BUCYRUS, OH (CRAWFORD COUNTY NOW)—A lifelong Bucyrus resident is using his background and experience in the heating and cooling industry to launch his own business.

Garrett Hensley, 27, is the owner of Affinity Heating & Cooling Solutions, LLC.  He’s been running the company since May 2021, although he obtained the LLC designation a year earlier.

“Heating and cooling is definitely my biggest thing,” said Hensley, a 2016 Colonel Crawford High School graduate.  “Plumbing is a close second. Duct cleaning is I would say third.”

Hensley said he services and installs heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment for residential customers as well as water heaters in both tankless and traditional styles.

Affinity Heating & Cooling is an authorized Rheem dealer, he said, which means its line of gas furnaces have a high rating – up to 98.7 percent annual fuel use efficiency.

Hensley graduated from Terra State Community College in Fremont, Ohio, where he completed the HVACR program (Heating, Ventilating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration) and earned an associate degree.

He landed his first job after college at Guenther Mechanical in Ashland, then worked for two years at Kinn Brothers in Bucyrus.  “They really set me up and got me on the right path.”

In 2020, he purchased a machine for duct cleaning, and that venture took off, he said.  “Everything else just fell into place.  I take good care of my customers.  Honesty is the key and doing what’s right.”

Although he’s still adjusting to owning his own firm, Hensley said, business has been pretty good so far.  “It’s never not been steady.  I do a lot of work here in Bucyrus, Galion, and Marion.”

Down the road, Hensley said, he would like to acquire a physical location for the company or build a shop in town.  “I’m taking baby steps and waiting for the right opportunity.”

Either way, his roots are firmly planted.  “I love Bucyrus.  I love Crawford County.  I don’t see myself moving anywhere else.  I’m not a fly-by-night kind of company.  I’m here and I love the area.”

The business number for Affinity Heating & Cooling Solutions is 419-569-7155.