The
origin of the modern heating stove is intertwined with the history
of domestic heating and cooking. From the Iron Age onwards humans,
sought to cook food and heat their homes with a fire source
contained within their dwelling. For ten thousand years or more
the designs slowly matured to the point in the 18th century
where it became obvious that the differing requirements for
cooking and heating would result in the creation of appliances
designed specifically with each function in mind.
A number of factors had led to this desire for ‘stand
alone’ heating devices. The middle class were becoming
more affluent and demanded houses that separated kitchen, sitting
room and dining room. Their upwardly mobile aspirations found
cooking and eating in one room unacceptable. These same ‘consumers’
also began demanding heat sources, which did not waste 80 –
90% of fuel up the chimney – they did not have the limitless
budgets of the landowners. Finally, the Industrial Revolution
had generated a material ideal for the construction of heating
stoves – cast iron. First perfected by Abraham Darby at
Coalbrookdale in the early 1700s, cast iron was the Georgian’s
great construction material with all its attributes of easy
manufacture, easy moulding and good thermal qualities.
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