United States. Nortek Global HVAC celebrates its centennial in 2019 by recognizing the achievements of the past and focusing on the innovations of tomorrow. The historic anniversary began at the 2019 AHR Expo on January 14 in Atlanta and will continue with subsequent celebrations and events throughout the year.
Founded as International Oil Heating Co. in 1919, the company achieved success in manufacturing coal-to-oil furnace burners. Innovative oil burners helped reduce air pollution problems from coal combustion in his hometown of St. Louis, considered the dirtiest city in the Mississippi Valley at the time. Later, the company innovated even cleaner gas burner conversions.
In 1933, the company designed, built and installed the first heater for mobile homes (today, prefabricated houses).
It continued to innovate dozens of "novelties" over the ensuing decades, such as the first fully automatic mobile home furnace, the first sealed combustion oil furnace for mobile homes, and the first electric hot water self-contained baseboard heater.
The company was renamed Nordyne in 1987 and applied its expertise in developing HVAC equipment for prefabricated homes for the residential market. Newly developed manufacturing processes, such as demand flow technology (DFT) in 1994, led to faster production times and quality assurance awards. For example, DFT helped generate praise from manufacturers, such as Sydney, Ohio-based Copeland, which recognized the company for several years for having the best compressor reliability in the industry.
In 2015, Nordyne was renamed Nortek Global HVAC, the name it maintains in its hundredth year. Continuing the innovation of previous decades, Nortek Global HVAC recently introduced the first all-aluminum coil technology for use in residential HVAC applications. And in October 2018, the company patented a methodology that eliminates the instability of the hot gas overheating circuit and the risk of potential freezing.
"Nortek Global HVAC's success is due in part to its partnership with independent contractors and distributors. This partnership has led to many product improvements, such as the new split system housing design launched in 2017. The new wrapping was directly influenced by feedback from contractors, resulting in a design that increases the serviceability of the system.
