A year ago, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey and his son Evan started renovating an old mill building. Their goal was to turn it into a state-of-the-art educational and showroom facility. Today, Ask This Old House host Kevin O’Connor will visit RST Thermal in Fall River, Massachusetts, to learn more about this unique location.
The Ultimate Training Center
Richard’s primary day job now is serving as an HVAC manufacturer representative. This often involves educating contractors, builders, architects, engineers, homeowners, and other folks on site. To make their job more efficient, Richard and his son Evan decided to build a state-of-the-art training center with all of their most popular products and systems on display.
A Labor of Love
The RST Thermal Training Center has been a labor of love. It’s a former mill building built in 1904. Over the past year, Evan and Richard have overseen the renovation, creating one huge building with classrooms, system displays, and showrooms so companies, contractors, designers, and homeowners can see and touch the equipment and systems in real life.
Systems on Display
RST has many systems on display (some of which actually control the RST building). There are radiant floor manifolds, chilled water systems, heat pumps, air handlers, mini-duct systems, inverter heat pumps, geothermal systems, air-to-water systems, gas-fired condensing boilers, and other heating systems. There are also fresh air displays with ventilator systems and commercial equipment.
The Philosophy
There aren’t many other places like the RST showroom. It’s supposed to help demystify the mechanical world and provide the education people need to understand these systems and make better decisions. However, RST’s goal is to increase awareness for the entire industry, with the approach that a rising tide lifts all boats. It’s also a great opportunity to continue Richard’s legacy after he leaves the industry.
