Apollo Air Handler

Tom Hanks a triple threat as writer, actor, director in 'Larry Crowne'

In the parlance of our times, Tom Hanks brings the funny. Like the most assured stand-up, he excels at creating a running stream of hilarity. Early in his career, Hanks played a comic in “Punchline” (1988), but he could have been one in real life.

In town Friday to promote his latest film “Larry Crowne,” he ran the gauntlet of media outlets and came out swinging like a Seinfeld at each stop. A clever crew from WGN-Channel 9 even set up a barrage of potential punchlines by presenting him with a walk down his own Movie Memory Lane: Staffers were dressed up as Woody from the “Toy Story” series, Capt. Miller from “Saving Private Ryan” (1997), Jim Lovell from “Apollo 13” (1995) and so forth. When he came to the guy representing Chuck from “Cast Away” (2000) — who, with his shaggy-dog beard, actually looked more like Zach Galifianakis in “The Hangover” than Hanks’ desert-isle self — he paused and deadpanned, “Where’s Hooch?”

“It was just like having my life flash before me,” Hanks quipped on the air. “In an alternate universe, look what I’ve unleashed upon humanity! It’s like, you know, whatever the bizarro version of the Justice League of America might be.”

An hour later, as he en­­­tered his suite at the Peninsula for a chat with the Sun-Times, Hanks asked his team, “How much time do we have for this interview”? Fifteen minutes, someone replied. “Oh, let’s take 20. Because those five minutes will make all the difference between just another hotel interview and a real conversation.”

The room erupted in fresh peals of laughter as he herded his handlers out the door. Were you surprised by that “Tom Hanks, This Is Your Movie Life” ambush earlier this morning? “Oh, no, they [the media] just kind of gang up on you everywhere you go,” he said, laughing.

Besides, it served as a quick visual reminder of the many iconic characters that Hanks, 54, has introduced over the years. The downsized hero of “Larry Crowne,” which opens Friday, should join this pantheon. Along with starring, Hanks produced, co-wrote and directed the film, which reunites him with “Charlie Wilson’s War” co-star Julia Roberts.

It’s a romantic comedy with a topical theme. After Larry, a Navy veteran, is fired from his longtime job at a Wal-Mart-like retailer, ostensibly for “not having a college education,” he decides to enroll in his local community college and start over. Along the way, he finds inspiration in the form of his classmates and his professors, especially the hard-drinking and disillusioned Mercedes Tainot (Roberts).

can I replace my apollo water heater with a tankless model ...

Kinda Sorta. Yes, hot water is hot water. You could connect your ‘supply’ line to the hot side and your "return" to the cold side. That is the good news.

The bad news is when you are heating and trying to use hot water at the same time. It will be just like using two showers at the same time. There will be more water attempting to travel thru the same pipe system. There will be more pressure loss and hence a lower volume of water available. If you are heating and attempt to use 2 or more hot water sources, the problem will increase exponentially. Your Apollo heater has ports on the side, separate from your domestic uses.

You will need a very large ‘tankless’ model. Remember you are using electricity to heat water then the air handler removes the heat from the water and re-circulates it to the heater. This will not be very efficient. You might just as well use electric heaters in each room of the house. That may just be more efficient.

Also remember your recovery times. Lets talk natural gas. Many water heaters may have a natural gas burner rated at 40,000 BTU’s per hour. The Apollo heaters have a higher heat input. 50,000 or 65,000 BUT/hr. You must consider the amount of heat your air handler removes vs. the amount of heat restored to the water by your heater. If your air handler removes more heat from the water than your heater can produce, it will get very cold in your home.

For a gas water heater, the volume of heat absorbed from the flue gasses is the efficiency. The evil bureaucrats at the US government require this to be displayed to the purchaser. So just look on the box, or the cut sheets for the water heater. (Those bureaucrats suddenly became less evil) Just remember this does not reflect the TIME it takes to get to that efficiency. So check the recovery time as well.

My Apollo water heater arrived today. I ordered it from a plumbing supply house December 1. The call came from the plumbing supply house today 12/10. It was manufactured on 12/7 State Industries is located west of Nashville, TN in Kingston Springs, TN. I live 200 miles away. Literally the heater left Kingston Springs this morning and arrived by noon. Your delivery time will likely be longer. Right now, think 2 weeks from order to delivery.

As you can see, I stuck with a gas water heater with side ports. For this Professional Engineer evaluating all variables including the substantial financial premium for a heater with side ports, I stuck with Apollo. Your decision may be different.

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