Developments in Heating And Why It Matters
The Ghost Of Heating Past, Present and Future
This isn’t quite Dickens’ Christmas Carol ghostly apparitions, but taking a look back, a look at what’s happening now and a look at a possible future for home heating can help with some tough realisations and some reasons for being optimistic.
Heating In The Past
For generations, the history of heating a home has been incredibly simple. Whether you’re picturing cave men doodling with the flicker of flame to light their wall-canvas or the roaring fires heating the banquet halls of the monarchy, not much changed for hundreds and hundreds of years.
Heating a home relied on a solid fuel (wood, coal, peat) and keeping that fire going for as long as was needed. Buildings were often terrible at keeping the heat in and required a far larger heat source because of it. Just take a look at the size of the fireplaces in many of the UK’s National Trust stately homes and you’ll see what we’re talking about.
Not much changed from the Roman Empire until the 1400’s when the radiant heating of masonry stoves and improved chimney design saw a significant leap towards more efficient home heating and improved home comfort. Over the next four hundred years the United Kingdom saw a number of advances including more efficient stoves and steam-based heating. However, it wasn’t until the middle of the 1800’s that the Russian invention of the radiator started a central home heating revolution.
Over the next five decades the arrival of Edison’s electric heater, March’s discovery of Nichrome (the ‘toaster’ wire) and Johnson’s patent of the first thermostat were all game changers.
Throughout the 1900’s insulation technology and heating efficiency improved and the arrival of alternative energy sources including ground-source heat pumps and solar powered heating systems paved the way for a brighter heating future that could be earth kind, healthy and economical.
Heating in the Present
Home heating and insulation technology that is now easily and affordably available is almost unrecognizable from just a few decades ago. Nowhere is it more exciting than with cutting-edge air source and ground source heating pumps. Air source and ground source heating use their namesakes as a heating source. Converting heat in the outside air or trapped in the ground from the sun, both use clever compression systems to maximise the heating potential irrespective of the ambient temperature outside.
Heating in the Future
Despite the advances in home heating and the ground breaking technologies now available, sadly the UK and many other countries continue to rely heavily on home heating sources that result in massive carbon emissions.
An Alternative Heating Future
Energy experts have warned that at current rates it will take 700 years for the UK to reach low-carbon targets. Last year’s record rise in the sale of gas boilers and insufficient energy generation by offshore wind farms paint a potentially bleak future.
The future though is not decided, and the impact of choosing a low or zero carbon alternative today can make a massive difference not only in reducing your heating bill but on the kind of world the next generation will grow up in.
Help change the trajectory of carbon emissions by investing in an earth friendly home heating source.
Trusted Energy can supply and install a range of Government grant subsidized low carbon heating alternatives. For a recent case study on the supply and install of NIBE Ground Source Heat Pumps on 13 low-carbon new build homes, please click here.
