A jubilee is a specially celebrated occasion, technically a 50^th anniversary, so it’s with double pleasure that we share with your our 100^th year in business. M.A. Welter, founder of Welter Heating and Air Conditioning, started the company in 1912 manufacturing what were known as “gravity” furnaces and installing them into new homes or performing Minneapolis heating repair.

Gravity furnaces were popular in the first half of the 20th century up until the early 1970s. The function of a gravity warm-air furnace is the same as a conventional modern forced-air furnace. The main difference is that air circulation relies on convection, e.g. warm air rises and the cool air falls, hence, the name, gravity. The other big difference is size, which is why gravity furnaces were also known as “octopus” furnaces, because of their sprawling design.

Consumers can see how furnaces have advanced from those that took up the space of entire basements to oil fired forced air with no fans for air conditioning to natural gas furnaces that are smaller than a household refrigerator. In fact, central air isn’t even considered a luxury any longer, which it certainly was when we started the company!

As part of our Anniversary celebration, we are sharing a Q&A with our family to tell you a little more about the Welter family and 100 years in the Minneapolis air conditioning and furnace business.

Q&A With Welter Family

After 100 years as a family-owned business, what can you say are the advantages of working with a family business?

Enjoying this type longevity has extended to our customers as well. For four generations, we’ve been installing units in the same home three or four times, for example. Many of our customers are like family; we keep up with them, their changing needs and offer technology solutions that their great-grandparents could only dream about.

What has been your favorite thing about working within the heating and air conditioning business?

It’s fun to design and install a well-functioning system then see the smile on our customer’s face. Keeping our customers happy is something we’re very proud of.

What is the most interesting problem you have solved?

Learning the newest technology is always a challenge. We determine if we can back up the manufacturer’s claims. In order to do that, we test most everything in our own homes first. We don’t necessarily follow the latest fad, and we don’t want to sell something that doesn’t have lasting value and that we can’t stand behind.

What is the most noticeable change you’ve seen in the Twin Cities over the past 100 years?

It’s unbelievable to see how much the area has grown. We started servicing only south Minneapolis, and now we service the entire seven county metro area and beyond.

Was there a particularly bad winter that you remember? What about summer?

Both worst scenarios happened within the last 50 years and involved flooding. In 1965 and 1987, flood waters made it nearly impossible to get around town to many of the jobs we had scheduled. Of course, there may be other stories to top those events, but you’d have to ask M.A. Welter!

Stay Tuned…

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