The Condensed But Complete History of Keeping Warm in Winter

By Bill Primavera

Some things in life we take completely for granted. For instance, in our lifetimes, we’ve probably never thought twice about our ability to stay warm in winter; it’s been as easy as flipping a switch.

But it hasn’t always been that way. As I lolled about in bed this morning in a nice warm room under a toasty quilt, I thought about our ancestors surviving cold weather and decided to do a little research.

Online, I discovered a company called AAA Heating and Cooling in Portland and Beaverton, Ore., which did a great job assembling the history of home heating through the ages. How enterprising it is that this company would go beyond the traditional bounds of service to provide for their customers a complete history of the service they provide. I give full credit for the following information to the research the company has conducted.

As the one-time owner of a home in Westchester that was built in the 1700s, I found in the attic an old coal burner that had been saved for some reason in the attic. Why, I don’t know. At any rate, there were old newspapers that were stuffed in the pipes leading from the burner, and they were dated from 1922, so I knew exactly when the former owners of the house had “modernized” to oil heat from coal.

Today, thanks to advances in technology and home heating systems, achieving comfortable temperatures is simple, but ancient civilizations didn’t have it that way. Through sheer ingenuity, mankind’s early ancestors learned how to harness the power of fire, as well as use the Earth and sun to heat their homes.

Using the principles that these forefathers established, humans have developed heating systems that keep families comfortable through even the most frigid winters.

Here is a timeline that helped our ancestors survive.

1,900,000 B.C.: Early humans began using fire to cook food. Archaeologists believe that humans may have used fire in a controlled fashion around this time, but evidence of such development only dates back to about 100,000 years ago. In the oldest sites discovered, humans created central fires in homes that had openings in the roof for smoke to escape.

42,000 B.C.: Neanderthals in modern-day Ukraine built hearths using mammoth bones. 

7500 to 5700 B.C.: Neolithic Çatalhöyük settlements in Turkey used open hearths in homes and buildings.

3000 B.C.: Romanian settlers used braziers (pans or stands to hold lighted coals) to heat homes.

2500 B.C.: Greeks in ancient Rome developed central heating using radiant heat. In the excavated Temple of Ephesus, archaeologists discovered flues in the ground that circulated heat produced by a fire. There is also evidence that the Roman Empire used central heating systems, as some buildings, baths and upper-class homes had hypocaust furnaces that heated empty spaces under floors that connected to pipes in the walls, the first form of radiant heating. Different cultures also developed similar furnaces, which became more efficient with time.

400 A.D.: After the fall of the Roman Empire, heating methods reverted to more primitive-style fireplaces.

800: Stoves made of clay made their first appearance.

1200: Cistercian monks in Christian Europe revived central heating using river diversion and wood-burning furnaces. The first chimneys also appeared at this time.

1400: Masonry stoves appeared and became common by the 1500s, which is also when chimneys became more refined.

1624: Louis Savot of France invented the circulating fireplace with the creation of a raised grate that promoted airflow.

Early 1700s: Individuals in England used combustion air from an outside duct. Around the same time, Russia’s Peter the Great enjoyed the earliest hot water air-heating systems in his Summer Palace.

1741: Benjamin Franklin invented the Franklin stove, which was more efficient than other stoves used at the time.

Late 1700s: James Watt of Scotland developed the first working steam-based heating system for his home using a central boiler and a system of pipes.

1805: England’s William Strutt invented a warm-air furnace that heated cold air. The heated air traveled through a series of ducts and into rooms. Around the same time, homes in France used firetube hot air furnaces.

1883: Thomas Edison invented the electric heater.

1855: Russia’s Franz San Galli invented the radiator, the first major step toward modern central home heating systems.

1885: Warren Johnson patented the first thermostat.

Early 1900s: Albert March discovered Nichrome, the filament wire to toast bread, becoming “the father of the electrical heating industry.”

1919: Alice Parker patented the first central heating system.

1935: Scientists invented forced convection wall heaters that use a coal furnace, electric fan and ductwork throughout a home.

Late 1940s: Robert C. Webber created the direct exchange ground-source heat pump.

1990: Solar air heating was invented.

2000: The advancement of “smart” technologies allowed homeowners to regulate heat in their homes remotely using electronic devices.

Today, with home heating systems that are based on ideas that date back to ancient civilization, forward thinkers throughout history have bequeathed us safe, effective heat that is only as far away as the thermostat or a smartphone.

Bill Primavera is a realtor associated with William Raveis Real Estate and founder of Primavera Public Relations, Inc., the longest-running public relations agency in Westchester (www.PrimaveraPR.com}. To engage the services of Bill Primavera, The Home Guru, to market your home for sale, call 914-522-2076.