Chip Water Heater - Jason Industries

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Jason Industires

c. 1960

Subcollections

Overview

A cylindrical unit with a fire box, flue and a small water tank. A pipe was run through the heater, and this circulated the water through the firebox. The heater was installed in the bathroom (usually on a raised area at the end of the bath) and when bath-time came around, it was fed with paper, woodchips and pinecones. This heated the water quickly, but if you ran too much into the bath it would go cold - it was an art to getting the bath at the right temperature. In some homes, a linking of pipes would provide a shower over the bath. The heaters tended to make a roaring sound with the sound of fire and the boiling water.

Historical information

In Australia, the invention of the “Chip” Bath Heater in the 1880’s provided a great solution to the problem of a hot bath. An ingenious invention, it was a cylindrical unit with a fire box and flue and a small water tank. A pipe was run through the heater, and this circulated the water through the firebox. The heater was installed in the bathroom usually on a raised area at the end of the bath and when bath time came around was fed with paper, chips of wood and pinecones - this heated the water quickly, but if you ran too much into the bath it would go cold - it was an art to have the bath at the right temperature. In some homes, a linking of pipes would provide a shower over the bath. The heaters tended to make a roaring sound with the sound of fire and the boiling water.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-124-2023.26

Item type

Themes

Material

Width

260 mm

Height or length

1400 mm

Inscriptions and markings

"Jason"

Contextual information

Commonly known as a “chip-heater”, they provided domestic hot water from about the 1880’s until the 1960’s. This chip heater made by Jason Industries probably dates c.1960. Jason Industries commenced as a sheet metal business in 1932.

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Primary significance criteria

Social or spiritual significance

Last modified

Sunday, 16 November, 2025

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