Who patented the electric heating system?
The first ELECTRIC HEATING SYSTEM was patented in the USA by Dr W. Leigh Burton in 1887 and introduced commercially two years later by the Burton Electric Co. of Richmond, Va. A writer in The Electrician said:
The Burton Electric Heater consists of a cast-iron case, enclosing some resistance coils, which are covered with dry, powdered clay, for the purpose of absorbing the heat from the wires, and thus preventing them from burning out. The current supplied to the heaters has a potential of 80 V, and each heater uses about amp. It has been found that such a current raises the temperature of a heater to about 200°F.
Shaped like a low table, the radiators were 27 in long and 8 in wide, and stood on iron legs raising them 4 in from the floor. To begin with their use was confined to electric tramcars, though they were advertised as suitable for household use. Towards the end of 1891, however, the Aspen Mining Co. of Aspen, Colo., acquired a quantity of Burton Electric Heaters from the Electric Merchandise Co. in Chicago, for use in their motor-stations. These are the first buildings known to have been heated by electricity.
In Britain the first commercially produced heaters were designed for Crompton & Co. of Chelmsford, electrical engineers, by H.J. Dowsing and offered for sale in 1894. These consisted of portable wrought-iron screen radiators in various sizes, ranging in price from £ 2 7 s 6 d to £ 5; an electric wall radiator of 600 W at £ 3; ship radiators and tramway heaters; and a number of rather bizarre ornamental heaters in Art Nouveau style, including one made to represent a sunflower.
The first public building in Britain to be heated electrically was the Vaudeville Theatre, London in January 1895. The order was received by Crompton & Co. at 11 a.m. one Tuesday; by 6 p.m. the complete system, comprising 22 wall-mounted radiators and 4 large, portable, screen radiators, was installed and ready for use. Running cost for 4 hr each evening was 12.
