Lochinvar LLC, USA
THE ORIGINAL FOUNDER OF OUR BUSINESS DATES BACK TO 1919
Lochinvar’s history dates back to 1919 with its founder Walter Vallett, Sr.’s entry into the Water Heater business. Mr. Vallett was a true history pioneer having been instrumental in the development of the first automatic Gas-Fired Water Heaters early in his career.
Walter Vallett Sr. founded the Walter Vallett Company in 1939 marketing residential, commercial and industrial water heaters. In 1954 Walter Vallet Company acquired Michigan Tank and Furnace and purchased the Lochinvar brand. Three years later, in 1957 Walter Vallet Company changed its name to Lochinvar Water Heater Corporation, and set up its headquarters in Detroit.
Walter Vallet Sr. remained committed to the industry and active in the Corporation, serving as chairman of the board until his death in 1982. Bill Vallett Sr. was the second generation owner of the business and is credited with the vision for the need of Higher Efficiency Gas Appliances in the late 1970’s. He developed the engineering system that has designed today’s line of High-Efficiency Water Heaters and Boilers.
The company continued to be a closely held family-owned corporation with Bill Vallett Jr., President, Jeff Vallett, Executive Vice President and Tom Vallett Executive Vice President all being active in the daily operations of the business. The company has grown steadily through the years maintaining Corporate Headquarters in Detroit until 1970 at which time the Wagoner Water Heater Company of Nashville was acquired and the Corporate Headquarters moved to a new plant location in Nashville.
At the beginning of the century Lochinvar LLC USA moved into a new state-of-the-art 360,000 square-foot world headquarters and manufacturing facility in Lebanon, Tennessee housing as well Lochinvar University, the industry´s most advanced training facility for engineers, contractors, distributors and end-users.
In August 2011 both Lochinvar UK and USA businesses were acquired by A.O. Smith Corporation, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of Water Heaters, employing approximately 10,000 employees. Both companies share the commitment to the highest levels of product quality and customer satisfaction. `We are extremely excited about the potential benefits of combining Lochinvar´s leading technology with A.O. Smith´s many years of experience´, Bill Vallet Jr. comments. Continuity of business, employees and products will remain paramount and will jointly be the cornerstone of future growth. Those core business values, brands and products that you have come to expect from Lochinvar will continue.
Lochinvar Ltd, UK
ENERGY-EFFICIENT HEATING AND HOT WATER SOLUTIONS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM SINCE 1976
Lochinvar products have been supplied in the UK since 1976 when the Knight and Charger Water Heater ranges were amongst the first products of their type. Since then, our range has expanded to include a wide range of highly efficient heating and hot water solutions for Commercial and Industrial applications.
In recent years Lochinvar Ltd has employed the use of Condensing technology in its product development, giving further improvements to product efficiency. The use of Renewable technology in supplying heating and hot water requirements is developing rapidly and we now offer integrated Solar and Air Source Heat pumps which can be integrated with our high-efficiency Water Heaters and Boilers.
The UK office has expanded substantially and houses an expert product management team and vast Area Sales Team that covers the United Kingdom and Ireland. Our customer service and technical support team attend on a daily basis our customers with commercial and technical enquiries.
We keep substantial stock of products, ancillary equipment and spare parts at our Warehouse/Office facility which is located in Banbury, Oxfordshire. As such, we are able to deliver the majority of items within 2 to 3 working days.