Kelvinator

The enterprise was established on September 18, 1914, in Detroit, Michigan, United States, by engineer Nathaniel B. Wales, who introduced his idea for a practical electric refrigeration unit for the home to Edmund Copeland and Arnold Goss.

Wales, a young inventor, secured financial backing from Goss, secretary of the Buick automobile company, to develop the first household mechanical refrigerators to be marketed under the name "Electro-Automatic Refrigerating Company". After producing many experimental models, Wales selected one for manufacturing.

In February 1916, the name of the business was changed to "Kelvinator Company" in honor of the Irish-Scottish physicist, Lord Kelvin (William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin), the discoverer of absolute zero. Kelvinator was among two dozen home refrigerators introduced to the U.S. market in 1916. In 1918, Kelvinator introduced the first refrigerator featuring automatic control.

Frustrated by ice-boxes, the Grand Rapids Refrigerator Company introduced a porcelain-lined "Leonard Cleanable" ice cabinet. Kelvinator began buying Leonard's boxes for its electric refrigerated models. By 1923, the Kelvinator Company held 80% of the American market for electric refrigerators.

On July 3, 1925, Kelvinator bought Nizer Corporation in a tri-party merger valued at $20 million.

In 1926, the company acquired Leonard, which had been founded in 1881. Kelvinator concentrated its entire appliance production at the Grand Rapids factory in 1928. That year, George W. Mason assumed control of Kelvinator. Under his leadership, the company reduced its costs while increasing its market share through 1936.

In 1936, Kelvinator introduced the "Kelvin Home", one of the earliest attempts to market in-home central air conditioning and heating to ordinary consumers. Customers could choose from several different home designs, all of which were equipped with climate control systems and the latest electric appliances, and were advertised to cost about $7,500 (US$174,011 in 2025 dollars ) for a six-room house. The first Kelvin Home shown to the public was located in Livonia, Michigan and attracted thousands of visitors. Several surviving homes are registered historic properties, including some in the Rosedale Gardens Historic District in Livonia and the Kelvinator House in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

In 1926, Kelvinator Limited, based in England, was established in London. From importing American-made products, it grew to producing much of its own equipment for the British market. In 1946, the parent company decided to expand operations in the UK and make the unit self-contained in the manufacture of Kelvinator Equipment. The London manufacturing activities were relocated to Crewe and significantly expanded with an additional 19,000 square metres (200,000 sq ft) of floor space. The Crewe factory was shared with Rolls-Royce Motors, but burned down in the 1950s and was replaced by a new facility in Bromborough, Cheshire. The Italian manufacturer, Candy acquired the operation in 1979, along with the use of the Kelvinator brand name in the UK. Both Candy and Kelvinator products were marketed until the business was closed around 2000.

Kelvinator and Nash Motors announced they were merging on 27 October 1936. The merger took effect on 4 January 1937 to form Nash-Kelvinator Corporation as part of a deal that placed George W. Mason at the helm of the combined company.

Nash-Kelvinator filed a patent in 1938 for a front-end mounted, fully integrated HVAC automobile system, which was granted September 14, 1942 (#2,295,750). It showed the evaporator and heat exchangers integrated for the passenger cabin using non-flammable and low-toxicity CFC.