Flanders Heating & Air: A Family Business in a Changing World

By Emily J. Weitz

Doug Matz, President and Owner of Flanders Heating and Air Conditioning, is a third generation heating guy. His grandfather started a heating and air conditioning business in 1948, and passed it down to his father. Mr. Matz worked for the family business for a while before it was sold. Then, after a few years working for someone else, he decided it was time to bring it back to the family.

In 2004, Mr. Matz acquired Flanders Heating and Air Conditioning, a 50 year-old local business, in part because he wanted to bring the opportunity back to his own sons, should they want to carry on the family business. And in his lifetime of working to heat and cool American homes, Mr. Matz has seen a lot of changes in the industry.

The systems are much more integrated today than they were 30 years ago, said Mr. Matz. A system installed 30 years ago might leak a huge amount of energy.

The biggest new technology that is changing the face of heating and air conditioning these days is the ductless system.

Its a component of the business thats changed drastically over the last four or five years, said Mr. Matz.

Mitsubishi has become the recognizable brand name of ductless systems. They are quiet, efficient pumps that actually draw the heat from the air outside to heat the home. Even on the coldest winter days, they are able to heat up the air.

Weve been heating our office with ductless this winter to verify they actually work, said Mr. Matz. Weve had some cold days, but the office has stayed warm.

When people replace their systems with these ductless technologies, they sometimes keep their boilers as a back-up source.

You can keep the boiler system in tact in case you need it, said Mr. Matz, but in the ductless system the heat source is through the system itself.

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Flanders Heating & Air: A Family Business in a Changing World