L&H Airco was formed in 1968 by Jack Handy, Gene Logan, Jim Hellwarth, Frank Wegener and Tom Gilbertson.  All were from The Trane Company, except Tom who came from Johnson Controls.  The idea to start this company came from Gene Logan and Jack Handy - thus the name L&H Airco.  Originally headquartered in San Francisco, California, we also had a location in Sacramento and not long after the company started Gene opened an additional office in the San Jose area.

This original company was strictly a manufacturers’ representative firm handling Chrysler Airtemp, Berry Blower, Mammoth Roof Top Equipment, Ceramic Cooling Tower, Bohn Heat Transfer, CosaTron Air Purification, Tempmaster and other complimentary lines of commercial heating and air conditioning equipment.

In the mid 1970's L&H Airco became very involved in turn-key, field-erected cooling tower projects employing the technology provided by Ceramic Cooling Tower.  A similar, yet enhanced technology is now utilized by Composite Cooling Solutions who we represent today.

Also in the mid 1970's we realized the necessity for a source of large custom-made air handlers so we started a manufacturing facility in San Jose, California.  There we designed and produced custom air handlers up to 70,000 CFM in all possible configurations.

By 1981 all of Frank's partners had retired and L&H Airco concentrated on the Sacramento market.  In 1983 L&H Airco won a bid to replace seven wood cooling towers at Pacific Bell/AT&T in Sacramento with all-fiberglass towers.  This was also the year we performed our first temperature control project and for the first time worked with Dick Racette, who was then employed by Honeywell.

Dick became Frank's business partner in 1988.  Then in 1990 we expanded the office staff and installers necessary to design and install Novar DDC control systems, while continuing our manufacturers’ representative business and turn-key cooling tower projects.  At this time we represented McQuay and Pace Air Handlers along with Ceramic Cooling Towers.

In 1995 we became an Alerton DDC controls dealer and continued to grow our company from a staff of 6 to the present day 85.  As our controls business grew, we embraced the world of BACnet, ASHRAE’s open protocol for building automation.  With this expansion, service and customer training became a key focus of our organization.  We decided to concentrate our manufacturers’ representative business on Composite Cooling Solutions field-erected cooling towers and SecureAire air purification systems.

With our continued success, in 2000 we entered the Central and Coastal California markets by opening offices in Fresno and Santa Barbara.  Our installation base now extended from Kern County to the Oregon border with the exception of the San Francisco Bay area.  Growth continued and in 2004 we opened an office in San Diego.  This office gave us the market to work with Reliable DDC Controls, Trend Controls and Lynxspring's Niagara AX-based controls, increasing our knowledge and experience with DDC and systems integration.  Our presence on U.S. Military installations took hold in 2008 and 2009 with several installations using LonWorks controls.

Integration of building systems beyond simple temperature controls has always been an objective of ours and in 2009 we became an Encelium lighting control system dealer.  With our abilities as systems integrators, the emerging markets of retro-commissioning and performance contracting offer themselves as new and challenging opportunities.

Our mission is to be recognized as the most knowledgeable and respected temperature controls and energy management system contractor and HVAC equipment supplier in California.  We strive to combine technology with creative engineering while providing advanced solutions for our customers.  We are dedicated to delivering the optimum value for our customers' investments while assuring the growth of our company and the people who contribute to its success.