Gas heating

Early pioneers of the gas industry demonstrated devices for heating with gas but coal remained the preferred fuel for heating most homes and other buildings until well into the 20th century. In the mid 19th century, various gas fires were designed, usually incorporating tufted asbestos heated by gas burners. Ceramic radiants were introduced in 1905 and the efficiency of gas fires was improved substantially in the 1950s with the development of convector fires, which use a heat exchanger to recover heat from the flue gasses. The Clean Air Act of 1956, which restricted the use of solid fuel in urban areas, led to a massive increase in the popularity of gas fires, space heaters and central heating boilers.