completing this project we have completed another 18,000 square foot chicken barn, are mid way completing a 450’ x 60’ 5 unit chicken barn, have a contract signed for the first sow barn installation.  The future also looks promising with a retrofit two storey chicken barn being converted to geothermal and one more new chicken barn being built later this year.

With the release of Stephane Dion’s new Green Shift tax paper, rural Ontarians are thinking, front and centre, about the costs to heat and cool their homes.

According the Liberal’s Green Shift Handbook, “Energy requirements are often higher in rural Canada and in the North, so we will provide specific assistance to rural Canadians to help them adjust to higher fuel prices.” With this recognition of higher costs in rural Canada, the Dion plan is offering a Green Rural Credit of $150 for every rural Canadian.

Dion’s carbon tax will apply at the wholesale level to the full range of fossil fuels such as coal (including that used to produce electricity), propane, natural gas, oil and diesel, based on their level of carbon emissions. These increased taxes at the wholesale level will be recovered from the pockets of the customer.

Some of the increases households will see by year four of the plan include a $266 increase in the average energy bill of a home heated by natural gas and a $203 increase for a home heated with oil. For many rural residents, their older, sometimes larger homes will see increases above the average.

With a defined plan for the increases in tax applied, the Liberal party believes, according to their handbook that, “By starting with a low price that rises predictably over time, both businesses and individuals will have the time that they need to adjust their sources of energy and invest in low emission technologies.”

One of the more popular low emission technologies rural residents are investigating is geothermal heating and cooling systems. Not only does a geothermal system cut energy expenses to heat and cool a home or business by 70%, but there are currently government grants and rebates worth approximately $8,000 available to help pay for a geothermal installation.

“Geothermal systems use the earth?s natural warmth to heat your home in the winter,” explains Chad Hayter, owner of The Hayter Group, one of Ontario?s leading suppliers of the geothermal technology. “Then in the summer, the heat is taken out of the home and put back into the earth so you get the cooling effect of air conditioning.”

As eco-energy experts, The Hayter Group has focused much of their business’ attention on the value of geothermal to rural and small town residents. They are accredited geothermal installers and have installed over 400 miles of underground geothermal piping with the positive environmental impact of planting over 750,000 trees and taking over 5,800 vehicles off the road. Located in Alvinston, The Hayter Group serves Lambton, Middlesex, West Elgin and Kent counties.

To learn more about the savings geothermal systems offer and the government grants and rebates currently available, an information session is taking place in:

* Petrolia, Petrolia Legion, Tuesday, September 16 at 7 p.m.
* Ridgetown, Ridgetown Golf Club, Wednesday, September 17 at 7 p.m.
* Strathroy, Gemini Sportsplex ? Second Line, Thursday, September 18 at 7 p.m.

To register to attend the session in your area, or for more information, please call 1-877-429-8377.

Originally known as Hayter Plumbing and Heating Ltd., The Hayter Group is a combination of the original company and Shute Geothermal of Chatham. The company’s focus on eco-energy earned them accolades from dignitaries, suppliers and their staff.

“You’re going to save us energy and save us money,” said Maria Von Bommel, MPP for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex. “This is very important to us.”

Jim Burns, Warden for Lambton County, thought it was important for everyone to recognize the “green” footprint The Hayter Group is leaving, and helping others to leave, behind.

Located in Alvinston, The Hayter Group was also recognized for their value to the community.

“Business expansion is so important in the life of a small community, especially in rural Ontario,” added Ms. Von Bommel. “It is important to make sure the businesses are there for our young people.”

Don McGuggan, mayor of Brooke-Alvinston-Inwood, thanked the Hayter family for their contribution to the community. “It is great to see the incentive to hold their family together by bringing their son into the business.”

Chad Hayter, current owner of The Hayter Group and son of the original owner, Jim Hayter, spoke to the crowd with emotion in his voice.

Chad with parents, wife and grand-mothers.

“I’m a lucky guy,” he said. “I feel that way with my family, friends and neighbours. Unfortunately, too many young people feel the need to live in big cities. It is a real shame.

“It makes me concerned about the drastic shortage of people with trade-training. Especially in our industry. At this moment, the only thing holding back this company’s growth is the lack of trades-people.”

Bev Shipley, MP for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex echoes Mr. Hayter’s concerns. “I’m glad to hear Chad focusing on the significance of trades. And not just in rural communities. It so often appears that college and skilled trades education doesn’t have the same accolades as a university degree. But we are trying to get schools to put more emphasis on college and skilled trades.”

Chad Chats with Local Provincial and Federal Members of Parliament

The Hayter Group shared some impressive statistics with the crowd.

“Today, we consider ourselves to be eco-energy experts,” explained Mr. Hayter. “We install only state of the art natural gas, propane, oil and geothermal heating and cooling. We haven’t installed a mid-efficiency furnace since 2003. We’ve installed over 400 miles of underground geothermal piping with a positive environmental impact of planting over 750,000 trees and taking 5,800 cars off the road.

“In the last year alone, we’ve helped our customers get well over three-quarters of a million dollars in government grants and rebates with the products we sell, install and service.”

The current direction of The Hayter Group is the brainchild of Chad Hayter, who thanked the Sarnia-Lambton Business Development Corporation (SLBDC) for their guidance and education in building the business plan that got them to the point they are at today.

“In 2003, with the help of the SLBDC, we started on a formal business plan. The tail end of our five year plan was a new building. And here we are.”

About The Hayter Group

The business was purchased in 1982 by Jim Hayter and was originally called Hayter Plumbing & Heating Ltd. In 2003, Chad Hayter, his son, joined the company and was the driving-force behind the expansion of the business. The business currently employs 20 people and serves Kent, Lambton and Middlesex Counties.

The Hayter Group is a leading environmentally-conscious heating, cooling and plumbing resource.