The Brand Story
Bard: A Century in Bryan, Ohio, and the Air Conditioner That Hangs on the Wall
Just east of Bryan, Ohio, in the far northwest corner of the state, a farm boy named Dale Bard grew up learning how metal bends. As a teenager he worked with boilers, ductwork and ventilation, and he shaped sheet metal in the tin shop behind the Bryan Hardware Store. In 1914 he and the store's owners started a small plumbing and heating contracting business in town. More than a hundred years later the company still carries his name, is still run by his family, and still builds its equipment in Bryan.
Chapter 1 · 1914
The Bryan Plumbing and Heating Company
The business began as a local contractor called The Bryan Plumbing and Heating Company. It grew fast enough that a new building went up in 1918, and through the 1920s a broad mix of products helped it ride out hard times, including the early years of the Great Depression. Dale Bard was a tinkerer as well as a tradesman. In the 1930s he patented his first oil furnace design, and the company began selling Bard gas and oil furnaces.
His son Randolph joined in the 1930s, and the furnaces found a market well beyond Ohio. During the housing boom of 1939, roughly a quarter of the new homes going up in the suburbs of Detroit were reported to have Bard furnaces.
Chapter 2 · The 1940s
War work, a fire and a new name
World War II turned the furnace shop into a defense supplier. Alongside furnaces and roof cleats for military construction, Bard produced 20-millimeter steel bullets, tracer shell plugs, parts for Chrysler tanks and controls for American B-29 bombers.
Then came the hardest year in the company's history. In 1944 a fire destroyed the factory while Dale was recovering from a stroke. Randolph decided to rebuild. During that decade the company dropped its original contracting work, took the name Bard Manufacturing Company, and Dale passed leadership to his son after 27 years at the helm.
Chapter 3 · 1961 to 1963
The Wall-Mount
Randolph brought central air conditioning into the product line, and Bard introduced its first air conditioner in 1961. Two years later came the product that would define the company: the Wall-Mount, an air conditioner and heat pump built as one self-contained cabinet that hangs on the outside wall of a building. It suited the prefabricated and modular structures that were spreading across America, buildings with no room for ductwork, a mechanical closet or a rooftop unit.
The Wall-Mount is still Bard's best-known product worldwide. Look for it on the side of portable classrooms, construction trailers, modular offices and, above all, the small equipment shelters at cell towers and telecom sites, where it keeps sensitive electronics cool around the clock.
Chapter 4 · 1981 to 2001
The third generation
When Randolph retired in 1981, his sons Jim and Richard took over. That same year Bard introduced its first geothermal heat pump, a line that continues today in the Q-TEC series, the most efficient equipment in the Bard catalog. The company opened a second plant in Madison, Georgia, in 1992 and a third location in Saltillo, Mexico, in 2001.
In the late 1990s Bard made a deliberate choice to step back from the general residential market and concentrate on commercial customers: schools, telecom carriers, modular builders and light commercial buildings. It was a decision to be essential in a few places rather than ordinary in many.
Chapter 5 · 2014 to today
Still a family company
Bard marked its 100th anniversary in 2014. Its world headquarters and main manufacturing plant in Bryan has grown from one small brick building into more than 300,000 square feet, and three locations now serve customers across North America and beyond. Fourth-generation family members Pam Bard Steel and Bill Steel lead the company, and a fifth generation is already involved. Family leaders have long credited the company's longevity to the employees outside the family who build the equipment.
The Lineup
What Bard builds today
Bard builds wall-mounted heating and cooling equipment for classrooms, telecommunications and equipment shelters, modular buildings and light commercial use, along with geothermal heat pumps and specialty climate control for shelters. The Bard equipment HVAC365 carries centers on the wall-hung package unit:
- Wall-hung air conditioners: W-series package units such as the W12A, W18AF, W24AF and W60AF families, including 2.5 ton models rated at 11.3 EER2 on R-454B refrigerant. Common sizes include the 2 ton, 3 ton and 5 ton units.
- Wall-mounted heat pumps: W18HF and related heat pump package units for year-round heating and cooling.
- Electric heat: factory heat strips, such as 5 kW and 8 kW kits matched to W18AF and W18HF units.
- Corrosion protection: Technicoat phenolic coatings for evaporator coils, condenser coils and cabinets, used where salt air or industrial fumes would shorten a unit's life.
- Installation accessories: return and supply grilles, crankcase heaters for cold-weather compressor protection and field-assembled upgrade curbs. Browse all self-contained package units.
The Next Chapter
A new refrigerant for an old idea
Under the EPA's Technology Transitions rule, new residential and light commercial air conditioners and heat pumps must now use refrigerants with a global warming potential below 700, which ends the R-410A era for new equipment. Current Bard wall-mount units, including the ones listed here, use R-454B, an A2L refrigerant with a mild flammability rating. Installers working on these units use A2L-rated tools and procedures, and new R-454B units should not be mixed with older R-410A components.
At a Glance
Bard by the numbers
- Founded
- 1914, Bryan, Ohio
- Founder
- Dale Bard
- Original name
- The Bryan Plumbing and Heating Company
- First air conditioner
- 1961
- Signature product
- The Wall-Mount, introduced 1963
- Additional facilities
- Madison, Georgia (1992); Saltillo, Mexico (2001)
- Headquarters size
- More than 300,000 sq ft
- Ownership
- Family owned, fourth and fifth generation
- Refrigerant
- R-454B on current wall-mount units
Questions
Frequently asked questions about Bard
Who owns Bard?
Bard Manufacturing Company is family owned. It is led by fourth-generation family members Pam Bard Steel and Bill Steel, with a fifth generation also involved.
Where are Bard air conditioners made?
Bard is headquartered in Bryan, Ohio, where its main manufacturing plant is located, and it also operates facilities in Madison, Georgia, and Saltillo, Mexico.
When was Bard founded?
Dale Bard started the business in Bryan, Ohio, in 1914 as The Bryan Plumbing and Heating Company. It became Bard Manufacturing Company in the 1940s.
What is a Bard Wall-Mount unit?
The Wall-Mount, introduced in 1963, is a self-contained air conditioner or heat pump that hangs on the outside wall of a building. It is widely used on portable classrooms, modular buildings and telecom equipment shelters.
What refrigerant do new Bard units use?
Current Bard wall-mount air conditioners and heat pumps use R-454B, a lower global warming potential A2L refrigerant that replaces R-410A in new equipment.
Does Bard still make residential equipment?
Bard stepped back from the general residential market in the late 1990s to focus on commercial customers such as schools, telecom shelters and modular buildings.
