The Old Furnace

A furnace, in its most general sense is a structure within which heat is produced. You can think of an oven or a blast furnace. As you can imagine, these have been around for a long time in commercial and industrial settings. Later, smaller versions were incorporated into residential settings. Coal and wood would be loaded into a small furnace and ignited. The resulting smoke leads outside through pipes and the heated furnace heats up the area around it. In fact, you could even argue a fireplace to be a furnace where the smoke simply rises up the chimney.

Not surprisingly, this crude method of heating has many health hazards and, of course, there is the fire hazard. Still, the issue is not necessarily with the furnace and there have been many upgrades to the furnace to make it what it is today.

Developing the Modern Furnace

Modern furnaces bring cool air into a heat exchanger and distribute warm air through a number of air ducts. A little-known inventor by the name of Alice H. Parker is recognized as a patent holder for one of the early developments of furnaces in central heating. Her creation used natural gas as the fuel source as opposed to the more commonly used wood and coal.

The patent, numbered 1,325,905, was awarded on December 23, 1919 under Alice H. Parker’s name. Unfortunately, there is not much information about Alice H. Parker and there is a lot of conflicting information. Many records indicate she died the year following her patent’s grant date and that she attended Howard University, known for allowing female and black students since its establishment in 1867.

In any case, the invention of the modern furnace has helped hundreds of millions of people enjoy temperature control in their place of living, with the option of varying temperatures in the same building.

How’s Your Furnace?

There are many patents that go into your central heating system, and each component is crucial for the system to work properly. If your heater is making weird noises, producing awful smells, or just not working, then call Rooter Hero Plumbing & Air to consult with a friendly representative. We are proud to offer furnace repair and replacement services in many areas of California and Arizona.

Our friendly representatives are happy to answer any questions or concerns, and we are ready to schedule a convenient appointment or even arrange an emergency repair today. Dedicated technicians are on standby to serve you at any time of the day. We look forward to taking your call.