History
The company is named for its founders, brothers Richard and Donald Rheem. The brothers initially began manufacturing galvanized steel drums in 1925 as a co-partnership with Pacific Galvanizing Company in Emeryville, California. The Rheem Manufacturing Company was subsequently organized in 1930 and bought out Pacific Galvanizing and acquired the Republic Steel package company, which also had a plant in Richmond, California. Republic Steel made boilers and tanks, which allowed Rheem to enter the business of water heating. The company expanded overseas to Australia in 1936. The Aussie operations began making drums in 1937 and water heaters in 1939. In 1941, the company became the largest manufacturer of automatic water heaters in the United States. 1954 brought the introduction of "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 came in 1956 with the introduction of "Rheemaire" central air conditioning and heater systems for homes. This eventually became one of the company's primary business areas. In 1959, Rheem purchased the Ruud Manufacturing Company.
In the 1970s, Rheem began producing Heat pumps for residential applications. The company discontinued its packaging business in 1985, ending a 60 year run making steel drums and other containers. In the same year, the company acquired Raypak, Inc., which expanded the business into swimming pool heaters as well as commercial boilers.
Rheem was the first residential HVAC company to begin using Scroll compressors throughout their lineup in 1994, and all air conditioners and heat pumps continue to use Copeland Scroll Compressors. The company was also first to introduce a 14 SEER remote condensing unit in 1997. In 1998, the company began supplying the Home Depot with a line of GE branded water heaters. In 2009, Rheem and Ruud were the first to sell a Hybrid Heat Pump Water Heater, which was more than twice as efficient as similar electric water heaters. Also in the same year, Rheem and Ruud central air conditioners were reported to have the fewest percentage of units requiring repair among all major HVAC brands according to Consumer Reports.
Rheem's market share of the central air conditioner market had ranged had been as high as 16% in the 1980s and had dropped to about 11% by 2000. By 2008, a report by the United States Department of Energy ranked the firm as fifth in the U.S. in the central air conditioner and heat pump market with a 12% market share (behind UTC/Carrier with 27%, both Goodman/Amana and American Standard/Trane with 14% and Lennox with 12%), while in the residential gas furnace market as of 2008, the company was also ranked fifth with a 12% market share (behind Carrier with 32%, Goodman with 15%, and both Lennox and Trane with 13%).
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