5 Free-But-Forgotten Ways Our Ancestors Stayed Warm During Winter

These days staying warm at home is easier than ever. It hasn’t always been that way, with our ancestors shivering their way through many a cold winter. In the olden days, houses were a lot colder than they are now due to lack of insulation. So, how did families stay warm at home before heaters and heating were invented?

1. Fire Places
For many families, the fire place would have been the focal point of their lounge room. Families would sit around the fireplace at night time talking, reading or working on small craft items. Many houses only had one or two rooms so one fireplace was enough to heat most of the house. Wealthier homeowners with more than 3 or 4 rooms would have had a fireplace in a couple of rooms. For those lucky enough, they would have one fireplace in each room.

2. Stove
The kitchen was a main source of heat in many households. With cooking on the stove being the main method of cooking, homeowners could kill two birds with one stone. Stoves were heated by a wood fire underneath the stove top to heat pots and pans. This in turn would have provided much of the heat for the family home. In very early times it was common for whole families to sleep in the same room that they cooked in.

3. Bed Warmers
Before the days of electric blankets, bed warmers were used to heat people’s beds. Bed warmers were made out of either brass or copper, in the form of a pan with a long handle. The pan was then filled with rocks that had been heated on the edge of the fireplace. With the heated rocks in the pan, this would then be slid between the bed sheets. Not as convenient and turning an electric blanket on but a bed warmer pan did the trick.

4. Thick Bedding
Ever wondered where the term “comforter” came from? Thick comforters were invented to help families sleep comfortably and trap in body heat. Beds would have been piled with several layers of quilts and sheets to layer in warmth.

5. Floor Rugs and Door Snakes
Rugs and large mats were placed over flooring to make the floor feel less cold. This would have helped immensely for homes with stone flooring. Door snakes were also used to help keep out drafts from doorways and keep out warm air in.

Nowadays, things are much easier, with the ability to warm up your entire house with the press of a button. Ducted and reverse cycle split systems are a great way to warm up your home this winter. They are easy to use and fast to warm up your home. You will also notice a considerable difference in warmth to your home once you have one of these systems installed. It definitely beats trying to use a bed warmer!

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