Custom Air Conditioning and Heating Company of Columbus, Ohio, is trusted by discerning homeowners and general contractors to install and maintain custom HVAC systems for standard needs and more sophisticated applications alike. Specializing in air conditioning, heating, and ductless mini-split systems, the company is known for its high level of quality and attention to detail. To this expertise, the team adds its signature level of service to create a winning formula for customers.
“We’ve been the heating and cooling experts for Columbus for nearly 50 years; that’s all we do. So, we’re really good at that,” says Tracy Miller, Vice President Sales and Marketing.
Naturally, customer demand shapes the company’s offering, and as a result, its drive to provide top-notch modern solutions has brought a number of green projects to its door. Such green building designs are typically quite airtight, with minimal inherent ventilation, calling for carefully engineered HVAC systems to align with their environmental goals while creating healthy indoor ambient air. “Installing heating and cooling systems in ‘green’ buildings requires a different line of thought from a conventional house,” says Scott Gischel, Project Sales Representative, whose three decades here have given him a front row seat to the industry’s evolution.
Experts on all fronts
In the air conditioning realm, Custom Air specializes in expert repair, professional installation, and routine maintenance of energy-efficient cooling systems designed for maximum comfort. With decades of experience, the company has built a reputation for quality, reliability, and exceptional service, working with all major brands to provide high-efficiency cooling solutions to ensure long-term comfort and lower energy costs.
Reliable heating systems are also essential, something Custom Air understands all too well. The team offers expert furnace repair, installation, and maintenance, working with all major furnace brands and heating technologies and ensuring every service is performed with precision and care. Ben Mangon, Vice President of Residential Operations, explains that, while furnaces have reached their energy efficiency peak, other improvements can still be made in this realm. “There have been some leaps in comfort where we now have modulating furnaces,” he says. “Leaps in technology [allow us to monitor furnace performance].”
Ductless mini-split systems are another area of the company’s expertise, offering an efficient and flexible way to heat and cool your home without the need for traditional ductwork, or where such ductwork doesn’t exist. They can offer the perfect solution for basements, sunrooms, or any space where central HVAC isn’t practical, providing personalized comfort with independent temperature control in different rooms, reducing energy waste while improving efficiency. As optimal longevity and product performance are key to maintaining the company’s sterling reputation, Custom Air trusts Mitsubishi’s ductless indoor and outdoor units to deliver outstanding functionality, ease, and simplicity of installation alongside great performance in combination spaces.
As many homeowners now want thermostat integration with existing smart setups, Mitsubishi doesn’t disappoint on this front, either. Mitsubishi thermostats are typically Wi-Fi-compatible and ready to collaborate with most digital assistants. “We’re starting to see smart thermostats from the manufacturers where homeowners can give us access as the HVAC service provider,” Miller says of systems that allow remote reporting and troubleshooting. This means Custom Air can alert clients and correct any system glitches before they become a problem.
Unique applications
Indeed, the company’s expertise makes it a reliable partner on projects ranging from the straightforward to the complex. One of Custom Air’s most recent projects saw a solar conversion performed for a customer looking to abandon fossil fuel usage for ecological reasons. As a result, all their gas-powered HVAC equipment was replaced with Mitsubishi heating and cooling technology. The gas water heater was also replaced with a heat pump while a solar array now supplies most of the electricity.
With its characteristic enthusiasm for more challenging projects, Custom Air’s portfolio of unusual installations is vast. Its largest recent project was for an indoor pool for a client in New Albany, Ohio. Here, the company collaborated with Desert Air on the equipment side and is full of praise for the engineering and design contributions of this partner. Custom Air is excited to take on new and emerging trends that are driving demand for its services.
One that has taken root in the area is indoor basketball courts in private homes. Having completed three such installations already this year, Custom Air’s team is now well-versed in overcoming the challenges of 20-foot-high ceilings demanding overhead installations powerful enough to have an impact on the ambient temperature of the large spaces below. Armed with precise calculations and fine planning provided by three staff engineers, the company has become a leader in protecting the hardware of such systems (from basketballs hurtling through the air, for instance).
Prioritizing people
Good business is not just about product and installation quality, however. Custom Air takes customer satisfaction seriously, providing reliability and convenience while prioritizing customer needs. For this reason, its customization happens in tandem with ensuring durability. “This is significant… [HVAC] is one of the top four investments that you’ll make in your lifetime,” says Miller, acknowledging the importance of the company’s role as advisor.
This approach is proving successful. Recent surveys have shown that Custom Air has built tremendous customer confidence, with word-of-mouth marketing at the core of its new and repeat business. Of course, such consistent good reviews result in healthy growth, allowing the company to expand its focus beyond its existing client base. Custom Air is now introducing its products and services to even bigger audiences.
Gaining new clientele is far from the team’s only new focus, though. Remaining current with organizational software and technologies is leading the firm into a new era of even further improved communication. To this end, the team is introducing new ways of giving customers fast, easy access to information and shoring up internal communication to ensure that everyone is always taken care of.
The company extends this sense of care to those in need, making its community a priority. “Within the family of companies that Custom Air is a part of, we always have charitable giving at the forefront of what we do and what we are about,” says Marketing and Communications Manager of Custom Air, Morgan Patch. At Custom Air, employees receive paid time off for charity work in support of qualifying organizations of their choice. This means local communities benefit directly from companywide efforts to give back and do good where the need is greatest.
This overall spirit of giving back is upheld by the company’s outstanding team, some of whom have been with the company for decades. The company takes pride in paying its people well, says Mangon, who describes the people here as a family.
“The average experience level at Custom Air will outshine our competition,” he says. “We get the niche projects because we have been successfully doing this for so long.” By staying the course and honing its expertise in the HVAC field, the company has courted success and longevity in multiple ways, like maintaining healthy bonds amongst staff who know that, while the going sometimes does get tough, sticking together and moving ahead is what ultimately wins the race.
This warm and wise approach to the group’s vitality and customer satisfaction guides the company’s view of the future. Therefore, while growth is an obvious driver, remaining faithful to its character underpins Custom Air’s evolution and expansion strategy. Its leadership agrees. “We don’t just do heating and cooling. We care,” Mangon says.
