How Central Heating Changed Everything About Our Homes
2 April 2024 • Article Summary
Financial Times
Central heating revolutionized how people lived by ensuring consistent warmth throughout homes. This shift, starting in the late 1970s, led to increased expectations of comfort and transformed living spaces. Central heating not only improved living conditions but also influenced social dynamics within homes. Today, addressing the challenges of cost of living ("fuel poverty") and climate change (17% of UK carbon emissions come from domestic energy) requires reimagining home design to prioritize comfort, circulation, and energy efficiency.
"Too often, temperature, humidity, air quality are all treated as technical challenges rather than critical to quality of life."