‘Feel the Love’ campaign brings free HVAC systems to two Quincy residents 

QUINCY — Ella Wiemelt’s new furnace was installed Tuesday morning by Elam Heating & Air Conditioning, and aside from being safer and more energy efficient than the previous one she had — which posed significant risks of carbon monoxide leaks due to cracks that occurred over its nearly 30 year lifespan — the new furnace came with another huge perk.

It was 100% free.

Wiemelt is one of two Quincy residents nominated by Elam to receive free systems, which were donated by the manufacturing company they purchase their HVAC systems from, Lennox, through The Lennox Foundation’s ‘Feel the Love’ campaign. The annual campaign encourages people to “nominate a neighbor, warm a heart.” Since its inception in 2009, over 2,300 systems have been installed throughout the country, totaling roughly $12.6 million in donated materials. Five of those systems have been installed in Quincy.

Beneficiaries of the program have included community figures like teachers and firefighters, veterans, senior citizens, survivors of natural disasters and families who are simply going through a difficult time, as was the case with the two Quincy residents who were nominated by Elam Heating & Air Conditioning. 

“Both got approved (by the Lennox Foundation),” said John Hultz with Elam. “We’ve had some in the past, but never two.”

Wiemelt initially met the Elam crew over the summer when her air conditioning broke. Upon fixing it, Hultz realized her furnace was broken, too. It would cost anywhere from $4,500 to $5,500 to replace, and since Wiemelt couldn’t afford to replace both at the time, she began saving up. 

In the meantime, Elam decided to nominate her for the ‘Feel the Love’ campaign. Lennox donates the parts, while the owners of Elam Heating & Air Conditioning, Nick Logsdon and Nate Cannell, donate their time and labor during the installation process.

“(The ‘Feel the Love’ campaign is) great for the community,” Cannell said. “It’s free equipment to a customer that needs it.”

And needed, it was.

After a car accident left her with a broken neck in 2023, Wiemelt was out of work for 14 weeks before she finally returned in a neck brace. The constant turning of her torso due to the inability to move her neck resulted in severe pain in her ribs until her brace was removed right before her birthday last summer.

Wiemelt owns and operates Sprout’s Inn with her sister, Summer Wiemelt. The two took over ownership of the establishment after their mother, Jennifer Wiemelt, passed away suddenly in April of 2017, when Ella was just a junior in high school.

But in addition to inheriting the restaurant, they also inherited its debt; an electrical fire in 2012 left the building completely destroyed, requiring the family take out loans to rebuild Sprout’s Inn, a beloved Quincy staple since 1940, from the ground up. A new building was erected at the same 2814 N. 12th location the business had operated from since 1948, opening in the summer of 2013 — with a cost still being paid for to this day.

The driving force behind Elam’s nomination, though — in addition to her status as a young homeowner with an extremely expensive problem on her hands — was simply her incredibly benevolent demeanor.

“We knew that her old furnace was done for and wasn’t going to work this winter,” Hultz said. “We noticed a kind person in need of something we could provide.”

What they didn’t know when they called her, however, was that she was pregnant and would be welcoming her first child, a baby girl, in January — the coldest month of the year — making their decision to nominate her even more consequential than they’d realized. 

It also just so happened to be her birthday on the day they called.

“My birthday is lucky, I guess,” Wiemelt said.

Lawrence Barton, a senior citizen recently plagued by hefty medical bills and widespread pain, is the other Quincian who received a new system this week. It was installed Wednesday morning.