A History Of Heating And Todays Methods
Central heating is very much thought of as a modern-day convenience. However it has been dated back to the ancient Greeks. A system of central heating provides heat to the interior of (or a portion of) a house or factory etc.
It is believed that in around 350 BC the homes of the wealthy and the Great Temples in the ancient times of Greece were heated by warm air that was circulated through flue systems in the floor. Today, because we have electricity to power blowers, forced-air systems warm billions of homes all around the world.
A forced-air heating system pulls the air in a room through piping to a flame/furnace, where the air is warmed up and filtered. This heated breeze is then pushed back into the house via more piping. A lot of manufacturers will make multiple different sizes in each model. These systems come in different models, like "downflow," "upflow" and "horizontal" versions designed to accommodate a range of space limitations.
These systems are sometimes used with an air filter, an AC (air conditioning) unit, and a humidifier. The pipes in the system are usually made from a hard-warring metal like copper surrounded in insulation for optimum heating.
Local heating differs from central heating as the heat is generated in one place, e.g. a furnace room. The heat then begins circulating, usually either by water thats being forced through piping, steam thats being pushed through pipe work or by air that is being forced through piping.
In parts of northern Europe, where the weather is quite cold anyway so they rarely need air-conditioning, central heating comes installed with most new homes.
Systems of steam heating, by oil, coal or gas can be found in North America, Russia and some parts of Europe, usually in larger buildings. Electrical heating systems are less common and are only really used along with cheap electricity.