The Brand Story
Mr. Steam: From a Garment-District Iron to the Home Steam Room
In 1917 an inventor named Arthur Sussman did something that sounds almost too simple to matter. He put a heating coil together with water and made a steam iron. Garment factories were hungry for steam, and Sussman's small invention grew into a business that built boilers to feed them. More than a century later, the same company is still making steam in New York, only now much of it ends up in the showers of people who simply want ten quiet minutes in a warm cloud at the end of the day.
Chapter 1 · 1917
A coil, some water and a patent
Sussman's steam iron was the start of a long line of patents on producing steam quickly and safely with electricity. The company that grew from it, today known as Sussman Automatic Corporation, became a builder of industrial steam generators. Its boilers went first to the garment trade, which needed steady, clean steam for pressing, and later to customers with far less room for error.
The U.S. Navy became one of those customers. So did hospital operating rooms, where steam sterilizes instruments, and even the Kennedy Space Center. The company describes itself as the largest maker of electric steam boilers in the world. Its industrial lineage still shows in the way it talks about its home equipment: built with the same rugged approach as the units that went to sea.
Chapter 2 · 1960s
Bringing the steam room home
For most of history, a steam bath meant a trip somewhere: a bathhouse, a health club, a hotel spa. In the 1960s Sussman set out to change that. A new division, Mr. Steam, began offering residential steam bath systems that could be installed in an ordinary shower enclosure. A compact generator, hidden in a vanity, closet or basement, would heat water and send steam through a small head in the shower wall, turning an existing bathroom into a private steam room.
The idea found its audience. One Mr. Steam executive put the scale of it plainly in a trade interview.
"Hundreds of thousands have been sold since 1960."
That steady adoption turned the brand into one of the best-known names in residential steam. The company's later marketing settled on a phrase it registered for the experience, SteamTherapy, and a cheerful motto about feeling good when its customers feel good.
Chapter 3 · The decades between
Steam, light, scent and sound
Once steam was at home, the question became how to make the room around it better. Mr. Steam's answer came in layers. Touch controls replaced simple timers, letting the bather set temperature and time from inside the shower. Aromatherapy systems added essential oils to the steam stream. Chromatherapy lighting washed the enclosure in color. Speakers designed to survive a steam room brought music in, and heated towel warmers kept the last step of the ritual warm too.
The engineering stayed close to its industrial roots. Mr. Steam's home generators are built from recyclable stainless steel and designed to use water and energy efficiently, and the company manufactures all of its steam generators in the United States. Its home base is in Long Island City, Queens, with service teams covering both coasts and affiliates in Canada, Mexico and Germany.
Chapter 4 · 2024
Saunas by MrSteam
In October 2024 the company stepped into dry heat. Saunas by MrSteam arrived as a full line of sauna rooms, heaters and accessories, built from softwoods such as cedar, aspen and spruce. Three collections cover very different spaces: the compact Indo Collection for indoor rooms, the Barrel Haus Collection with its classic round outdoor profile, and the Cubist Collection, a squared-off outdoor cabin. Thermo-aspen interior panels, full-glass fronts and white LED lighting built into the backrest give the rooms a modern finish. For a company that spent a century perfecting wet heat, it was a natural next room in the house.
The Lineup
What Mr. Steam builds today
Mr. Steam builds the complete steam experience, from the generator behind the wall to the control on it, along with commercial steam equipment for hotels, gyms and resorts and, now, saunas. HVAC365 carries a wide range of it:
- Steam shower generators: residential generators such as the MS series, including the 7.5 kW, 240V single-phase model, and the MAX series with accessories like the Max AutoFlush.
- Generator bundles: packages that pair a generator with a matching control and steamhead, such as a 5 kW package with the round iTempo control.
- Steam shower controls: the iTempo, TempoFlex and iSteamX control and steamhead sets, plus the SpaNet Hub for connected operation.
- Commercial steam generators: larger units for steam rooms in clubs, hotels and multifamily amenity spaces.
- Steam shower accessories and parts: the MusicTherapy AudioX Bluetooth speaker, hardwired Broadway Collection towel warmers and service components.
- Saunas: Indo Collection indoor rooms, Barrel Haus Collection round outdoor saunas and Cubist Collection outdoor cabins, with 4.5 kW and 9 kW heaters depending on size.
Sizing a steam generator depends on more than the floor area of the shower. Ceiling height, the type of wall material and whether the enclosure has an exterior wall or large glass panels all change how much steam a room needs, which is why generator selection is usually worked out with the installer before tile goes up.
At a Glance
Mr. Steam at a glance
- Roots
- 1917, the steam iron
- Founder
- Arthur Sussman
- Parent company
- Sussman Automatic Corporation
- Home steam since
- The 1960s
- Headquarters
- Long Island City, New York
- Manufacturing
- Steam generators made in the USA
- Signature idea
- SteamTherapy
- Newest category
- Saunas, launched 2024
Questions
Frequently asked questions about Mr. Steam
Who makes Mr. Steam?
Mr. Steam is the consumer brand of Sussman Automatic Corporation, a New York company that has designed and built industrial steam-generating equipment for more than a century.
Where are Mr. Steam generators made?
Mr. Steam says all of its steam generators are manufactured in the United States. The company is based in Long Island City, Queens, New York.
When was Mr. Steam founded?
The company traces its roots to 1917, when Arthur Sussman paired a heating coil with water to make a steam iron. The Mr. Steam residential steam bath division followed in the 1960s.
What is a steam shower generator?
It is a compact electric boiler, installed outside the shower in a vanity, closet or nearby room, that heats water and sends steam through a steamhead into a sealed shower enclosure.
Does Mr. Steam make saunas?
Yes. In October 2024 the company launched Saunas by MrSteam, with the Indo, Barrel Haus and Cubist collections of indoor and outdoor sauna rooms built from softwoods such as cedar, aspen and spruce.
