When I talk about the Big Green Monster I am not alluding to the left field fence at famous ballpark in Boston Fenway Park. I am talking about a product that was made in the 1960’s and 1970’s and there is a fair amount of them still in homes today. The Williamson Five In One was actually made here in Cincinnati at the Williamson Plant at Ridge and Madison Rd. In that time frame they had quite a large market in the Cincinnati area. Today it is a big retail location. The Five in One was actually all built into two cabinets that attached together on the inside. The furnace, heat exchanger, burners in one compartment and the electronic air cleaner and humidifier in the return air compartment. This has a green outside condenser which I still see a fair amount from the road today.
Back in its day it was a great marketing tool 5-1. It is actually only four which includes heating, air conditioning, air cleaning and humidification. The fifth was the de-humidification which is actually your air conditioning unit. In today’s world these units are extremely inefficient both in heating and cooling. The heating component would be lucky to achieve a 55% efficiency rating while the air conditioners are rated in the 6.6 SEER rating almost half what the standard air conditioning unit is today. It would cost you twice as much to run this equipment as a standard high efficiency furnace and air conditioner. If you still have a Williamson Air Conditioner make sure the outdoor coil is clean and unobstructed because they run on very high head pressures and will shut off if any tiny little obstruction occurs.
The major problem with the Williamson equipment since it has been at least twenty years since it has been made is the availability of repair parts. Some of them are just not available. These units were built to last a long, long time. There was no planned obsolescence considered when they built these machines. I would advise anyone that either has a Williamson 5-1 furnace or air conditioner to replace them. You do not want to be stuck in the middle of the summer or winter with a malfunction and no repair parts. In its day it was a great machine, so was the 57’ Chevrolet.
Contact Us for an estimate to replace your unit. The slow time is January through March. You can negotiate a better price when it is installed in the off-season.
