“We’ve been around since the turn of the century,” says Russell Shavitz, owner of Shavitz Heating & Air Conditioning. “I’m the third generation of my family to run this business.” Of course, a hundred years ago heating and cooling technologies were a bit different: Russell’s grandfather delivered ice and coal from a horse-drawn carriage. “He would carry blocks of ice on his back up stairs for people’s refrigerators,” he says.

Russell has spent more than 45 years in the heating and cooling business. “I would ride around as a kid and help deliver coal, or spend time in the shop learning how to bend sheet metal,” he says. He’s seen a lot of changes in the heating and cooling in those years too. “Today, the business is changing on an almost daily basis, so I have to keep up with all the newest technology,” he says.

The result of this long history in the heating and cooling business? These days, Shavitz Heating & Air Conditioning is a premier residential and commercial service company, installing and maintaining systems from homeowners’ old hot-water radiators to giant industrial complexes.

Shavitz has worked across the Midwest with a variety of commercial and industrial projects, including installing heating and cooling in 140 rooms of a Michigan Avenue hotel and a restaurant in Minnesota.

Shavitz has also worked with food processing plants and warehouses. “We built a drive-in freezer for food trucks,” he says. “We’ve done ice rinks in Lincolnwood and Barrington as well.“

Shavitz solves tough residential problems in the North Shore area as well.

Shavitz also works with more routine heating and cooling issues. “A large portion of our business is yearly cleaning and maintenance,” he says, noting that he offers service agreements. He also offers 24-hour, on-call emergency service.

“We’ve been around a long time, and hope to stay around a long time,” Shavitz said.