Central Heating
The wonderful brochure of kenton bar unearthed by Jolyon Yates has got me thinking about the central heating venting system that was the main heating source in all the types of houses on the estate(on the brochure under the 'modern man' drying the dishes, it says'central heating in all houses'...)I remember the intense dry heat blasting out, but also that you could use them AKA 2 cans and some string to eavesdrop on the conversation in the front room(from the upper bedroom with the window leading onto the split level roof!)As a kid we thought this great fun. You could shut off the heat to a room by sliding up the little handle thing if you got too hot, and I believe there were 3 settings to the heat:How you turned the whole thing on or off I cant remember. The downside to the venting system was that if your mam and dad smoked(mine did, about 60 a day each) the smoke permeated all rooms horribly!
I seem to recall at some point this system was replaced by central heating...
I seem to recall at some point this system was replaced by central heating...
Yeah - there was a mix of house types on the estate. The one I lived in was gas and electric, one of the 4 bedroom ones in Thirston Way. Opposite to us there was another house style which my mum used to call the "electric houses" as I think they did not have gas. What they DID have though was underfloor heating....lovely toasty feet in winter.
ReplyDeleteAs for the heating being replaced by central heating - you domo mensforth - it was already CENTRAL HEATING!! - the central uint provided, via a duct, warm air to most rooms in the house. In the 4 bedroom houses though the back two bedrooms were not heated BBBrrrrrrr......
Thank thou, Bosnian, I meant that the central heating venting system was replaced by radiators...incidently, you made me realise that the front top room of the split levels also didnt have the vents,and had no central heating and were also therefore horribly cold, particularly as they faced north and never saw the sun even...
ReplyDeleteI do believe all the split levels on the estate faced north, never west or east...
Yes, Mensforth, the bedrooms faced north, presumably so that the lounge and gardens faced south. The top bedroom was cold but if you left the bedroom doors open then it warmed up as the top of the stairwell was warm.
ReplyDeleteOurs had a control in the dining room which had a time clock, an on/off/override switch and a high/low switch. It howled like a banshee on high. You had to dust the filter every now and then, it slid into the unit in the garage.
I think there was a thermostat in the lounge, along with the Rediffusion, of course.
Only other quirky memory- when we moved in, my Dad had the stairs carpeted but he couldn't afford to have it all done so it only went as far as the bathroom/master bedroom landing. On the flight to the lounge, he chalked FITTED CARPET on two of the steps, and BETTER FITTED CARPET on three more on the flight up to the top floor bedrooms.
fantastic:)
ReplyDeleteHaving looked at a selection of Kenton bar houses for sale, they all appear to have radiator central heating now, even the electric houses. (The 4 bed terraces with the kitchen sticking out). I wonder if they had gas for a cooker originally?
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, my Mother in law lives in a Council Flat in north Manchester and that has a sealed off former hot air heating system in-situ, replaced by radiators.
I think they lined the ducts with white asbestos at the business end which is probably why it was all ripped out or sealed off in Kenton.
The riff-raff I know lives in an electric house, so I will ask...
ReplyDeleteNo...I have it on good authority that they were totally ELECTRIC...
ReplyDeleteSo they would have missed out on the excitement of North Sea Gas conversion then.
ReplyDeleteA couple of thoughts - living in one of the houses that had the ducted air heating would mean that wiring up your home network would be easy now......
ReplyDeleteYou could communicate with other rooms in the house by shouting down the vents
I remember when they converted to North Sea gas - every so often the heating units would let out a booming sound - very scary. That is why the council had to fit the window vents to let in more air.