Heating and Gas Devices
The inventions of C.L. "Chas" Lehman illustrate a time in Albertas past
when national and international brand-name household appliances took a
second place to locally produced, accessible, working products.
Invented and produced in Edmonton, many of Lehman's heating, gas and
plumbing inventions were refinements or adaptations on previous machines
that allowed for new uses of existing technology. For example, Lehman's
gas heaters for range boilers and furnaces were not great leaps forward in
technology, but were cleverly efficient modificationsthe inventions both
used the same gas heating unit, in different manners. It was this quality
of functionality that allowed Lehman to patent so many products and for a
number of his inventions to succeed with consumers.
Although Lehman did not invent the water heater, furnace and thermostat,
his refinements to these devices were unique enough to warrant Canadian
patent protection. His modifications were clever and saved time and
moneythe inventor claimed that his gas range heater could reduce gas
costs by 50 percent. His inventions may not have been adopted widely
around the world, but Lehman did use them when manufacturing his own
product for the local market.
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