Staying Warm 150 years ago.

[SteveKG]

A few years ago, we were in Wales and we toured some of those big old country estates. The [very large] homes would have as many as two dozen chimneys, and each chimney, as it ran up thru the floors, could have several fireplaces associated. The lower rooms, the common areas such as dining rooms, etc, were enormous and had fireplaces large enough to stand up in. As the floors went up, the rooms [bedrooms and etc.] grew smaller with increasingly smaller fireplaces, depending on the size of the room. At the very upper floor, right under the roof, were the tiny rooms for the nannies and the like, and the fireplaces there were so small it was almost comical, foot or so wide. I mean, tiny. I can't imagine they did much. Imagine having to supply all the wood for dozens of fireplaces plus the cooking stoves and fireplaces. With axes, probably had several guys who did it all the time, cutting trees, I mean.

On the other hand, I became more interested in the way the poorer folk lived and came across some books on that subject. The country folk would typically have a lower floor, the ground floor, an open area in which the livestock was put at night. This kept the animals protected from the wind and the worst of the cold, plus their body heat would help warm the upper floor, where the humans stayed. Or at least that was the theory. I suppose it would have helped at least keep everyone alive, animal and human, though I can't see it being toasty. The ammonia smell [and others] would probably have been better than being colder upstairs. One can figure the smells from the ground floor were pretty bad upstairs.

 

[fredarm]

In Wales, those were probably coal fireplaces.

 

[Peter B.]

The stove I still use is 'only' 100 years old now, but was probably typical of wood stoves used at the turn of the (last) century... and Round Oak was a fairly popular brand with a good reputation.

In practical terms, as it came from the factory, the stove was little more than a vertical standing 35 gallon barrel with some decorative cast iron trim... exhausting directly (without a baffle of any kind) into the flue pipe.

About 20 years ago I made some changes to the innards of the stove which helped some with overall efficiency and control, but I can remember burning it without any modifications, and it was no picnic.

After much reflection, I have to conclude the Round Oak was intended to be burned flat out. Most of my attempts to burn 'slow' were in vain.

At night, in hopes of an overnight burn, I used to try to run it like a '70's airtight... loaded it full and closed all the drafts.

Depending to some extent on the quality and size of the wood I was using, the stove would pretty typically 'idle' for a few hours, then flare up, burn hot and die out. When it didn't flare outright, it would start to backpuff intermittently until I (reluctantly) cracked one of the drafts... and then of course, it would rage. At those times, there was little one could do to rein in the fire.

My conclusion is that the stove was meant to be run hot continuously... with frequent reloads... the size of the fresh load dictated by need... and the fire either fed through the night or left to die out.

I think the firebox size of my Round Oak was originally over 2 cubic feet, which was on the smaller side for similar parlor stoves.

Given the uninsulated houses, the 'lack' of modern woodcutting equipment, and the rank inefficiency of most stoves of the period, my mind reels to think of how much wood had to be cut and burned just to stay (half-way) warm... and how much more labor was required.

Peter B.

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[funnyfingers]

Benjamin Franklin invented the down draft wood stove so he was heating quite efficiently more than 150 years ago:

http://inventors.about.com/od/fstartinventors/ss/Franklin_invent_2.htm

 

[Peter B.]

Benjamin Franklin invented the down draft wood stove so he was heating quite efficiently more than 150 years ago...

Unfortunately, Franklin's original design was never widely adopted and the free standing stove associated with his name today bears little or no functional resemblance to that design.

Peter B.

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[dvellone]

I'm sure there were a lot of merciless winters spent in uncomfortably cold homes, but I also know a guy who lives in a victorian built in the 1860's that is toasty warm in the winter - not drafty - and his heating bill isn't bad at all. The house was built with obvious skill. It was sheathed with shiplap before being sided with quality milled lumber. The siding and trim is impeccably fitted. The lath and plaster interior walls are solid and tight and beautifully done, and the windows, which are the original double-hung are very well made along with their storms. The builder seemingly had some idea of airtight construction. The walls are still uninsulated but their mass and tightness seem to contribute greatly to some insulative value. The attic has been insulated. I think that although the technology of modern construction and insulation was lacking years ago, there were a few forward thinking builders and some skilled carpenters.

 

[Astrolopitec]

I grew up in Seville Southern Spain where I've lived through more cold nights than since I moved to Canada!
The problem is that the houses are designed to fight the torrid Summer heat. It's all marble, ceramic, terrazzo, etc.
But December and January are cold and humid.
The "brasero" is an Spanish wood charcoal heater that I find strange it never made it to heritage America.
It is placed under a table covered with a heavy cloth that extends to the floor to provide heat for people sitting at the table.
We had an electric model. But my grandmother who came from the country and was more wary of electricity than of charcoal used the old fashion one.
It's a very social device, with the entire family siting around the table chatting, netting, playing games etc.

 

[wendell]

Although I in no way can compare my childhood to so many listed here, I grew up in a house built in 1960 (so I guess I'm off topic to boot) but the guy who built it only put in 2 small registers for the whole upstairs but it didn't matter as the thermostat that controlled it was in the room next to the room with the fireplace which we burned every night sucking the warm air out of the rest of the house. Always had ice covering all of the windows on the inside and the p traps in the drains were often frozen closed in the morning. Again, I sure wouldn't trade it for the 1800's but it was interesting to see your breath when you woke up.

 

[BrotherBart]

My grandparents farm house had to be a hundred years old in the fifties when I stayed with them. Old and ready to fall down with leaks in it you could fling a cat through. Coldest nights I have ever experienced were in that back bedroom away from the fireplace in their bedroom. I seriously believe I have experienced what it was like 150 years ago in that house. And it was two hundred yards to the outhouse and drinking water was from the dipper in a bucket drawn from a cistern filled by the rain gutters. Everybody drank from that dipper. And they raised six kids in that house.

And I loved every hour I spent there with them. Ten degree winter nights or 105 degree broiling days in the Texas sun.