Life without mod. cons.

Which of the following have you ever lived without (in your home; not holiday house or temp. cabin etc). What was it like, as you remember it?

Piped water & plumbing
Mains/grid electricity
Central heat
Radio or TV signal
Telephone service

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ArishMell · 70-79, M

My first home (as I recall as we moved from it when I was only about five, in 1957) had no central heating.

Nor did the next although brand-new, and which we had to leave after only a year or so due to Dad's work move.

This brought us, in 1959, to a Council house also with no central-heating but about three years later still, our parents bought an Edwardian house that needed fully re-wiring and all sorts; and Dad installed central-heating in this. First with a back-boiler in an open, coal-burning fireplace; later, replacing the back-boiler with a separate gas-fired boiler augmented by immersion-heater for both heating and hot tap water.

All homes had mains electricity (via local distribution systems from the "Grid", not directly from the National Grid itself), water and sewerage, and gas.

They also had radio and TV coverage and could have had a telephone, but our parents did not have a television until some time in the 1970s, and a telephone not until a few years later still! (That was all before the development of portable radio-'phones.)

My first own house had no central-heating or telephone, but my parents paid for installing a telephone.

There was no technical reason there for my not having a TV, but I chose not to own one, and still have no TV. I use both land-line and portable 'phones: this comes to you courtesy of the former.

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What was it like? We always had the important facilities (water, electricity and gas), and could always listen to the wireless; but the homes without central-heating could be chilly in Winter!

ninalanyon · 61-69, T

@ArishMell We had no central heating in the two council houses that we lived in until 1966 although the second one did have a back boiler driving a single radiator and, I think, the hot water tank. Then we moved to a brand new house with gas fired hot air central heating. Since leaving home and eventually getting my own house I have had houses with and without central heating. My current house, in common with most Norwegian houses does not have it. We have electric panel heaters and a large burner for wood and paraffin. Now used for wood only because burning fossil fuels is banned.

ArishMell · 70-79, M

@ninalanyon Hot-air central heating? Was that In Norway? I think those systems are common in the USA and maybe other countries, but very unusual in Britain.

ninalanyon · 61-69, T

@ArishMell No, that was in 1966 in Swindon. The local council had timber frame houses built and sold them at cost to council tenants. Labour council that was, years before Thatcher wrecked the council housing system with right to buy.

ArishMell · 70-79, M

@ninalanyon I think central-heating was still something of a new thing anywhere, Council Houses or not, in the mid-1960s.

I agree the idea of selling the council houses proved one huge mistake, though. It might have worked in councils were able to use the income to fund new homes.

Really · 80-89, M

@ArishMell I assume you're talking about Britain. Central heating in N. America was well established and 'normal' - decades old, I believe - by the mid 1960s.

ArishMell · 70-79, M

@Really I am. I've been told, by an American, that warm air circulation is the more common method in the USA; hot water in the UK.

I wonder if the reason in the UK for the slower adoption was the greater proportion of older (before mid-20C) homes and ready availability of coal, in the UK.

Domestic central-heating did exist here earlier than the mid-1960s but was less common.

Really · 80-89, M

@ArishMell An interesting question, why America went for hot air rather than water heating systems. Maybe the less temperate climate with deeper freezes was an influence. I started to give it some thought but my brain quickly got tired; and today is cool enough to get out & do some gardening :).

ninalanyon · 61-69, T

@Really Not all of the US used hot air, plenty of city apartments used hot water. Especially in NYC.

ArishMell · 70-79, M

@Really I've no idea but I rather took my informant's word for it. He does live there, after all!

Really · 80-89, M

@ArishMell When I came to Vancouver in 1960, nearly all buildings had forced air heating, including some fairly old apartment buildings & houses. I do know this; I live here after all (😉 sorry, couldn't resist.). I'd even venture a guess that some of those buildings were pre-war. There was nothing over, I think, 4 to 6 stories - except for the brand new (1958) ultra-modern B.C. Electric building that lorded it over the city.
http://vancouverarchitecture.mikepriebe.ca/bc-electric-building/

ArishMell · 70-79, M

@Really What was the fuel?

Really · 80-89, M

@ArishMell I'm not an expert in the subject - just giving my layman's occasional DIY home-handyman observations :).

Up to the 50s - 60's residential forced air was commonly heated by an oil-burning furnace in the basement or crawl space, and distributed by underfloor ductwork. Combustion was controlled on-off by a thermostat in the main room of the house. The fan must have been controlled by a thermostat within the furnace unit. Later, I think, wherever a natural gas distribution system was built, that became the fuel of choice. I lived for a while in a house with oil heating but where natural gas was now available from the street. When I needed a new water heater I 'went hybrid' and installed a gas one.

Thinking back I now recall that by the early 60s in B.C. there was a switch towards electric heating, often using baseboard units in each room. The provincial electric utility encouraged this with a special discounted price for that power. I suppose there must have been a separate meter for that.

Most newer homes now have heat pumps with or without ducted distribution.

It rained last night! First time in I think 80 days.

ArishMell · 70-79, M

@Really Thankyou. It is interesting to see how may different ways to achieve the same ends there are and how they worked.

It's been very dry here in Southern England for several weeks now. There were warnings of possible thunderstorms, and still are for more Northerly regions; but all we had here were a few token spots of rain that came to nothing.