The Brand Story
Bryant: The Gas Regulator Salesman Who Taught America to Heat
In 1904, in Cleveland, Ohio, Charles Bryant was selling gas regulators to rural customers who burned natural gas to light their homes. It was a small, practical business built on one problem: getting gas to behave. Bryant noticed that the same fuel lighting those rooms could heat them, and within a few years his company was building gas water heaters and boilers. More than a century later, the company still carries his name, and its own history credits him as the father of the gas heating industry.
Chapter 1 · 1904 to 1919
Regulators, then heat
Bryant's first company was called the Natural Gas Regulator Company. Its customers were people living beyond the reach of city utilities who depended on high-pressure natural gas, and the regulator was what made that gas safe to use indoors. The move into appliances came quickly. The company soon began making gas-fired water heaters, and by 1908 it had been renamed the Bryant Heater & Manufacturing Company.
Boilers followed, and Bryant began making promises about them that few competitors would. In 1919 the company guaranteed 80 percent efficiency on its tubular gas boilers. By the mid-1920s most of the gas boilers sold in the United States were Bryant boilers.
Chapter 2 · 1927 to 1949
Let the pup do it
The late 1920s were a golden age for the gravity gas furnace, and 1927 brought Bryant record sales. Its advertising captured exactly why. Coal furnaces needed someone to shovel, bank and tend them. A Bryant gas furnace ran itself, and the company's ads, featuring a small dog as a mascot, made the point with a smile.
Homeowners were told they could "let your pup be your furnace man."
Bryant also pushed into cooling. In 1930 it introduced a silica gel dehumidifier that helped commercial air conditioning grow through the decade, and in 1937 it built the Dualator, an all-in-one heating and cooling unit. During the Second World War the Army and Navy called on its heating expertise. In 1949 Bryant joined with Day & Night and Payne to form Affiliated Gas Equipment.
Chapter 3 · 1955 to 1981
Into the Carrier family
In 1955 Carrier Corporation bought Affiliated Gas Equipment and moved Bryant's headquarters from Cleveland to Indianapolis, where Bryant's residential business is still based. When United Technologies acquired Carrier in 1979, Bryant had become one of the largest furnace manufacturers in the country and a leading maker of gas air conditioners.
In 1981 Bryant introduced one of the first 90 percent efficient gas furnaces, with variable-speed operation. A few years later came the Dual Pack, which the company described as the first outdoor unit to combine gas heating and electric cooling in one cabinet, the ancestor of today's gas/electric packaged units. Indianapolis grew into the center of Bryant manufacturing, with a 550,000-square-foot plant the company calls one of the world's largest gas furnace factories, and a major second site in Collierville, Tennessee.
Chapter 4 · 1996 to today
Refrigerant firsts and a century of whatever it takes
In 1996 Bryant brought out products using Puron, the Carrier family's chlorine-free R-410A refrigerant, nearly a decade before federal rules forced the industry away from ozone-depleting R-22. By 2000 the Puron line had grown to include packaged air conditioners, heat pumps and two-speed condensing units. When Bryant marked its 100th year in 2004, it rallied around a theme that became its motto, Whatever It Takes. Carrier, Bryant's parent, now operates as Carrier Global Corporation.
The Lineup
What Bryant builds today
Bryant builds furnaces, air conditioners, heat pumps, air handlers, evaporator coils, packaged units, ductless systems and controls for homes and light commercial buildings. Its residential equipment comes in three tiers: the Evolution System at the top, with variable-speed compressors up to 21 SEER2; the Preferred Series in the middle, with two-stage and single-stage options up to 18 SEER2; and the Legacy Line, Bryant's dependable single-stage equipment up to 16.5 SEER2. HVAC365 carries a focused set of Bryant equipment built around warm-climate cooling:
The Next Chapter
From Puron to Puron Advance
Bryant's family introduced R-410A a generation ago, and it is now leading the move away from it. In 2018 Carrier selected R-454B, which it markets as Puron Advance, as the primary replacement for R-410A in its ducted residential and light commercial equipment. R-454B has a global warming potential of 466, about one-fifth that of R-410A. Current Bryant condensers, air handlers, packaged units and heat strips in our catalog are built for it, and a new R-454B system should be installed as a matched set rather than combined with older R-410A components.
At a Glance
Bryant at a glance
- Founded
- 1904, Cleveland, Ohio
- Founder
- Charles Bryant
- Parent company
- Carrier, since 1955
- Headquarters
- Indianapolis, Indiana
- Main plant
- Indianapolis, 550,000 sq ft
- Second major site
- Collierville, Tennessee
- Motto
- Whatever It Takes
- Product tiers
- Evolution, Preferred, Legacy
- Current refrigerant
- R-454B (Puron Advance)
Questions
Frequently asked questions about Bryant
Who owns Bryant?
Bryant is a brand of Carrier Global Corporation. Carrier acquired Bryant in 1955 when it bought Affiliated Gas Equipment, the company Bryant had formed with Day & Night and Payne in 1949.
Where are Bryant air conditioners made?
Most Bryant manufacturing and product development is centered in Indianapolis, Indiana, with a major second site in Collierville, Tennessee.
When was Bryant founded?
Charles Bryant founded the Natural Gas Regulator Company in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1904. It was renamed Bryant Heater & Manufacturing Company in 1908.
What is the difference between Bryant Evolution, Preferred and Legacy?
They are Bryant's three residential tiers. Evolution is the premium variable-speed line up to 21 SEER2, Preferred is the mid tier up to 18 SEER2, and Legacy is the single-stage line up to 16.5 SEER2.
What is Puron Advance?
Puron Advance is the Carrier family's name for R-454B, the lower global warming potential refrigerant that replaces R-410A in new Bryant ducted systems.
Is Bryant the same as Carrier?
Bryant and Carrier are both owned by Carrier Global Corporation. Bryant has been part of the Carrier family since 1955 but is still sold under its own name, with its own residential headquarters in Indianapolis.
