The invention of the first water heater in history is generally attributed to a man from England named Benjamin Maugham.
Benjamin was a decoration painter by profession. As a curious and creative person, you must have spent time outdoors admiring the wonders of nature. On one such occasion, while visiting a hot spring site, the sight of a jet of hot springs bursting into the air may have given him Eureka’s idea for creating his own gas geyser.
In 1868, Benjamin Maugham invented and patented the first boiler. It consisted of a gas-fired iron furnace. The mains water would be heated by the burner flames and stored in the hot water tank. When a tap was turned on, hot water came out.
The boiler must have made a lot of noise when it turned on, which is why it deserves to be named “Gas Geyser”.
Perhaps Maugham did not think about 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 named Edwin Ruud – who had emigrated to the United States with his family – learned about the Maugham Gas Geyser and decided to make some adjustments and additions, improve it and market it. He manufactured a cast iron gas combi boiler with a copper heat exchanger. When the faucet was open, a valve turned on the burners of the heater and the water from the mains was instantly heated and delivered through the faucet to the sink or tub without having been previously stored in the hot water tank.
This convenient invention was patented by Ruud. He soon managed to commercialize it and many households were installing it in their lofts, basements or kitchens. It was becoming popular and the demand was so high that just 10 years later, Ruud opened his own company in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
The Ruud Manufacturing Company went on to become a leader in water heating appliances and other products. It manufactured different water heaters suitable for domestic and commercial use.
Having gas central heating in the house became the trend of his days. Now, more than a hundred years later, the Ruud Company is still operating and competitive in the US among many other combination boiler companies.