Did you ever ask yourself what homeowners used to heat their water before the invention of water heaters? If you haven’t, there’s a good chance you’re doing it now. In our line of work at Harris Water Heaters, this is the sort of thing we think of from time to time when we’re enjoying a warm shower.

As a water heater company in Pleasanton, CA, it’s something we just wanted to know. We also figured it’s something that our customers might find interesting so that we can all appreciate how lucky we are to have the convenience of modern water heaters.

Way back in the old days, there was no such thing as showers and water heaters. You can undoubtedly picture what we’re talking about by thinking of those old western movies, when someone emptied buckets of hot water into a steel bathtub before getting a good scrubbing.

Indoor running water eased the burden somewhat because you didn’t have to walk to an outdoor pump or well to fetch the water, but it still needed to be heated on a wood- or coal-fired stove.

Eventually, a man named Edwin Ruud invented an automatic storage water heater, and in a roundabout way, he’s responsible for our water heater company in Pleasanton, CA. Since that day, we’ve been able to enjoy the luxury of on-demand hot showers that don’t require a lot of effort. We all owe Mr. Ruud a big thank-you.