RVR Energy Technology Ltd is a leading Irish manufacturer and distributor of heating equipment for commercial, residential and industrial buildings. The business was founded in 1994 and is based in Kenmare, Co Kerry. The company is a 100% owned subsidiary of RVR Ltd which is in owned by Michael Hayes and Brendan 'O Shea.

In 1976, three emigrants, John Sullivan, Brendan O Shea and Jimmy Connolly, returned to Ireland from New York and established Pioneer Radiant Products Limited. They began to manufacture gas-fired overhead radiant heaters. In those days, before natural gas, the market was based on LPG and typical customers were Churches, Halls, and Factories.

Hundreds of these buildings were heated with these ‘Pioneer’ heaters. Above: Gas fired radiant heater production department, the 1980s Natural gas arrived in the 1980s and sales grew.

Detroit Radiant Products Company acquired the business. Exports to the UK and Europe started. A range of direct gas-fired air heaters was developed and these products found a ready market in the hotels, halls, and nightclubs which were being built around Ireland in the 1980s and 1990s.