Closeup of a Lennox air conditioner Named after its founder, David Lennox, the company that today makes a variety of climate-control systems started off as a furnace manufacturer. Lennox founded the company in the 1890s before selling it off in 1904 to a journalist and businessman called D.W. Norris. Over 120 years later, the Norris family still owns a stake in the company, having helped steer it through national and international expansions and the acquisitions of a string of rivals. While Lennox still maintains a strong reputation as one of the best major air conditioner brands in its own right, that history of expansions and acquisitions has meant that it also has a lot of other brands in its portfolio. Some of them have been owned by Lennox for many decades, while others were acquired as recently as 2026. Buyers looking for a Lennox air conditioner therefore have more options available to them than they might realize, including these 5 home HVAC brands. Armstrong Studio shot of an Armstrong air conditioner Lennox launched the Armstrong brand in 1928, later selling it and then reacquiring it in 1988. Since then, it has remained under the company's ownership. Today, the Armstrong brand is owned by Allied Air, which is in turn owned by Lennox International. Armstrong offers a range of air conditioners, gas furnaces, and heat pumps, with its products being made in the USA. Specifically, they're made in Orangeburg, South Carolina, with the brand's headquarters and research and development department being located a few miles further north in Lexington County. That research and development hub is a 40,000-square-foot facility that allows Armstrong to develop its next-generation products in-house. It's worth noting that the technologies employed by Armstrong's air conditioners are shared with another Allied Air-owned brand, AirEase. For example, its Wi-Fi-connected Comfort Sync A3 thermostat, which is designed to both improve home comfort and save energy by allowing users to adjust their home's air conditioning remotely via an app, is available with both brands' systems. Its MHT heat transfer system is also shared between both brands, as is its Quiet Shift system, which defrosts outdoor coils during cold weather. Ducane Closeup of a Ducane air conditioner The air conditioning division of Ducane has been part of Lennox's portfolio for more than 25 years, with the company first announcing its acquisition plans in a press release in May 1999. At the time, Lennox International's CEO and board chairman John Norris said that Lennox acquired Ducane because it sold products to "an important portion of the market which Lennox International does not service today." Norris added that Ducane's "unique line of heating and cooling products" was another key reason for the buyout. Alongside brands like Armstrong and AirEase, Ducane is today a part of Lennox-owned Allied Air. Its product lineup is pitched as being value-oriented, and it misses out on some of the additional technologies that other Lennox brands like Armstrong offer. However, its air conditioners still come with a straightforward 10-year limited parts warranty. Like other brands in the Lennox portfolio, Ducane switched the refrigerant used in its air conditioning units in 2025, with its new R-454B refrigerant having less global warming potential (GWP). The difference is significant, with the brand claiming a GWP reduction of 78% compared to the previously used R-410A refrigerant. AirEase AirEase logo on an air conditioner Much like Armstrong, AirEase was originally launched by Lennox in 1928 and now forms part of its Allied Air group of brands. As previously mentioned, AirEase shares its technology with the Armstrong brand, but that isn't the only thing that's shared between them. AirEase's systems are also built at the same South Carolina factory as Armstrong, and they share the same headquarters and research and development facilities. The two brands even share the same air conditioner range: both offer the same A7AC22V variable-capacity air conditioner, alongside two single-stage models, the A7AC14F and A7AC13F. Really, the only difference between the two is the brand name on the system — in virtually every other way, buyers are receiving the same product. Anyone who has their eye on a system from either brand would probably be wise to also get a quote from the other brand, to make sure there aren't any significant differences in pricing in their area. Armstrong sells various other climate control systems alongside air conditioners, and AirEase is no different. Buyers can also pick from a range of air handlers, gas furnaces, and heat pumps, among other products. Concord Concord air conditioning units in the snow It isn't just Armstrong and AirEase that offer the same products under different brands. Take a look at Concord's lineup of air conditioners, and you'll find an identical list of models to that of Ducane. Again, both are owned by the Allied Air group, which is ultimately owned by Lennox, and both share the same South Carolina headquarters. Together, these four brands make up the entire Allied Air residential brand portfolio, although the group also owns two further brands that focus on other types of HVAC systems. MagicPak is an HVAC brand that's focused on systems for apartment buildings, while the Allied Commercial brand unsurprisingly produces systems for commercial units. Just like Ducane, Concord's air conditioners are not available with the same list of additional tech as systems from the likes of Armstrong, but they're still otherwise very similar. They also use R-454B refrigerant and are eligible for a 10-year limited parts warranty with registration. Comfort-Aire Comfort-Aire air conditioner next to a Carrier unit Alongside its long-standing subsidiary brands, Lennox also has a couple of very fresh additions to its ranks. Comfort-Aire is one of them, having been acquired by the company when it took over Heat Controller in 2026. The other main brand acquired through the takeover is Century. Both brands offer the same two series of air conditioners, the LE series and SE series, although the exact range of models available differs between brands. Alongside their range of air conditioners, both brands also offer various other systems, including heat pumps and gas furnaces. Comfort-Aire's parent company, Heat Controller, was founded back in 1933, and it acquired Comfort-Aire's sister brand Century in 1975. Compared to Lennox's other brands, these two brands are more skewed towards smaller distributors. Together with Lennox's existing portfolio, they give buyers even more options to pick from — assuming, of course, there are enough signs that they need to replace their air conditioner in the first place, rather than simply repair it.
Liked by Alexander King, Amélie Campbell
Liked by Alexander King, Amélie Campbell
Liked by Alexander King, Amélie Campbell
