Caframo Hotshot Ceramic Heater

High quality products, outstanding customer service and engaged employees

Caframo is a privately owned Canadian manufacturing company founded in 1955. We pride ourselves in being an industry leader in laboratory overhead stirrers, specialty fans, heaters, thermoelectric fans, and thermoelectric lighting. Caframo is more than just a quality manufacturer; Caframo is a great place to work.

Our unique combination of products, and our name, originally evolved from the development of Canadian Fractional Motors and the products that use them. A fractional motor is a motor that outputs less than 1 horse power.

Today, our product line is organized into two divisions – Caframo Lifestyle Solutions (consumer products) and Caframo Laboratory Solutions (laboratory stirrers and accessories). Caframo Lifestyle Solutions include the Ecofan, JOI Lamp, specialty marine fans and heaters. Caframo Laboratory Solutions produces overhead stirrers and a wide range of accessories.

Company processes include: market research, customer feedback, product design, parts manufacturing, assembly, packaging, quality testing and functional testing. Caframo products are built and approved to appropriate standards such as CE, UL, CSA, RoHS and WEEE.

The who, where, what and why of Caframo...

Nine years after the Second World War, a company in Germany wanted to expand outside the country, into North America.

The Wiarton Town Council had sent invitation letters to Chambers of Commerce in Germany, and Hans Heidolph Sr. decided to include Wiarton in his expedition to find a North American location.

In 1954, he decided on Wiarton, and then set out to find a location for a factory. Unable to find the “sturdy foundations” he was looking for in the light industry buildings in town, he was directed to the old “Colonial Portland Cement” factory on the waterfront nearby. The factory had been closed for years, but was of solid concrete construction.

The Heidolph family purchased the property and refurbished the buildings. For the largest building they took detailed measurements and had new roof trusses fabricated in Germany and shipped over. This is the building that can be seen from the water.

The intent was to continue the Heidolph motor-winding business in this new location, so they named the company “Canadian Fractional Motors”. A fractional motor is a small motor with only a fraction of a horsepower, for example a 1/10 horsepower. Motors of this size are typically used in household appliances and laboratory stirrers.

In 1955 the new business was started, manufacturing and distributing heaters, fans, and laboratory stirrers.

The founders were Hans Heidolph Senior, his son Hans Heidolph Jr, and his son-in-law Doctor Rudolph Zinsser. In 1964, Hans Heidolph Jr. was appointed President.

In 1994, Tony Solecki joined the company as General Manager, and in 1996 purchased the company.

Culture at Caframo

At Caframo you are part of a team, working together toward a common set of goals. You have a voice that can make a positive impact, no matter what position you hold.

As a Certified Great Place to Work, we focus on building a sense of credibility, pride, fairness, respect, camaraderie, and trust with our team members.

We believe we can make a positive impact on our local community through our annual charity efforts and supporting community initiatives in Grey Bruce.

We are an organization that truly cares.