Thermador was founded in 1916 by William E. Cranston as a manufacturer of electric items, particularly portable and built-in electric room heaters. In the early 1930s Cranston and H.H Fogwell merged their independent companies forming The Thermador Electrical Manufacturing Company. By the end of the 1930s the Thermador facility in Los Angeles had grown to 86,000 square feet on 4.5 acres. The company expanded their production to cooling, pioneering the first “Evaporative Coolers,” room coolers and automotive air coolers. Thermador also introduced its first cooking products in the late 1930s, expanding production even further.