The Brand Story
Sterling: A Three-Person Shop in Westfield That Learned to Heat Warehouses
In 1945 John E. Reed heard a businessman in Albany, New York, describe something called fin-tube radiation: steel tubing fitted with thin fins to spread heat into a room. The idea stayed with him. A year later he and a partner rented space off Bartlett Street in Westfield, Massachusetts, and started making it with a staff of three. The company they named Sterling would go on to put gas-fired heat into garages, shops and warehouses across the country.
Chapter 1 · 1946
Finned tubes and a rented room
Sterling Radiator Company was founded in 1946 by John E. Reed and his partner Gustave H. Stenner. It began with three employees, and by July of that first year its finned steel heating tubes were already selling. In 1950 the company bought land and a building at 260 North Elm Street in Westfield, an address that still serves as home base today.
Chapter 2 · 1950s to 1976
From radiation to unit heaters
Soon after the move to North Elm Street, the company formed Sterling Heat Specialties Company to sell gas-fired unit heaters to commercial and industrial customers. These were the heaters you see hanging from the ceiling of a service bay or a loading dock, with a burner, a heat exchanger and a fan that pushes warm air down to the floor. In 1975 Sterling bought a unit heater plant in Farmville, North Carolina, a purchase that made it one of the three leading companies in the gas-fired unit heater market. A year later, in 1976, Sterling Radiator Company changed its corporate name to Reed National Corporation.
Chapter 3 · 1985 to today
Becoming Mestek
The modern company took shape through an unusual deal. Mestek was the reorganized remnant of Mesta Machine Company, a Pennsylvania steel-mill equipment maker that had gone bankrupt in 1983 and re-emerged as Mestek, Inc. in 1985. At the end of 1985 Reed National agreed to a reverse merger with Mestek, completed on July 31, 1986, in which Reed's owners took more than half of the combined company. The heating business carried on under the Mestek name, headquartered at the same Westfield address where Sterling had settled in 1950.
Today Sterling HVAC Products is listed at 260 N. Elm Street in Westfield, making unit heaters, rooftop units, infrared heaters and indoor make-up air units, with trade names including Matrix, Nexus and Sunscape.
The Lineup
What Sterling builds today
Sterling builds gas-fired and hydronic unit heaters, direct-fired heaters, infrared heaters, rooftop and make-up air units for residential, commercial and industrial buildings. Here is what HVAC365 carries from Sterling, all within our heaters collection:
- Low profile gas-fired unit heaters: such as a 75,000 BTU natural gas model with 82% thermal efficiency, a compact housing for garages and shops with limited ceiling height.
- Gas-fired propeller unit heaters: such as a 125,000 BTU natural gas model with 83% thermal efficiency, using a propeller fan to move heated air across larger open spaces.
At a Glance
Sterling by the numbers
- Founded
- 1946, Westfield, Massachusetts
- Founders
- John E. Reed and Gustave H. Stenner
- First product
- Finned steel heating tubes
- Unit heater plant acquired
- Farmville, North Carolina, 1975
- Parent company
- Mestek, Inc.
- Home base
- 260 N. Elm Street, Westfield, MA
- Products
- Unit, infrared and make-up air heaters
Questions
Frequently asked questions about Sterling
Who makes Sterling unit heaters?
Sterling HVAC Products is part of Mestek, Inc., which grew out of the Sterling Radiator Company through a 1986 reverse merger. Both are based at 260 N. Elm Street in Westfield, Massachusetts.
When was Sterling founded?
John E. Reed and Gustave H. Stenner founded Sterling Radiator Company in Westfield, Massachusetts, in 1946, starting with finned steel heating tubes and three employees.
What is a gas-fired unit heater?
A gas-fired unit heater is a self-contained heater, usually suspended from the ceiling, that burns natural gas or propane, warms a heat exchanger and uses a fan to blow heated air into a garage, shop or warehouse.
What does thermal efficiency mean on a unit heater?
Thermal efficiency is the share of the fuel's energy that the heater delivers as heat while running. An 82% rating means about 82% of the gas energy reaches the space as heat.
What other heaters does Sterling make?
Besides gas-fired unit heaters, Sterling makes steam and hot water unit heaters, direct-fired heaters, infrared heaters, rooftop units and indoor make-up air units.
