Brothers Gust and Adam Goettl were obsessed with technology. They used their tech-savvy to solve their neighbors’ climate-related problems while living in Mansfield, Ohio. The brothers had designed and built a transformer that could melt their neighbors’ frozen pipes. Taking this device door-to-door, they offered their services for a flat $10 fee. This was the start of a long and illustrious journey of problem-solving through innovation.
When the Goettl brothers moved to Phoenix in 1936, they found a city at the mercy of the weather. Every summer temperatures reached more than 100o (37.8o). Residents who couldn’t afford to move to more temperate climates resorted to desperate measures to stay cool. People slept under water-soaked sheets outside while sprinkler brigades passed by and hosed them down occasionally. The Goettls decided to work on a more dignified solution – an evaporative cooling system.
Over the next ten years, they mass-produced some of the best evaporative coolers in the world, registering over 100 patents and quickly gaining a reputation as pioneers in cooling and heating technology. By 1939 they had established their company, IMPCO, as the market leader in evaporative cooling systems distributed throughout North America.
By the time it was acquired by Symphony Limited in 2009, ‘IMPCO’ was a household name. With its
design stewardship and manufacturing excellence, the Goettl legacy lives on through Symphony Ltd.