I understand that with a traditional fireplace, most of the heat is lost through the chimney and you have to be very close to it to feel much heat. A wood stove or insert performs much better. However, I’m curious how people stayed warm enough in a house. It would seem that everywhere besides being near the fireplace would be freezing. I guess fireplaces were mostly meant to locally heat people near the fireplace, and not so much that the fireplace is a central heat source. That would explain why people often had a fireplace in every room. Just light the fireplace that you will be near for most of the time, etc. rather than heat the whole house. Just curious since you often hear “warm by the fireplace”.
In: Technology
Just as we have a way for fuel to be distributed for cars these days, there would have been systems in place for people to keep their fireplaces fuelled, old houses would have had coal cellars and the inhabitants would have had regular deliveries of coal and wood in order to keep their houses heated.
Additionally there would have been a fireplace in every room, so they only needed to heat the rooms they were in, instead of the whole house, plus people would have worn a lot more clothing back then, along with thick blankets to keep warm.
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