WaterFurnace International Inc., a manufacturer of residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional geothermal and water-source heat pumps, has named Tom Huntington as president and chief executive officer. Huntington is taking over for Bruce Ritchey, who is retiring from the company after 10 years in the position.

Thomas Huntington

Huntington comes to WaterFurnace from the Building Efficiency Division of Johnson Controls Inc. In 2005, Johnson Controls acquired York International, where Huntington was president of York’s $1 billion Unitary Products Group from 2000 until 2006. Huntington continued to run that group under Johnson Controls.

Previously, Huntington served as senior vice president of engineering and vice president of global sales and marketing at Bristol Compressors. He helped grow Evcon/Coleman Industries from $35 million to $150 million in sales from 1992 through 1995, when the company was acquired by York International. Huntington continued as general manager of Evcon Industries under York until 1997.

Well-known within the heating and air-conditioning industry, Huntington was chairman of the Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association and was involved in its consolidation with the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute. He currently serves on the planning board of the resulting organization, the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute. He also serves on the board of North American Technician Excellence, a testing and certification organization for service-technician training.

Huntington holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering technology from Rochester Institute of Technology. Upon graduation, he completed a two-year manufacturing-management training program with General Electric before pursuing a master’s degree in engineering administration from Syracuse University.