Bernhard Gerbel worked in mechanical and electrical engineering. After a short employment at the Nordwestbahn-Direktion in Vienna, he became a steam boiler inspector and thus took over the supervision of all boiler plants in Viennese industries, plants in Hungary, Croatia and all undertakings of the territories of Bosnia and Herzegovina occupied by the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.
From 1918 Gerbel worked as an independent engineering consultant for mechanical and electrical engineering. His work aroused interest beyond the borders of the country. Furthermore, as a long-time consultant for the Austrian, Hungarian and Czech kindling companies and as a project manager of power plants for German kindling factories, he prepared scientific studies on the drying of wooden wire. Among his numerous publications, the work “Kraft- und Wärmewirtschaft in der Industrie” (Power and Heat Management in Industry), first published in 1918, is considered the most important work.