The earliest beginnings of polyethylene-based pipes occur when German scientist, Hans von Pechmann, discovered a waxy residue at the bottom of a test tube, colleagues Eugen Bamberger and Friedrich Tschirner called it polymethylene but it was discarded as having no commercial use at the time.

Reichstag building in Germany uses the thermal mass of the building for cooling and heating.

Ondol type system used at Civil War hospital sites in America. Reference to the use of small bore pipes used in the John Soane house and museum. īeginnings of the European evolution of the modern water heater/boiler and water based piping systems including studies in thermal conductivities and specific heat of materials and emissivity/ reflectivity of surfaces ( Watt/ Leslie/ Rumford). Hypocaust type system used to heat public bath ( Hammam) in the citadel town of Erbil located in modern-day Iraq. Steam based radiant pipes are used in France. In France, heated flues in floors and walls are used in greenhouses.īenjamin Franklin studies the French and Asian cultures and makes note of their respective heating system leading to the development of the Franklin stove. Hypocaust type systems used to heat Turkish Baths of the Ottoman Empire.Īttention to comfort and architecture in Europe evolves China and Korea continue to apply floor heating with wide scale adoption. Hypocaust type systems used to heat monasteries in Poland and teutonic Malbork Castle. Europe uses various forms of the fireplace with the evolution of drafting combustion products with chimneys. The fire furnace was moved outside and the room was entirely floored with ondol in Korea. The most advanced true ondol system was established. Countries in the Mediterranean Basin (Iran, Algeria, Turkey et al.) use various forms of hypocaust type heating in public baths and homes (ref.: tabakhana, atishkhana, sandali) but also use heat from cooking (see: tandoor, also tanur) to heat the floors. More sophisticated and developed gudeul was found in some palaces and living quarters of upper-class people in Korea. Anecdotal literary reference to radiant cooling system in the Middle East using snow packed wall cavities. Ĭentral hearth developed into gudeul (meaning heat releasing section of ondol) and perimeter hearth for cooking became more developed and budumak was almost established in Korea.Ĭhina, Korea and Roman Empire use kang, dikang/ondol and hypocaust respectively.Īsia continues to use conditioned surfaces but the application is lost in Europe where it is replaced by the open fire or rudimentary forms of the modern fireplace. Romans scale up the use of conditioned surfaces (floors and walls) with the invention of the hypocausts. This perimeter hearth is the initial form of the budumak (meaning kitchen range), which composes the combustion section of the traditional ondol in Korea.

More than two hearths were used in one dwelling one hearth located at the center was used for heating, the other at the perimeter was used for cooking throughout the year. Ondol type system used in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska and in Unggi, Hamgyeongbuk-do (present-day North Korea).

Korean fire hearth, was used both as kitchen range and heating stove. Below is a chronological overview of under floor heating from around the world.Įvidence of 'baked floors' are found foreshadowing early forms of kang and dikang 'heated floor' later ondol meaning 'warm stone' in Manchuria and Korea respectively. These early forms have evolved into modern systems using fluid filled pipes or electrical cables and mats. The hot smoke heated the floor stones and the heat then radiated into the living spaces. Archeological digs in Asia and the Aleutian islands of Alaska reveal how the inhabitants drafted smoke from fires through stone covered trenches which were excavated in the floors of their subterranean dwellings. Underfloor heating has a long history back into the Neoglacial and Neolithic periods. 6 Global examples of large modern buildings using radiant heating and cooling.5.2 Efficiency considerations for flooring surface materials.4.6 Modeling piping patterns with finite element analysis.3.1 Airflow from vertical temperature gradients.

Radiant plumbing