Kerr Smart Energy is a Canadian company based in Nova Scotia. David Kerr Wilson founded the company in 1949, initially providing service and conducting sales out of his milk truck.
Today, Kerr is primarily a wholesale distributor for HVAC equipment manufactured by other companies. Their mission as a distributor is to be a “contractor’s one-stop shop for all HVACR jobs—both residential and commercial.”
However, Kerr also produces some Kerr-branded HVAC products, particularly heating equipment—as you’d expect from a company based in Nova Scotia!
Kerr specializes in high-efficiency, EnergyStar qualified heating equipment. For instance, Kerr touts that their Kerr 88+ series of oil-fired furnaces is the first in North America to be completely EnergyStar certified while also being convertible to propane or natural gas.
Their oil-fired furnaces range in efficiency from 86% to 96.7% AFUE. Their top of the line Kerr Paradigm 2G furnace offers 96.7% AFUE thanks to a high-efficiency ECM blower motor, high static pressure oil burners, and a tubular secondary heat exchanger.
According to Kerr, this furnace can save homeowners up to 40% on their consumption of heating oil, leading to a reduction in a home’s greenhouse gas emissions of up to 3000 lbs/year.
In addition to oil-fired furnaces, Kerr also offers cast iron and steel boilers. These boilers are also EnergyStar certified and have efficiency ratings of 87-88.6% AFUE.
For enhanced efficiency, the Calisto Cast Iron Boiler, which can be powered by either oil or gas, incorporates the European “triple pass design.” While many high-efficiency furnaces today use a secondary heat exchanger to increase efficiency, the triple pass design adds a third opportunity for heat to be transferred. That decreases the amount of heat wasted as exhaust even more.
Along with their oil and gas fired heating options, Kerr also offers wood-burning furnaces and boilers. These can be the primary or supplemental heating system for a home.
Finally, Kerr produces a line of ductless mini-split heat pumps. These provide room air conditioning as well as supplemental heating, in a highly efficient, easy to install package.