 Ruins of the hypocaust under the floor of a Roman villa. The part under the exedra is covered. A hypocaust is an ancient Roman system of central heating.
Roman engineers devised an ingenious system of heating the baths?the hypocaust. The floor was raised off the ground by pillars and spaces were left inside the walls so that hot air from a furnace (praefurnium) could circulate through these open areas. Rooms requiring the most heat were placed closest to the furnace, whose heat could be increased by adding more wood.
A derivation of hypocaust, the gloria, had been in use in Castile until the arrival of modern heating. After the fuel (straw, paper, refuse) has been reduced to ashes, the air intake is closed to keep hot air inside and slow combustion.
Korean traditional houses use an Ondol which is similar to a hypocaust, drawing smoke from a wood fire typically used for cooking.
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