Nordyne Furnace Ignitors

A maker of indoor heating and cooling products, Nordyne is owned by Nortek Inc., which formerly traded on the New York Stock Exchange before going private in 2004.

Igniters and other Heating Components

Nordyne provides components for leading HVAC manufacturers, including Maytag, Frigidaire and Westinghouse for residential and light commercial systems; and brands its own products as Intertherm and Miller for manufactured housing, an industry Nordyne has served for decades. The company uses Demand Flow Technology--a mathematical approach to manufacturing developed by former Hewlett-Packard executive John Costanza--which sets Nordyne as a demand-driven operation.

The company notes that it's the only heating and cooling manufacturer to be DFT-certified, which occurred in 1998. The company maintains that its products are checked three times during each phase of the manufacturing process before computer-automated testing of each product. The variety of Nordyne ignitors require the usage of existing modular plugs from old ignitors and the subsequent attachment of the replacement-supplied wiring. Ignitor kits come with optional terminal connectors "C" and "E," and the most recent parts come ready-made for Nordyne's G6 furnaces, but with adapters for older models all the way back to G3 and M2 versions. The company also makes a universal ignitor that accepts three different kinds of terminal blocks: C, D and E.

Nordyne's History

Formed as International Oil Heating Co. in St. Louis in 1919, the company went public using the name Intertherm--which it still uses as one of its brand names--in 1969. Nortek Inc. purchased Intertherm and Miller--now another of Nordyne's brands -- in 1986 before combining the two a year later into its then renamed Nordyne subsidiary. Nordyne remained public until 2004, when Nortek decided to return the company to private ownership.

Nordyne's Parts Warranty

The company's warranty is dependent on the particular part, but Nordyne says all its warranties are backed by the manufacturers and not administered by a third party. Warranties range from 1 to 10 years, depending on the model and purchase date. However, ignitors purchased individually from Nordyne directly come with a standard 1-year warranty.