Fire had been the original and obvious source for home
heating for throughout history and until recent times was the only source for
home heating. With this being said, the manner in fire has been used for
heating has changed greatly.
In the Skara Brae site in Orkney, Scotland (3180 BCE-2500
BCE) the homes contained a square hearth in the center for both eating and
cooking. This standard heating unit with a hearth in the center of the room and
a smoke hole overhead, continued in some parts of the world up until the Middle
Ages, but in the Roman world great improvements were made. The upper class
Roman had a hypocaust heating system. In this system, the floor was raised
several feet off the ground on tile pillars, and fires were then built
underneath the floors, becoming the first known case of radiant heating.[i]
The fireplace as we know it today first came around in the
1200’s. During these times they were likely to smoke up a room due to the lack
of chimneys. This impracticality meant that fireplaces themselves were often
built more for aesthetic reasons over practical uses.
The radiator was obviously a huge improvement in heating a
room when it was invented in 1855. Hot water or steam was used to heat
individual rooms, but with simplistic thermostats often meant it was difficult
to get the temperature right where it was wanted. There have been stories from
the 1800’s of people having to open the windows in winter when a room have
overheated.
The furnace was introduced in the late Victorian period,
where a central unit could heat an entire building. By the middle of the 20th
century, Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning systems had been introduced
throughout the western world.
Cross Electrical (Nottingham) Ltd specialises in the design,
manufacture, supply and install electrical trace heating systems incorporating
a thermal insulation division. Our fully qualified service and installation
engineers provide both a national and international coverage for all types of
application within industry and commerce.
HERE AT CROSSELECTRICAL WE ARE THE CONTROLLERS OF TEMPERATURE!
Call us today on - +44 (0)115 937 5121
