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> Culture

Underfloor central heating from 2700 B.C. in Minoan Crete

Ancient technology

Newsroom April 19 06:52

 

From 7000 BC they built cylindrical houses with flat or vaulted roofs, at the top of which was an opening.

On the floor, directly under the opening, was the hearth. These houses had no interior walls, so the heat from the main hearth was transmitted to the entire building. Strange as it may seem, underfloor heating was invented before the radiator.

The first is a discovery of the Minoan Greeks, the second of the Romans. In the royal rooms of Knossos, there were pipes under the floor through which hot water flowed and warmed the rooms.

The ancient city was excavated by Evans in 1900, and this means that the Sweden M. Trivald, who introduced underfloor heating in 1716 in a form that is about the same today, was not aware of this ancient achievement.

The rich Romans did not know about underfloor heating either. They used “hypocausts”.

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