The Origins of the Home Central Heating System
The first central heating dates as far back as the first century Rome. Roman engineers at the beginning of the Christian era developed the hypocaust which is an ancient Roman method of central heating. The hypocaust was used as the primary and secondary system as it created heat and distributed the heat at the same time.
Hypocausts were largely used in public bathhouses and in private homes. Several patrician homes even had tubes embedded in the walls to direct and spread the heat throughout the house. The tubes were normally made of terra cotta which carried the hot steam by adding a pool of water heated by the fire below. This system, however, was only made available to the very rich.
When the Roman Empire fell, so did the hypocausts. By the 12th century, several inventors eventually replaced it with an improved and better central heating system where heat travels through under floor pipes from the boiler room.
A heating system called Gloria, a direct descendant of the hypocaust, soon followed. The system allowed people to use less fuel such as hay instead of wood. Gloria had been used until the development of modern heating. The system became very popular as it was more efficient than a fireplace because of its tendency to burn fuel slowly and the rate of combustion can be regulated by regulating the airflow into the firebox. In addition, the air required for combustion does not have to pass through the interior of the house or building, which lessens cold drafts. Lastly, because the firebox is not exposed and is kept hidden, the people inside the home are not at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Despite these benefits, the system was later replaced by more efficient modern furnaces of today. This modern version of the Gloria is the under floor heating which uses piped hot water under the floor to heat rooms inside the house, and like the Gloria, has the benefit of reducing the temperature rise from floor to ceiling.
Using Fire for Central Heating
Fire was also used in the early days. Fire places became the primary source of heat among the wealthy during the 11th century and by the 18th century the wealthy were not the only ones who really caught on with the concept of fireplaces and people had one in every room of their homes. But this method had its disadvantages as the smoke escaped up the chimney and the heat from the fireplace was only felt when you were near one. It did not make for a good centralized heating.
Also in the 18th century, a system similar to the Roman hypocaust was used in the colonies. A fire was kept burning in the basement so that the heat was distributed evenly to the rest of the home. Again, even in the colonies, the system was mainly used by the wealthy.
Previous Home Central Heating Methods
Steam heating was next used in the 18th century but was only widely used in public places such as churches, schools, and assembly rooms. The steam was distributed throughout the rooms by use of pipes.
The heat stove soon replaced fire places for the obvious reason that the heat escaped the back and side walls of the fireplace making it inefficient as a heating system. Ben Franklin invented the first free standing cast iron stove and placed it in the middle of the room for uniform heating. But it also had its share of flaws. The smoke escaped from the bottom and did not draw in air. David Rittenhouse added an L-shaped long pipe that connected to a chimney so the smoke can escape there.
Around the same time, the Germans were also busy inventing their own version of the stove. The German stove was similar to a fireplace in construction. It sat on the wall and the smoke or flame escaped into a fireplace-like hole. It was called the Five-plate or Jamb stove. The Parlor stove also came out during this period. This stove was widely used in almost all homes, schools and businesses and doubled as an oven. The smoke was released through a pipe. Wood or coal was used for the Parlor stove.
Wood stoves were preferred over coal stoves in most cases. The wood burned more cleanly than coal. Although wood was free for use during the 18th century, it was easier to obtain coal than wood. So coal became the secondary source of heat and became more popular than wood in England. The country is abundant in coal mines and homes were generally built to accommodate easier use of coal. English homes had coal storage in the basement which was restocked every now and then through a pipe that led from the street to the storage or vault. This way, the coal supplier could just simply drop coal from the outside of the house.
In the early 19th century, people burned peat for cooking and domestic heating. Peat comes from wetland moors, bogs and mires and is found around the world mostly in Ireland, England, Russia, Scotland, Poland and other neighboring countries. It resembles a type of thick moss. Peat briquettes are generally smokeless when burned in domestic fireplaces.
The first gas stove was made in 1855 by Pettit and Smith although it did not become popular like the wood and the coal stove. Almost forty years after, the first electric stove was patented by R.E. Crompton and J.H. Dowsing. They constructed it by attaching several rolls of a high-resistant wire around a flat rectangular plate of cast iron. The glowing white-orange wire was set at the center of a metallic reflector that concentrated heat into a beam. Improved models of the prototype followed immediately-one made with nickel and chrome element and the other one with fire-proof clay which would later become as the first portable electric heater.
Today, the more improved methods and systems of the above are used. But all systems have a history of making this world a better, warmer place to live in.
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