Chimneys are an often overlooked aspect of a house’s HVAC system. Fireplaces, of course, are one of the oldest home heating systems. And furnaces and water heaters often vent through the same chimney. But for the past few hundred years, chimneys have been treated separately from the mechanical HVAC system. That’s starting to change, with chimney contractors moving into the HVAC space.

Lindemann Chimney and Fireplace is one of those chimney companies. Lindemann had been serving customers in Chicago for more than 50 years. The firm added “Heating and Cooling” to its name at the start of the year, when it added HVAC services. Chris Hoffmann, an HVAC veteran, joined the company as an operations manager to oversee this new division.