Heating à la Mode
In the U.S. when people feel chilly at home, they turn up the thermostat and the heat comes up through radiators, or other heating appliances. Generally it is created by burning heating oil in a boiler in the basement, which heats water and forces the hot steam through radiators. At least, that's how we used to heat our home in Boston. At that time, though, some homes already used natural gas instead of heating oil. And I assume that since then, many more have made the switch to electricity, with some extremely few using renewable energies, such as geothermal or solar energy. Not so in rural Galicia.
Here, the original source of heat has always been firewood. And farm animals. Until the general introduction of electricity to even the remotest villages in the mountains, houses were made so that the cows and other animals lived on the lower floor, and the family slept on the upper floor. The house entrance on the lower floor gave on to the kitchen, where there was a large lareira, or open fireplace. From the kitchen one could access the stables, which ran down the rest of the length of the house. The stairs to the upper floor were also in the kitchen. There, you would find the formal dining room, and the bedrooms. The bathroom was a closet with a hole down to the stables. The floor was made of wood, and the heat from the animals would come up and warm the bedrooms. That, at least, is what I remember from my grandmother's house when I visited on vacation a long time ago. The house my husband was born in was also built the same way. Unfortunately, along with the warmth, the smell would also permeate the house. Not very pleasant if you were used to city living.
After the 1970's, with money from emigrants flowing back, and the introduction to electricity, many homeowners remade their houses. My grandmother's house underwent two different renovations. One was back then, when a new kitchen was built with a wood stove, a cement floor was poured for the top floor, and a modern bathroom was added. The cows still remained, but no longer gave the upper floor heat (or smell). The wood stove heated the kitchen, but it didn't reach the upper floor, either. So, an electric heater was bought for those nights that were more than a little raw. In this area of Galicia we are lucky in that temperatures don't fall very far. The next renovation came around twenty years ago, when the cows were taken out to a new shed, and what had been the stable was reformed into a living room. Again, with an electric heater in the corner. And so, the traditional house disappeared.
The history of my grandmother's house is the history of many older houses in this area. With the introduction of electricity, the wood stove became the principle source of heating, augmented with electric heaters strategically placed. New houses also had that system, until almost thirty years ago, when oil heating began to be introduced. It was a time when fuel oil was cheap, along with gasoline and diesel. At that time it was normal to fill a car's tank with the equivalent of ten euros if you had a diesel car. So, many houses also installed oil heating. My parents did in theirs when we first moved here. They installed an oil tank that holds a thousand liters. With judicious use, it only needed to be filled twice a year at the most. Back then it cost around the equivalent of four hundred euros to completely fill the thousand liters. Not now.
Forty years ago you would see every chimney in a village sending out smoke signals. Twenty years ago you could almost count them on one hand. Many people had made the switch to fossil fuels and had even taken out the old wood stove during renovations. The future had begun to arrive in rural Galicia. And then the crisis came and bade the future begone. Filling the oil tank became an impossibility. From four hundred euros it had climbed to over a thousand euros. The problem was that salaries had come down below that amount or had disappeared entirely. People who had kept the wood stove began to buy or collect firewood. A tractor load of firewood cost a little over a hundred euros, and if the stove was in good shape, could last a couple of months. Storms tended to help by knocking down trees and creating free firewood. Those who had taken out the wood stove started to search for a new one or an old one that was still in good shape. Others changed the heating system to wood pellets. More of a hassle, but still cheaper than heating oil. The number of chimneys sending out smoke signals have gone up again.
The truth is that wood is better than fossil fuels. It's more labor intensive, but cheaper and renewable. If we were to police our forests to avoid the fire bugs, replant previously wooded areas, and drag out all the fallen branches and trees to use for biomass pellets, we could cut back on fossil fuels. And if the government subsidized a portion of the costs, most families could install newer, more efficient wood burning stoves that would lower emissions of soot and gasses, keeping the burning cleaner even than heating oil and use less wood. And wood emits less carbon dioxide per kilo. A kilo of wood emits 1.34 kilos of carbon dioxide less than its equivalent of fuel oil.
It seems our grandparents were doing something right and we should return to our origins. Except for the cows. Too smelly.
Here, the original source of heat has always been firewood. And farm animals. Until the general introduction of electricity to even the remotest villages in the mountains, houses were made so that the cows and other animals lived on the lower floor, and the family slept on the upper floor. The house entrance on the lower floor gave on to the kitchen, where there was a large lareira, or open fireplace. From the kitchen one could access the stables, which ran down the rest of the length of the house. The stairs to the upper floor were also in the kitchen. There, you would find the formal dining room, and the bedrooms. The bathroom was a closet with a hole down to the stables. The floor was made of wood, and the heat from the animals would come up and warm the bedrooms. That, at least, is what I remember from my grandmother's house when I visited on vacation a long time ago. The house my husband was born in was also built the same way. Unfortunately, along with the warmth, the smell would also permeate the house. Not very pleasant if you were used to city living.
After the 1970's, with money from emigrants flowing back, and the introduction to electricity, many homeowners remade their houses. My grandmother's house underwent two different renovations. One was back then, when a new kitchen was built with a wood stove, a cement floor was poured for the top floor, and a modern bathroom was added. The cows still remained, but no longer gave the upper floor heat (or smell). The wood stove heated the kitchen, but it didn't reach the upper floor, either. So, an electric heater was bought for those nights that were more than a little raw. In this area of Galicia we are lucky in that temperatures don't fall very far. The next renovation came around twenty years ago, when the cows were taken out to a new shed, and what had been the stable was reformed into a living room. Again, with an electric heater in the corner. And so, the traditional house disappeared.
The history of my grandmother's house is the history of many older houses in this area. With the introduction of electricity, the wood stove became the principle source of heating, augmented with electric heaters strategically placed. New houses also had that system, until almost thirty years ago, when oil heating began to be introduced. It was a time when fuel oil was cheap, along with gasoline and diesel. At that time it was normal to fill a car's tank with the equivalent of ten euros if you had a diesel car. So, many houses also installed oil heating. My parents did in theirs when we first moved here. They installed an oil tank that holds a thousand liters. With judicious use, it only needed to be filled twice a year at the most. Back then it cost around the equivalent of four hundred euros to completely fill the thousand liters. Not now.
Forty years ago you would see every chimney in a village sending out smoke signals. Twenty years ago you could almost count them on one hand. Many people had made the switch to fossil fuels and had even taken out the old wood stove during renovations. The future had begun to arrive in rural Galicia. And then the crisis came and bade the future begone. Filling the oil tank became an impossibility. From four hundred euros it had climbed to over a thousand euros. The problem was that salaries had come down below that amount or had disappeared entirely. People who had kept the wood stove began to buy or collect firewood. A tractor load of firewood cost a little over a hundred euros, and if the stove was in good shape, could last a couple of months. Storms tended to help by knocking down trees and creating free firewood. Those who had taken out the wood stove started to search for a new one or an old one that was still in good shape. Others changed the heating system to wood pellets. More of a hassle, but still cheaper than heating oil. The number of chimneys sending out smoke signals have gone up again.
The truth is that wood is better than fossil fuels. It's more labor intensive, but cheaper and renewable. If we were to police our forests to avoid the fire bugs, replant previously wooded areas, and drag out all the fallen branches and trees to use for biomass pellets, we could cut back on fossil fuels. And if the government subsidized a portion of the costs, most families could install newer, more efficient wood burning stoves that would lower emissions of soot and gasses, keeping the burning cleaner even than heating oil and use less wood. And wood emits less carbon dioxide per kilo. A kilo of wood emits 1.34 kilos of carbon dioxide less than its equivalent of fuel oil.
It seems our grandparents were doing something right and we should return to our origins. Except for the cows. Too smelly.
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