The business philosophy of the team at Lakes Heating and Air Conditioning Inc., Akron, Ohio, has been to stay on the cutting edge of emerging technology.
Keeps Ohio Contractor Busy Variety of Groundwork E
ven when the gravity of an economic downturn is pulling them in the opposite direction, this Ohio contracting firm is on the rise. They’re early
adopters, on the edge technologically and ahead of the eight ball. Since its beginning in 1975, the business model for
Lakes Heating and Air Conditioning Inc. in Akron, Ohio, has been to stay on the cutting edge of emerging technology. “Dad has always been eager to try new things,” said
Brian Cuthbert Jr. of his father. The firm has grown to 25 employees, with a focus on residential and light com- mercial HVAC work. Named after the Portage Lakes region where it’s located, the company is still family owned and employs all three of Brian Sr.’s children. Though they’re getting into solar work, geothermal installations have been a steady source of business for 20 years. Most of the ground-source work Lakes does is for high-end residential jobs, with about half the exchange fields being horizontal trenching, and the other vertical bore holes. The local soil types vary great- ly, so they’ve had plenty of experience with varying types of geoexchange. “Regardless of tax credits, sticker shock is an issue
with many potential geothermal clients,” said Brian, service manager for the company. “But once homeown- ers see how quickly the systems pay for themselves, greatly reducing the need for fossil fuels or electricity, it’s not a difficult sell.”
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Awareness of geothermal technology has grown con- siderably within their territory over the past few years. The majority of Lakes’ ground-source jobs come through customer referral. “I don’t think we’ve bid a mechanical system on a single custom home in the past five years where the homeowner didn’t at least consider geo.”
High-end residential systems; lots of geo A lake near Clinton, Ohio, is the site of several shore-
line homes. Homeowner Scott Johnston was tired of paying for fuel oil and, before doubling the size of his home with an addition, he wanted to find a solution. After doing some research, he decided on a geothermal system and called Lakes. “We completed the Johnston project in two stages,”
said Brian Jr. “Once his addition was framed, we roughed in the ductwork, installed the two-ton heat pump for the existing portion of the home and had the drilling sub put in the exchange field.” Because of beams and partitions, the addition couldn’t be connect- ed to the home with one set of ducts. About a month later, when Johnston had burned up
his remaining oil, and the addition was complete, a Lakes installation crew returned to tear out the old boil- er and install a three-ton unit for the addition. The new living room has high, vaulted ceilings and large win- dows looking out over the lake.
Continued on page 40 October 2011
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