From the very beginning, the retailers and authorized service centers have played a major role in the sales and maintenance of Vallox ventilation units, and they are still very important partners for Vallox.
Important retailer network dates back to the 1970s
Systematic sales work was started by Valmet already in the 1970s with the establishment of a retailer organization, Kotilämpö retailers, who sold the Kotilämpö air heating system throughout Finland. Retailers were offered training in the technical properties of the Kotilämpö, as well as in the sales work itself.
Especially sales trainings led by top consultants were quite rare in the HVAC business. According to the former marketing manager Markku Mäenpää, the retailers were very enthusiastic when they received such support for their sales work from Valmet Oy Loimaa factory.
Various retailer events were also held.
-I remember well when we were on a cruise with retailers at the end of the 1970s and the new, fast, and fancy ferry Finnjet was reserved only for us. And once we went together to Salla (Lapland). We travelled there first by a charter plane to Rovaniemi and from there we continued by bus. Those retailer events were memorable, Mäenpää says.
In 1985 Valmet Oy Loimaa Factory held a competition for retailers, where, by purchasing certain products from the factory’s stock, retailers got points, and a certain number of points entitled to join on a trip to the Canary Islands. The campaign was very popular and eventually about 50 retailers were flown to Canary Islands to enjoy some presentations about ventilation and, of course, being together.
I believe that many of these old Kotilämpö retailers are still along selling today Vallox’s existing products, Mäenpää says, and points out the importance of a well-built retailer network.
Ilmastointi ja Pelti Lehtiö is one of the longest retailers of Vallox
One of Vallox’s long-term retailers is Ilmastointi ja Pelti Lehtiö Oy from Tervajoki (Finland). This family-owned company was founded as early as 1968 and its services include sales, design, installation, cleaning, spare parts and maintenance of ventilation units, and air volume measurements.
The co-operation has continued throughout the existence of Valmet Oy Loimaa factory / Vallox Oy. The installation and sale of Valmet Kotilämpö air heating systems became familiar to the company’s founder Markku Lehtiö in the 1970s, when Valmet built its retailer network.
-We were along on that trip to Canary Islands in the 1980s, organised by Valmet Oy Loimaa factory, and we have lots of nice memories of that trip, Markku Lehtiö recalls the unforgettable trip abroad.
In the 1980s, Markku Lehtiö was an active advocate of air heating and his company advertised Valmet Kotilämpö air heating system in newspaper ads. Since 2011, the family business has been run by Janne Lehtiö, Markku Lehtiö’s son. Due to the long-term cooperation, Ilmastointi ja Pelti Lehtiö Oy has know-how and spare parts for older Vallox ventilation equipment, but usually the company starts to sell also Vallox’s new products as soon as Vallox starts the production.
In his own house Markku Lehtiö installed a novelty of the time, Valmet Saituri, already in the early 1980s. In addition to ventilation and heat recovery, Valmet Saituri heated domestic hot water with the heat removed from the house. Investing in energy efficiency has clearly been important for the next generation as well, as in the house of Janne Lehtiö, build in 2008, the Vallox 150 SE MLV / VKL ventilation unit utilizes geothermal energy.
The energy-efficient construction method of the Finns was also of interest to Vallox’s German customers who visited the Vaasa Housing Fair in 2008. They wanted to see an unfinished site outside the fair, where different structures and heating and ventilation solutions are more visible than in the finished houses. Two buses full of German ventilation professionals drove to the building site and the visitors got an opportunity to see Lehtiö’s low-energy house already during the construction phase. During the tour of the construction site, the guests were able to enjoy Finnish traditional delicacies as Lehtiö’s guests.
With regular cleaning MUH Ilmava ventilation unit has been changing the indoor air for more than 30 years
Timo Rantakallio from Vihti (Finland), who has retired from installing and maintaining ventilation units and systems, still relies on the MUH Ilmava ventilation unit in his own house. The product range MUH Ilmava with heat recovery was introduced to the market in the mid-1980s and is still Finland’s best-selling ventilation unit model of all time. Production of the Ilmava series was discontinued in 2004.
-In my own home, MUH Ilmava ventilation unit has been working reliably since 1988, Timo Rantakallio says.
According to Rantakallio, the unit has been very easy to maintain and clean thanks to the fans, which do not need to be removed when cleaning the ventilation ducts. During these decades, the fans have been replaced only once, and it was almost 15 years ago.
-The fans in this unit may not represent today’s low-energy electricity consumption requirement, but they are very long-lasting when they are properly cleaned, Rantakallio says, relying in his own experiences.
Rantakallio clearly considers it very important to clean the ventilation systems regularly. He tells that as a ventilation professional, he even developed two inventions to help in the cleaning of ventilation systems.
Timo Rantakallio has decided to keep this MUH Ilmava ventilation unit, designed by Erkki Marjasto, alive and working as long as he lives in his current home.
-Why would I replace a well-working device!, Rantakallio ends.
