Business is Heating Up

By DENISE MARCHIONDA, Sun Correspondent

CHELMSFORD About 10 years ago, Ken and Debra Winchester got an epiphany in regards to their heating and ventilation business.

It was about at that time when Ken met Richard Tretheway on the PBS show, "This Old House." Trethewey, a plumbing and heating expert, as well as a regional representative for Viessmann boilers, got Winchester into the cutting-edge market of "radiant heating." Such under-your-flooring systems are pricey (a residential system can cost anywhere from $30,000 to $250,000), but they're sturdily built, and potentially more economical in the long term.

"He changed my life," Winchester said of Tretheway. "We were working on the show and became friends. It's all history from there."

The Winchesters, who started Winchester Mechanical about 18 years ago, decided radiant heating was the way to go. They were in the process of re-evaluating their business plan in an effort to upgrade the business and dispel the image of the "old plumber."
Ken Winchester, co-owner of Winchester Mechanical in Chelmsford, says his heating, ventilation and air-conditioning business has grown smartly due to its offering of so-called radiant heating systems. SUN/TORY GERMANN

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Professionalism is very important, Winchester said.

"We take a lot of pride in what we do," he said. They did not want to be the company that merely "can do it for less," but to be the "quality" company.

And so in came radiant heating.

"People are choosing between a pool, a BMW, or this heating system," said Winchester. "That is where the extra money is going."

People are putting more money into their homes in general, he added, rather than toward vacations and other luxuries.

"This is something they can leave to their kids," Winchester said, with radiant heat being the "ultimate in comfort." The heat is in the floor's surface and is computer-regulated and modulated by an outside temperature system.

"There is no on/off switches, it is on cruise control. People are in their own comfort zones," Winchester said. These systems can be retrofitted to work with existing heating systems, or new boilers.

When it came time for Winchester Mechanical to expand, in August 2002, the couple practiced what it preached. When they bought their new building at 109 Tyngsboro Road, they renovated its heating system to radiant heat, as well as added a radiant snow-melt system around the building's perimeter.

In all, they spent $140,000 on renovations on the 5,408-square-foot building, which houses a showroom, offices and sheet-metal fabrication shop. It is twice as big as their old building, which was on Middlesex Street.

"We still do everything ourselves right here," Winchester said. "A lot of companies have others do fabrication."

Although the company still sells and services traditional heating and cooling systems, and offers a variety of brand-name systems, Winchester's passion is radiant heating. He first learned about it when he left his Tewksbury home as a young man to pursue his dream of being a fishing guide in Oregon.

His father owned Lowell Refrigeration for 30 years, and he "learned a lot from him," said Winchester, but at 19, he was ready to try something adventurous. He was an avid fisherman and wanted to see the world.

"You know," he said with a smile, "the grass is always greener." But while in Oregon, he found his roots calling.

Winchester was amazed at the difference in heating and cooling technology the West Coast had to offer. He began working for HVAC companies there and learned about radiant heating. There, they not only used radiant heat in their homes, but in driveways, walkways, and other outdoor areas.

Winchester said these outdoor systems are catching on in New England, especially in big homes on small lots, where there is not a lot of room to pile up snow in the winter. The radiant systems essentially melt snow from driveways.

Businesses can also opt for these systems rather than spend money on spreading ice-melting chemicals and plowing contracts.

Winchester says the economy's fluctuations don't affect his business, adding that with gas and oil prices rising, people look for economical, long-lasting systems. Winchester Mechanical is now booked into next winter.

As for competition, Winchester said that he's not one to worry about what others are doing.

"We get up to 120 calls a day," he said. "One thing I learned from my father, is to return phone calls."

And, he added, "We show up when we say we will."