# Central heating is a great invention

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/central-heating-is-a-great-invention/679635>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [January 24, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/central-heating-is-a-great-invention/679635 "2014-01-24T18:23:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/central-heating-is-a-great-invention/679635/1 "2014-01-24T18:23:25Z")

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…And you really notice it when it’s gone and in the single digits outside!

Luckily, I had it fixed before I came home to a couple of catsicles.

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**Author:** ![SerafinaPekala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@SerafinaPekala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SerafinaPekala)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/central-heating-is-a-great-invention/679635/2 "2014-01-24T18:25:34Z")

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Yikes! hope your pipes didnt freeze!

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**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/central-heating-is-a-great-invention/679635/3 "2014-01-24T18:27:47Z")

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On the other hand, a fireplace is a grate invention.

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**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/central-heating-is-a-great-invention/679635/4 "2014-01-24T21:11:02Z")

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you’re just blowing smoke.

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**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/central-heating-is-a-great-invention/679635/5 "2014-01-26T00:34:26Z")

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Heh. This morning I woke up, freezing, went downstairs. It was 45 degrees because the front door blew open (_someone_ forgot to lock it…) and I literally had to shovel snow in my living room. At 6 AM. And clean up the wastebasket that overturned… There was a glass of something frozen solid on the end table near the door.

Yeah, central heating is great.

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**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/central-heating-is-a-great-invention/679635/6 "2014-01-27T00:06:20Z")

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We also know this from its loss. We wound up just getting space heaters. And that would honestly be fine if they didn’t all seem to be made so poorly that they poop out in a year if you ever need to use them on high. I don’t get why you’d design something so that regular use could cause it to overheat.