2024MarchApril-CJ - 13

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
THE STORY OF GRETTIR VATNSKASSAR
is not your typical tale in the world of
cooling systems. It involves smuggling,
tin, and the beautiful Scandinavian island
country called Iceland.
" I first got involved with radiators when
I was 12 years old and needed a summer
job, " said Margrét Ingibergsdóttir of
Grettir Vatnskassar. Margrét had already
committed to studying tinsmithing, so
her father's solution was to let her work
on radiator cores. " At 16 years old, I went
to school and apprenticed tinsmith and
graduated after 4 years. I have always
worked in the family company and
still do. "
Located in Reykjavík, Iceland, Grettir
Vatnskassar is still a family-owned
business operated by siblings Margrét
Ingibergsdóttir and Helgi Stefán
Ingibergsson. For those who don't speak
Icelandic, " vatnskassar'' literally translates
to " water box, " which is a " radiator. "
Before the Ingibergsson family got into
radiators, the company was actually
their grandfather's tinsmithing business.
" Our grandfather started in the cooling
systems industry in 1937, " said Margrét.
" Around 1945, he was able to get foreign
currency from his friend, and then he
smuggled it to Holland by boat and
bought machines from NRF in Holland. At
that time, there was very little currency
in Iceland. His friend had a company that
was importing metal to Iceland, so he
had to borrow money to take with him to
Holland. After that, he started to make his
own cores. We were the only company in
Iceland making our own cores, and we still
are the only company doing this. "
Many radiator shops can trace their
origins to blacksmiths. But unlike
blacksmiths who work with hot metals,
tinsmiths craft the majority of their work
with cold metal.
Nowadays, Grettir Vatnskassar is housed
in a building that's 300 square meters
(roughly 3,200 square feet) and two other
nearby properties. In addition to servicing
radiators and other cooling systems,
they also sell new radiators, intercoolers,
oil coolers, condensers, fuel tanks, filler
necks, and coils for heating units. Their
customers come from various industries
including agriculture, utilities, and power
generation.
Iceland was founded more than 1,000
years ago by the Vikings. It has a rugged
coastline of more than 3,000 miles.
March/April 2024 | THE COOLING JOURNAL | 11
2024MarchApril-CJ

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