From fireplace to steam: Domestic heating technology in Northeastern United States, 1840-1890

Processes of industrialization, manufacturing, and transportation in the United States are well known, however, the impact of technological changes on the home is less familiar. If we are to understand past everyday lives, it is essential to understand the processes of adjusting to new technologies, particularly those technologies essential to today's Americans' lives that have been overlooked. This dissertation examines the shift in heating modes from fireplace to steam and hot water in Northeastern American homes between the decades of 1840 and 1890. The significance of domestic heating technology has been reduced because of divisions between scholarly fields and disciplines, and the interpretation of artifacts has been more the field of anthropologists than that of historians. Few studies have narrowed their focus to a specific topic of domestic technology and the differences in form, function, and cultural settings of its development. Investigating a historically obsolete technology and understanding the way people used it can be challenging. Domestic heating technology has advanced and attitudes towards it have changed over time. It is difficult to find physical evidence of early examples in the form in which people originally used it daily. The inefficiency of systems previous to central heating challenged inventors and manufactures to search for and invest in more convenient and economical options to improve the quality of life. With the development of household heating technology, people gradually abandoned fireplaces and stoves and adopted furnaces and central heating as their primary source of heating. I chose the five decades between 1840 and 1890 because of its significance to the country's technological history. The geographical focus was the Northeastern region because the dispersion of knowledge began there, especially knowledge in heating and ventilation technology and apparatus manufacturing. The technological development of domestic heating and ventilation systems culminated with the advent of central heating, which currently represents the technology of domestic heating methods. Central heating systems have superseded previous apparatuses such as fireplaces and stoves, making them an option rather than a necessity of a comfortable and convenient domestic life. This dissertation is a brief study of that moment of transition.