BEUTLER 8/7/08 10:59 AM Page 119
b e u t l e r c o r p. profile
do it ourselves.” The company, which
has never manufactured its own air con-
ditioners before, spent about $250,000
to develop AquaChill for residential
applications. Wylie says the company
plans to invest more capital once nor-
mal production begins in the fall.
The Sacramento Municipal Utility
District (SMUD) is sponsoring a
$90,000 program to help install and
monitor AquaChill. SMUD granted
Beutler $3,000 per system for 30 sys-
tems built. The company has manufac-
tured 30 AquaChills so far and is now in
the process of manufacturing 50.
“We’re very interested in this tech-
nology and we’re hoping to prove that
this product will have long-term energy
rebates,” Wylie states. “It’s not in the
market for general sales yet until we get
through the AHRI [Air Conditioning,
Heating and Refrigeration Institute]
rating process, [which] will be in the
[fall].”
Five years from now, Wylie says he
hopes to be installing about 10,000
AquaChills a year and selling another
40,000 to other contractors in hot- and
dry-climate states.
AquaChill’s major benefit is its ability
to provide more cooling using less
power during the hottest time of the
day, when peak-power demands are the
greatest, Wylie explains.
Facing the Challenge
The poor housing market is making
Beutler restructure its approach to be
able to expand to other markets.
“This is the challenge of the day,”
Wylie states. “[The residential] market
is so devastated in terms of volumes
tumbling – right around two-thirds in
the past three years.”
Downsizing, Wylie says, is the key to
surviving the current market. “We have
to be able to size ourselves according to
the market,” he continues. “We have to
ramp up and ramp down really quickly,
and we have learned how to go up and
down 25 percent within a four- to five-
month period.”
Beutler has ventured into other serv-
ices such as commercial heating and air
conditioning replacements. In addition,
the company now serves the thermal
and solar photovoltaic markets, and
recently entered into the electrical con-
tracting business.
It is also looking into adding plumb-
ing products in an attempt to be a full-
service mechanical systems contractor,
Wylie says. x
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