How did people manage to insulate their homes without proper heating? Today, decorative elements of the household served people in the Victorian era primarily for insulation and heat detention. Nobody knew central heating and boilers yet.
Central heating and boiler are actually news
Have you ever wondered how people used to heat their homes before? Today we have central heating or in cottages stoves, fireplaces or kitchen stoves on which you can cook. Water heating and heating no longer require much attention. Different boilers and boilers work almost alone and just control them properly. It took a long time before we got to these achievements. And today we don’t even realize it.
How did people keep warm two hundred years ago? This will tell you this post from the YouTube channel Bright Side, which deals not only with interiors but also in dress.
Source: YouTube
Water heating in boilers has been common only since the 1950s, which is actually recently. Only then were households far from large cities fully electrified. At that time we also observe the boom of the production of boiler, which gradually supplied cities and countryside. The boiler as such was invented at the end of the 19th century, but in 1929, only 42 % of households were electrified. Thus, the production and distribution had to wait for the introduction of electricity to all corners of the country.
Heating existed in ancient Roman spa. Similarly, stoves and warm air distribution were used to heat the dwellings. Also in modernized interiors of castles and chateaux, similar systems were used, which distributed heat hidden behind furniture. Such centrally heated houses are known only from the mid -19th century, but it was not a normal way. It required not only finances and a large reconstruction of the property, but also the desire to modernize.
Old and proven methods of insulation
Different ways of heating and water heating have existed for hundreds of years, but were not automated. People also used other possibilities of insulation that have survived to this day. In large houses, heavy hinges on doors and windows are still used to prevent heat leakage. This custom dates back to at least the Victorian era.
During the reign of Queen Victoria, ie between 1837 and 1901, heavy and beautifully processed substances were popular, hanging in problematic places such as doors and windows, as well as beds or cold walls.
The British put all their skills in the textile, so these beautiful, heavy curtains with floral and animal patterns in the style of William Morris are still very popular. However, today, patterns are often printed and significantly lighter materials.
For the same reason, heavy carpets were used to cover the most frequented places, and above all it was necessary to have it under their feet if you sat and did not move. The floors used to be very cold on the ground floor, made of stone or ceramic tiles.
The situation in our country was also similar. In rich homes, a brocade or velvet was used for the winter, while in the countryside simple people reached for densely woven fabrics of flax and wool. Also in Bohemia and Moravia, patterns and decorations were inspired by nature, and the poorer women often adorned the home with their own embroidered decorations, monograms and patterns by traditional and geometric.
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