Vale Tony Heat – VASA pioneer and ‘gun installer’

VASA pioneer director and mobile air conditioning industry stalwart Tony Heat, has died in Sydney at the age of 72 after a battle with cancer.

For most of his life, Tony operated a one-man mobile air conditioning workshop, trading as Carter-Sewell at Manly Vale on Sydney’s northern beaches. He built a reputation as a gun installer of air conditioning and a meticulous tradesman who could boast very few recalls in his 35 years on the tools. He received his trade certificate as a mechanic in 1972.

When he sold the workshop in 2003, he shared his knowledge as a trade teacher at TAFE campuses in New South Wales at Glendale near Lake Macquarie, and Muswellbrook in the Hunter Valley. He finally retired in 2009.

Tony was a cheerful enthusiast for his industry. As a VASA director he served on many committees and was influential in the planning of some of the biggest and most successful VASA conventions and trade shows around the turn of the century.

Tony Heat’s career began with his automotive engineering apprenticeship at Raymond E Giffen’s Willoughby workshop on Sydney’s lower North Shore, where he was exposed to a huge variety of vehicles.  He moved to Swan Motors, a Ford dealership at Narrabeen, where he was introduced to vehicle air conditioning by sub-contractors Don Carter and Bob Sewell, who traded as Carter-Sewell. They were installing Smiths, Autofrost and Kirby systems in new Ford Cortinas, and XC and XD Falcons.

The pair were impressed with Tony’s grasp of air conditioning technology, and invited him to join their business. Around the late 1970s, Carter and Sewell decided to concentrate on another business they owned and offered the workshop to Tony. 

He spent his last years touring around Australia in his caravan which followed a stint developing and running a Hunter Valley B&B. 

When interviewed for the VASA book Cool Mavericks in early 2024, Tony responded with typical humility that he didn’t think he deserved any recognition. 

Instead of a public funeral, there will be a private family farewell, but a big gathering of friends attended a living wake at his Hunter Valley home last Father’s Day.