The Saga of Central Heating is an Interesting One

We don't often think about heat in our home until it's the middle of winter and the furnace goes out. As we huddle in layers and layers of clothes waiting for the heating repair to happen, we struggle to stay warm. Today we expect to have a house that can maintain a comfortable temperature with engineering from a heating contractor. We are able to live in places like Yellowknife, Canada, where the temperature can be as low as -40 degrees.

Central heat was invented in ancient Greece, but it was the Romans who engineered the hypocaust system. The hypocaust was installed in the Roman baths. It consisted of a raised floor, approximately 2 feet, and a furnace with a constantly burning fire in a different room because the furnace was so large. The heat moved through the space under the floor which heated the floor and the rest of the room. Cool air left the room through vents and flues in the walls and ceilings. This was an ancient form of radiant heat.

During our first 100 years as a country, Americans provided heat to their homes in brick fireplaces. These used a lot of wood and could be quite dangerous. In 1742 Benjamin Franklin invented the cast iron Franklin Stove, which he originally named the Pennsylvania Fireplace. This provided a much safer method of heat and it didn't consume as much wood as a fireplace.

At the end of the 1800s, a low cost cast iron radiator was invented. A boiler in the basement was heated with coal and it delivered steam to radiators in each room. Dave Lennox built and sold the first riveted steel coal furnace. There was no electricity or fans so the heat was transported through natural convection, warm air rising through ducts in the floor from the basement.

This type of heat was the main source of home central heating until 1935. Then forced air furnaces were introduced. Once again coal was used as the heat source and an electric fan sent warm air through the ducts in the home. However, it was the Industrial Revolution that created the push for central heating because the size of the factories and other industrial buildings were much larger than the average home.

Heating contractors at that time needed to develop systems to heat the entire building efficiently and not just one room. Central heating therefore was first enjoyed by workers of the Industrial Revolution. John Horely Palmer, the Governor of the Bank of England, was one of the first individuals to enjoy a central heating system. He wanted to grow grapes in England and needed the heat since England's climate was so cold.

Today we have the advantage of choosing an HVAC contractor for ourselves. Many people are schooled in the history of heating our homes and provide excellent knowledge in giving us the best quality. We are recipients of a technology that has grown over the years. We are the lucky recipients because it provides us with the ability to live in some of the coldest climates on the globe.