SPEACH

Historical development
The earliest method of providing interior heating was an open fre. Such a
source, along with related methods such as freplaces, cast-iron stoves, and
modern space heaters fueled ! gas or electricit!, is "nown as direct heating
ecause the conversion of energ! into heat ta"es place at the site to e
heated. A more common form of heating in modern times is "nown as central,
or indirect, heating. #t consists of the conversion of energ! to heat at a source
outside of, apart from, or located within the site or sites to e heated$ the
resulting heat is conve!ed to the site through a %uid medium such as air,
water, or steam.
E&cept for the ancient 'ree"s and (omans, most cultures relied upon direct-
heating methods. )ood was the earliest fuel used, though in places where
onl! moderate warmth was needed, such as China, *apan, and the
+editerranean, charcoal ,made from wood- was used ecause it produced
much less smo"e. The %ue, or chimne!, which was frst a simple aperture in
the centre of the roof and later rose directl! from the freplace, had appeared
in Europe ! the ./th centur! and e0ectivel! eliminated the fre1s smo"e and
fumes from the living space. Enclosed stoves appear to have een used frst
! the Chinese aout 233 c and eventuall! spread through (ussia into
northern Europe and from there to the Americas, where 4en5amin 6ran"lin in
.788 invented an improved design "nown as the 6ran"lin stove. Stoves are
far less wasteful of heat than freplaces ecause the heat of the fre is
asored ! the stove walls, which heat the air in the room, rather than
passing up the chimne! in the form of hot comustion gases.
Central heating appears to have een invented in ancient 'reece, ut it was
the (omans who ecame the supreme heating engineers of the ancient world
with their h!pocaust s!stem. #n man! (oman uildings, mosaic tile %oors
were supported ! columns elow, which created air spaces, or ducts. At a
site central to all the rooms to e heated, charcoal, rushwood, and, in
4ritain, coal were urned, and the hot gases traveled eneath the %oors,
warming them in the process. The h!pocaust s!stem disappeared with the
decline of the (oman Empire, however, and central heating was not
reintroduced until some .,933 !ears later.
Central heating was adopted for use again in the earl! .:th centur! when the
#ndustrial (evolution caused an increase in the si;e of uildings for industr!,
residential use, and services. The use of steam as a source of power o0ered a
new wa! to heat factories and mills, with the steam conve!ed in pipes. Coal-
fred oilers delivered hot steam to rooms ! means of standing radiators.
Steam heating long predominated in the <orth American continent ecause
of its ver! cold winters. The advantages of hot water, which has a lower
surface temperature and milder general e0ect than steam, egan to e
recogni;ed aout .=/3. Twentieth-centur! central-heating s!stems generall!
use warm air or hot water for heat conve!ance. >ucted warm air has
supplanted steam in most newl! uilt American homes and o?ces, ut in
'reat 4ritain and much of the European continent, hot water succeeded
steam as the favoured method of heating$ ducted warm air has never een
popular there. +ost other countries have adopted either the American or
European preference in heating methods.