The history of the HVAC industry is one of human dreams, ingenuity and well, necessity! While ancient Romans did use the first form of radiant heat, in most areas, many homes were heated with wood or coal burning stoves or fireplaces. As you can imagine they were labor intensive to use and not very efficient.

And so, the HVAC industry was born. People have been striving to find more convenient, safer and more efficient ways of heating and cooling our homes and businesses since those very first forced air furnaces came out of the factories in the 1800s, and the first air conditioning systems came on scene in the early 1900s, and actually even before that. More recent decades have produced some huge changes in the industry including the popularity of ground and air source Heat Pumps, wifi thermostats and ventilation units with germ killing UV lights just to name a few. Along the way there have been advances in the environmental impacts of HVAC products as well. The coolant used in air conditioning systems is an important example of this. Over the years, HVAC units have been being designed to use safer coolants and the less environmentally friendly coolants have been being gradually discontinued over time to make our planet a safer place for future generations. This is an ever-evolving industry that is constantly striving to change for the better from all angles.

One big recent change that customers can tangibly see is the emergence of better furnace filter options. When possible, with the newer, more efficient furnaces on the market, its recommended to add a wider and higher quality furnace filter. The best filters on the market now capture much smaller particles while allowing for increased airflow for the furnace. The higher the Merv rating of the filter, the better filtration. That’s a big leap from the one size fits all standard filters.

Another big change has been the introduction and evolution of the Smart wifi thermostat. While many people still opt for the simpler programmable or basic wifi thermostats which are still good choices for many, some are aiming for the skies with the latest technology. Today’s smart thermostats connect to your smart phone, monitor your equipment to give you notices if there are issues, can be controlled from your phone from almost anywhere in the world and even have geofencing so that it can adjust the temperature when you are close to arriving home or leaving to optimize both your system’s efficiency and your comfort.

Ahrens Heating & Air Conditioning has been a staple in New Ulm since 1947 and while a lot has changed over the years both in our company (Ahrens used to have a 3-digit phone number and we now have a duck and a dog as our mascots!) and the entire HVAC industry, one thing that hasn’t changed is our commitment to serving this community. Our goal is to make every customer’s experience a pleasant one. Along with maintenance and repairs we install the latest high efficiency, top-quality Lennox equipment and we do duct cleaning too.