Ah, the wonders of a warm floor when walking across the tile floors on a chilly morning.

What was once reserved by cost alone for the upper classes of society is now becoming more affordable for the people:

A brief history of underfloor heating shows that originally it was a very intricate and laborious task to warm the floors of one's home. Originally developed thousands of years B.C. it was a system devised of ducts under the floor and flues built directly into the wall structure. Heat from fires tended by numerous servants, rose and circulated up and through this intricate system. The circulated heat then warmed the floors as well as the walls of the vast stone homes.

Typically, more than one furnace was required for each home. Needless to say, never ending vigilence was mandatory to keep the fires burning to provide sufficient warmth to heat floors and walls. Ashes had to be removed regularly and new wood added for burning to maintain the heat.Some form of this early underfloor heating has been found in ancient structures of Alaska, China and even Korea. This type of underfloor heating has even been found in the vast Roman Empire stone structured homes. Undoubtedly, slaves of these eras were used to maintain the fires for heating the homes.

In Ancient times, no doubt this heating system was reserved for the more affluent members of society. Unfortunately, early users of this heating system had no idea of the lurking dangers of the heating system. With flues in the walls allowing heat into each room, carbon monoxide was also fed into the rooms. Naturally, there is no way to determine the number of carbon monoxide deaths, as a result of this modern heating system in ancient times. Undoubtedly the death toll may have been high but never connected to the carbon monoxide. The early inhabitants of these societies had no knowledge of the poisonous fumes created. How could they, when the dangers of Carbon Monoxide were not discovered until the 1800's?

Interestingly, this early heating system was not seen in other parts of Europe, where they predominantly used open fires to heat their homes. It was here that numerous forms of early fireplaces were seen, and even a crude form of tubular shaped chimney, in the 11th century.

Today underfloor heating is devised of pipes to carry heated water to heat the floors. Another method now commonly used is electrical cable placed under the floor to heat floors. Underfloor heating today is perhaps one of the most energy saving forms of heating used for the home. Even homes with numerous floors are now heated safely and efficiently with underfloor heating.

Underfloor heating systems of today's era are economical, and provide adjustable temperatures for various rooms at any given time. Additionally the systems used in today's home construction are more affordable for the general populace.When one examines a brief history of underfloor heating it is astounding what we as a society have learned over the decades. Lessons learned from what we, of modern society believed to be the inhabitants of a primitive society. Imagine that.