Friedrich 🇺🇸

Friedrich is the “high‑end” window‑unit brand from the United States and one of the oldest companies in San Antonio (Texas). Ed Friedrich founded it in 1883 as a workshop for handcrafted furniture—including the famous pieces made with longhorn horns—billiard tables, store counters and fine cabinetry. From counters they moved to refrigerated display cases (the company claims the first commercial refrigeration showcase), first with ice and later with mechanical cooling, and by around 1950 it was one of the world’s largest manufacturers of commercial refrigeration.

With that reputation it entered the domestic air‑conditioning market: in 1952 the first 500 “Floating Air” window units rolled off the assembly line and sales kept growing. In 1971 it moved its headquarters and factory to the Near East Side of San Antonio, next to the Pan Am Expressway, where it stayed for almost forty years. In 1976 the “QuietMaster” was born, its longest‑lasting professional range (until 2010), accompanied by the F series (1976‑83), G (1984, first with rotary compressors in the small and medium chassis), H (1988) and the “Q‑Star” chassis of 1990, still in production well into the 21st century; alongside them, the “Challenger”, the portable “Power Miser”, the wall‑mounted “WallMaster” and the “TwinTemp” with heat pump. Its fame among technicians and collectors is summed up in two ideas: heavy steel chassis and low noise, with capacities that reached 35,000 BTU/h.

The company also boasts having introduced ductless splits in the U.S., the first electronic controls in room units, and the first window unit with wifi. The San Antonio factory closed on November 16, 2007 and in 2008 production moved to a new plant in Monterrey (Mexico), maintaining engineering and warehouse in Texas; in 2010 the headquarters moved to Reunion Place, in the north of the city. After passing through the funds Corinthian Capital (2012) and Monomoy Capital Partners (2017), in 2021 Friedrich was acquired by Rheem Manufacturing, and today it sells the Kühl, Chill Premier, WallMaster ranges, portable units and dehumidifiers, as well as VRP and PTAC systems for hotels.

Pending verification

The ownership structure of Friedrich between the seventies and 2012 (sources mix ARCO and LSB Industries with the Friedrich Climate Master spin‑off of water‑to‑water heat pumps); the “technological breakthroughs” come from the corporate website.

History machine-translated from Spanish. Can you improve it? Write to us.