Rheem Manufacturing Company

Rheem Manufacturing Company is a privately held manufacturer that produces residential and commercial heating, cooling, water heating, pool & spa heating and commercial refrigeration products and solutions. The company also produces and sells products under the Ruud brand name. Rheem is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and is an independent subsidiary of Paloma Industries. Chris Peel is Rheem’s president and CEO.

Rheem started in 1925 as a packaging supplier to the petroleum industry. The company also manufactures water heating and HVAC equipment in the United States. It also sells products in Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Bahrain, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Iraq, Kuwait, Mexico, New Zealand, Perú, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, UAE, and Ukraine.

Rheem is named after its founders, brothers Richard "R. S." Rheem and Donald "D. L." Rheem. A third brother, William "W.K." Rheem, helped finance the company at its start. They are the sons of William S. Rheem (1862–1919), former president of Standard Oil Company of California who led the construction of a major oil refinery for the company in Richmond, California.

The brothers began manufacturing galvanized steel drums in 1925 as a co-partnership with Pacific Galvanizing Company in Emeryville, California. The Rheem Manufacturing Company was organized on January 22, 1930, buying out Pacific Galvanizing. Rheem additionally acquired the Republic Steel package company, which also had a plant in Richmond. Republic Steel made boilers and tanks, which allowed Rheem to enter the water heating business.

The company expanded overseas to Australia in 1936, building a plant in Sydney to make water heaters. In 1941, Rheem became the largest manufacturer of automatic water heaters in the United States.

During World War II, much of the company's efforts went towards wartime production, the manufacturing of shell casings, a liberty ship and aircraft parts. In 1942, Rheem Manufacturing took over a mill from Bethlehem Steel in Danville, Pennsylvania, to begin manufacturing munitions for World War II. The plant was sold to the American Steel Corporation of New York in 1946.

In 1954, Rheem introduced "glass-lining," which coated the interior of a water heater tank with porcelain to extend the life of the tank. One of the most significant events for the company came in 1956 with the introduction of "Rheemaire" central air conditioning and heating systems for homes. This eventually became one of the company's primary business areas.

In 1968 a plant was opened in Bergum (Burgum in Frisian) in the Netherlands. The plant was successful but had to close its doors by the end of 1983.^{[citation needed]}