Rest Assured

First of all, I wanted to compliment you on your April 25 ductless issue. The fact thatThe NEWSdevoted an entire issue to an HVAC technology relatively new to most American consumers showcases the fact that your publication is on the cutting edge of HVAC technological development. From the product showcase to your “Trends in Ductless” article, you were right on point about the emerging popularity of ductless in American homes and buildings.

Since we introduced ductless technology to the American market 30 years ago from Japan, it has been slowly taking hold as the HVAC industry and end-users realize its benefits. As senior vice president and general manager of the U.S. office for Mitsubishi Electric Cooling & Heating, I have seen this category experience record growth each year. As you stated in your “Trends in Ductless” article, with rising energy costs and increased awareness each year, ductless has tremendous growth potential and is poised to explode into the untapped U.S. market.

Many of us in the ductless and broader HVAC communities were shocked and saddened by the terrible tragedy that occurred in Japan in March. Even though the earthquake and tsunami occurred on the other side of the planet, the disaster hit all too close to home for the many HVAC companies headquartered in Japan. A wave of uncertainty hit the industry – uncertainty about the state of the factories in affected areas, uncertainty about product availability, and most importantly, uncertainty about the welfare of our employees. We realize that many readers ofThe NEWSwho are just beginning to learn about ductless technology may be wondering how we in the United States would be impacted by the availability of product and parts manufactured in Japan.

The NEWSreaders can rest assured that since the very beginning of this tragedy, we have had feet on the ground trying to limit the impact the disaster would have on U.S. products. Due to the progress made in our factories, we can say that, with limited exceptions, we should experience little to no disruption in normal operations. In almost every case, we will be able to resume regular shipments throughout the course of the summer. Our manufacturing plants in Japan are back in production and working around the clock to deliver the units we ordered for the upcoming cooling season and have assured us that they will be able to produce our restocking orders within our regular production timeline.

We are confident that the great growth potentialThe NEWSdescribed for the future U.S. ductless market will proceed with limited disruptions. Even in light of this positive turn in product availability, we continue to keep the people in Japan in our thoughts and encourageNEWSreaders to do the same.

Bill Rau
Senior Vice President and General Manager
Mitsubishi Electric Cooling & Heating
Suwanee, Ga.

Send correspondence via email to letters@achrnews.com.

Publication date:05/23/2011