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8/29/2008
Oklahoma City-based ClimateMaster benefiting from network spot
By Don Mecoy, Business Writer
Callers lit up the switchboard at Oklahoma City-based ClimateMaster Thursday after company president Dan Ellis appeared on CNBC to discuss the company's geothermal heat pump products.
The only downside was that the financial network anchors and graphics referred to Ellis as "Dave" rather than Dan throughout the five-minute interview.
"I don't know how that happened," Ellis said. "I didn't think I wanted to mess them up by correcting them on-air, so I just let it go."
A flood of calls
Ellis' appearance prompted a flood of calls to ClimateMaster's headquarters from viewers interested in how to buy the energy-efficient units, or the stock of ClimateMaster parent LSB Industries, Ellis said.
"I've been surprised how many people caught that program," he said. "I don't even think our phone number was shown on there."
ClimateMaster installs geothermal heat and cooling units in homes and businesses, using water-filled pipes to tap the constant underground temperatures and move heat into and out of buildings at great cost savings.
The installation costs are about twice as high as conventional systems, but energy savings eventually more than offset the higher initial costs, Ellis said.
A recent New York Times article that mentioned ClimateMaster sparked CNBC's interest in the local company, Ellis said.
ClimateMaster's sales are up about 30 percent this year, despite a sharp decline in new home construction.
Growth in the geothermal business benefits Oklahoma disproportionately, Ellis said, because so much of the industry is based here. In addition to ClimateMaster and its 700 employees, companies in Perry, Tulsa, Enid and Shawnee make components used in the installation process.
‘Oklahoma-based industry'
The geothermal industry's association also is based at Oklahoma State University, where the concept of heat pumps was rediscovered 30 years ago, Ellis said.
"This is very much an Oklahoma-based industry," he said.
"This state gets 30 to 40 percent of all the benefit of the growth of geothermal," he said.
LSB Industries President Barry Golsen had been scheduled to appear on CNBC until he contracted an illness.
"Dan is one of the most knowledgeable guys in the industry," Golsen said. "He's a great executive."