This year leading commercial refrigeration firm, Tecumseh Products Company, is celebrating its 80th anniversary.
The first celebration took place in January 2014 in New-York during the AHR tradeshow. Several others have also since taken place around the world and the company has created a new video highlighting the history of the company and its emphasis on product reliability, innovation and industry leadership. Available in English, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Chinese, the video can be accessed on the Tecumseh website.
In the early 1930s, Raymond Herrick was a simple tool and die maker, with little education and modest savings. He had an idea to apply the techniques of mass production that he gained in working with Henry Ford, to the assembly of refrigeration compressors. Herrick founded Tecumseh Products Company in the town of Tecumseh, Michigan, in 1934. Tecumseh soon became the world’s largest independent manufacturer of refrigeration and air conditioning compressors.
Three years later, the first hermetic compressor for consumer refrigerators was launched, changing the lives of millions. Tecumseh thoroughly changed the refrigerating industrial world with the first hermetically sealed compressor, significantly increasing appliance longevity and reliability. By 1939, the company was producing 160,000 compressors annually.
In 1954, L’Unité Hermétique was founded in France (later to become Tecumseh Europe). The plant started to produce hermetic compressors under Tecumseh licenses in La Verpillière. Continuing on the success of its products, Tecumseh expanded its operations, adding a facility in Cessieu for AJ compressor production in 1961 and La Mure in 1977 for AG.
In 1972, Tecumseh established an operation in Sao Carlos, Brazil (Tecumseh Do Brazil) for the production of compressors for household refrigerators and freezers.
In the 1990s, Tecumseh Products Company continued to grow its international footprint, affirming its presence in Asia.
In 1995, Tecumseh Euro Malaysia subsidiary was created. One year later, the Tecumseh Europe China joint-venture was founded in China. In 1997, Tecumseh India Subsidiary was established.
In 1997, Tecumseh changed the name of L’Unité Hermétique to Tecumseh Europe.
From 1954 to 2014, Tecumseh Europe plants have produced millions of compressors and units. In 1961, the AJ one-cylinder compressor range was born, followed by the AG three-cylinder compressor range in 1977.
In 2000, Tecumseh Europe launches Silensys 1st generation. In 2011, and after winning the Golden Decibel Award its performance, Tecumseh introduced Silensys 3rd Generation.
Today, Tecumseh is a leading global manufacturer, offering a complete line of compressors, condensing units and systems for use in residential and commercial refrigeration and air conditioning applications.
AE² range
Tecumseh’s new AE² range offers maximum power in a smaller housing, along with the highest performance levels on the market. The 49 models in the new AE² range provide refrigerating capacities from 140 to 340W in LBP and 300 to 1050W in HBP.
The AE² compressor is well suited for refrigerated display cases, ice machines, beverage coolers and commercial refrigerators and freezers.
In order to promote a more environmentally friendly approach, these compressors and condensing units are optimized for use with eco-friendly R-290 (propane) refrigerant but are also designed to support traditional HFC refrigerants, R-134a and R-404A.
Tecumseh has expanded its AE2 line-up with the introduction of a compressor AEX designed for low-to-medium back pressure (L/MBP) applications (-35°C to -5°C). Initial model is optimized for refrigerant R-134a allowing bottle cooler and vending machine equipment.
Tecumseh’s new AJ² platform, built for today as an answer to market expectations in terms of interchangeability, compactness and silence.
AJ2 range
Following on the path of its predecessor, the AJ² delivers best-in-class efficiency, a wide capacity range a smaller size envelope, and Tecumseh’s industry standard for reliability. The AJ2 is designed for used with traditional commercial refrigeration refrigerants R-134a, R-404A and R-22.
More importantly, the AJ2 is ‘ready for tomorrow’ as this platform is optimised for HFO and HC refrigerants (R-1234yf and R-290), enabling customers to meet the upcoming environmental challenges.
The AJ² Compressor range is now available and the AJ2 Condensing Unit Range will be available in 2015.
To meet the market demand for capacity, Tecumseh has developed 23 models in the new AJ2 range. This large range provides refrigerating capacities running from 300 to 830 Watts in LBP and 600 to 2770 Watts in HBP.