The story
In 1885, James Trane, a Norwegian immigrant from Tromsø, opened his own plumbing and pipe-fitting shop in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He designed a new type of low-pressure steam heating system, Trane vapor heating. Reuben Trane, James' son, earned a mechanical engineering degree (B. S. 1910) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and joined his father's plumbing firm.
In 1913, James and Reuben, along with Stella Jackson (formerly Trane), incorporated The Trane Company. By 1916, the Tranes were no longer in the plumbing business, but instead focused their attention on manufacturing heating products. Reuben's invention of the convector radiator in 1923, which replaced the heavy, bulky, cast-iron radiators that prevailed at the time, was a major success. Trane's first air conditioning unit was developed in 1931.
In 1982, Trane purchased General Electric's Central Air Conditioning Division. With that purchase came many of the most recognizable traits of Trane's residential air conditioning products. Many of those traits, like the distinctive red "Climatuff" compressors, rotary compressors, the "Spine-Fin" all aluminum spiny outdoor coil and the all aluminum evaporator coil, are still found in Trane's residential equipment lines.
In 1984, Trane was acquired by the American Standard Companies.
On February 1, 2007, American Standard Companies announced it would break up its three divisions. The company sold off its namesake kitchen and bath division and spun off WABCO, American Standard's vehicle controls division, while retaining Trane. American Standard then renamed itself Trane Inc. effective November 28, 2007.
On December 17, 2007, Trane announced it had agreed to be acquired by Ireland-based Ingersoll Rand in a cash and stock transaction. The sale was completed on June 5, 2008.
In September 2017, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America and Allergy Standards Limited announced that the Trane CleanEffects whole home air cleaner earned the Asthma and Allergy Friendly Certification, the first whole home air cleaner to receive this certification.
In 2020, Ingersoll Rand spun off its non-refrigeration businesses and was rebranded as Trane Technologies.
From Wikipedia’s article on Trane, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4