The invention of the first water heater in history is generally attributed to a man from England named Benjamin Maugham.
Benjamin was a decorative painter by trade. As a curious and creative person, he must have spent time outdoors admiring the wonders of nature. On one such occasion, while visiting a hot spring site, the sight of a spout of hot springs bursting through the air may have given him the Eureka idea for the creation of his own Gas Geyser.
In 1868 Benjamin Maugham invented and patented the first boiler. It consisted of a gas-powered iron furnace. The water from the hands would be heated by the flames of the burner and stored in the hot water tank. When a faucet was turned on, hot water came out.
The boiler must have made a lot of noise when turned on, which is why it deserves the name “Gas Geyser”.
Perhaps Maugham did not think of all the technical details – since he was not an engineer – and the Gas Geyser did not become popular or commercial in his day. One of the reasons is that not having a proper ventilation system or a temperature regulator would make it unsafe and even dangerous.
In 1889, a Norwegian engineer by the name of Edwin Ruud, who had immigrated to the United States with his family, heard about the Maugham Gas Geyser and decided to make some adjustments and additions to it, improve it, and market it. He made a cast iron gas combi boiler with a copper heat exchanger. When the tap was turned on, a valve would ignite the heater’s burners and water from the mains was instantly heated and delivered through the tap to the sink or tub without being previously stored in the hot water tank.
This convenient invention was later patented by Ruud. He soon managed to commercialize it and many homes installed it in their attics, basements or kitchens. It was becoming popular and the demand was so high that just 10 years later, Ruud opened his own company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The Ruud Manufacturing Company became the leader in appliances for heating water and other products. He manufactured different water heaters that were suitable for domestic and commercial use.
Having gas central heating in the house became the trend of his days. Now, over a hundred years later, the Ruud Company is still operational and competitive in the US among many other combi boiler companies.
