Home improvement

Random tidbits through doing home projects.

Connecting Siemens SPDs to a load center

Siemens SPDs (FS060/FS60, FS100, FS140) come with an NPT thread on the end, which prevents it from being directly connected into a load center knockout as none of those connectors have NPT thread patterns on them. Siemens support was utterly useless, basically saying "well you should go find what you need". The solution I ended up arriving at was to use a Cantex 3/4 in. Flexible Elbow, which comes with NPT fittings on both ends, and replace the fitting on one end with an Arlington 3/4 in. 90° SNAP2IT Non-Metallic Push-On Connector (also available on Amazon, Arlington spec page). If you don't need the 90-degree bend, Arlington makes a straight variant too, which you can get on Amazon or HD (HD for some reason shows 1/2" in the pictures for the 3/4" product).

The Arlington connectors referenced above are made in the US.

HVAC registers that aren't made in China or Vietnam

Pretty much every HVAC register at your big box store will come from Vietnam or China. If you're looking for something more local, you have a few options:

• Imperial Group's metal registers are made in Canada. They are trivial to get at Lowe's in Canada, but are a bit more challenging to obtain here in the US. Buying them online is an option, but I had a really hard time ordering these from Amazon and having them arrive without damage. One literally was broken in pieces by the time it was at my doorstep. TrueValue carries some of the fancier floor register models (like the wood and satin metal) in some of their stores in New Jersey, but for some reason not the plain vanilla sidewall ones. Note that some of their products are made in China.
• Decor Grates is another Canadian manufacturer, who appears to make all of their products in Canada, unlike Imperial. However, their wood floor register did not look as polished to my eyes and had a very flimsy damper mechanism. Their site is also a giant mess, with "No products were found matching your selection" regularly showing up while navigating it.
• AmeriFlow, aka Hart & Cooley, makes registers in Mexico and can be found in TrueValue stores as well as e.g. SupplyHouse. They seem to be the only ones that make registers that are uni-directional, which is unfortunate as it makes no sense to install a two-way (or straight) register at a vent that's in the corner of a room.
• Shoemaker Manufacturing appear to be the only manufacturer of registers in the US. They are impossible to find in brick and mortar stores (except in Washington?). Online you can find them on some websites with absolutely astronomical prices and unrealistic return policies. I did end up ordering one register on Amazon (and took the hit for return shipping) just to see what it looked like, but the styling didn't really work in a residential setting. The spacing of the fins was also too wide.