High ceilings in old Houses - looking for Documentation

[Gothichome]

Well, there is a general rule for building called the golden ratio, figured out by the Greeks. Almost every architect or builder would know of these roles for proportions.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio

Here is the Wikipedia definition, maybe some of the engineers amongst us can interpret. But generally it divides things into fives. Any combinations (or part) of any of the five units in relation the width height and depth work to create an aesthetics pleasing form.
Lots of simpler explanations on the net.

[jharkin]

If I had to guess, I would say that the high ceiling in post Civil war through early 20th century houses are partially for practical reasons (cooling in hot summers) and partly as a style element, reacting to the constraints of earlier ages that necessitated low ceilings for warmth... The same way that all the unusual shapes, curves turrets and dysimmetry of Victorian styles was made possible by stick framing - breaking away from the simple symmetrical square box that was the only practical to build shape of house in the post and beam building era.

My house has ceilings 7.5ft on the first level and about 6.5ft on the second level. My house is "transitional" in that it was built in the period when early wood heating stoves where finally starting to become mass produced and available to the average homeowner; replacing open fireplaces (also factory made iron door hardware and mill produced doors, replacing handmade). When a fireplace was all you had for heat and you had to hand cut and split 10 cord of wood every year just to warm a couple rooms they did everything they could to hold heat in... lots of smaller rooms, interior doors, and low ceilings where a big part of that... Go 30 years earlier than me and a lot of houses have ceilings low enough to bump your head on if you are on the tall side. It was a practical necessity.

[kelt65]

If I had to guess, I would say that the high ceiling in post Civil war through early 20th century houses are partially for practical reasons (cooling in hot summers) and partly as a style element, reacting to the constraints of earlier ages that necessitated low ceilings for warmth... The same way that all the unusual shapes, curves turrets and dysimmetry of Victorian styles was made possible by stick framing - breaking away from the simple symmetrical square box that was the only practical to build shape of house in the post and beam building era.

My house has ceilings 7.5ft on the first level and about 6.5ft on the second level. My house is "transitional" in that it was built in the period when early wood heating stoves where finally starting to become mass produced and available to the average homeowner; replacing open fireplaces (also factory made iron door hardware and mill produced doors, replacing handmade). When a fireplace was all you had for heat and you had to hand cut and split 10 cord of wood every year just to warm a couple rooms they did everything they could to hold heat in... lots of smaller rooms, interior doors, and low ceilings where a big part of that... Go 30 years earlier than me and a lot of houses have ceilings low enough to bump your head on if you are on the tall side. It was a practical necessity.

This very much assumes a cold climate; of course many areas do not have this issue but rather the opposite. When did coal become popular for heating? I believe coal had completely eclipsed wood for heating by the mid-19th century. Even so, I don't think many people were chopping their own firewood in cities. Coal was so cheap the inefficiency of the fireplaces and the cost of warming a larger cubic footage due to the higher ceilings probably was not an issue. Cooling the house, on the other hand, was entirely passive and there wasn't a lot one could do about it but make the rooms higher and provide ventilation. There is also the fact the if it is cold, you can wear more clothing, congregate in a single room, etc. You can't do much about the heat, especially if it is as relentless and humid and discomforting as it is in the Deep or Gulf South, or the Caribbean or South America for that matter. And it does get uncomfortably cold here too, just not as often and not nearly as cold.

Even so, what is a typical ceiling height for an early 18th -early 19th century New York, Chicago or Boston home? I do not think it was 7.5' ... gets very cold in all those places. I know you won't find early 18th or early 19th century building with ceilings much less than 14' in New Orleans; larger buildings and grand houses up to 18-20' or so. Church ceilings (many people inside at once) 75' - 90'.

Here's an interesting little paper on exactly these considerations in the construction of an 1830's plantation home in LA.

Construction of Oak Alley Plantation, Thermal considerations

Picture showing ceiling height (14' ?) in same building, with massive wood burning fireplace

[kelt65]

As some of you must know I am a Civil War reenactor.
I belong to many forums on Facebook that are interested in authenticity in the hobby.
We are not allowed the mind set "if they had it they'd have used it" to excuse the use of items that did not exist during that era. Everything must have documentation and a context of use to make sense in the hobby.
We are discussing houses, furnishings, etc.
My question is on ceiling height. There was talk that the larger the house the higher the ceiling.
My own house had 9ft ceiling both down stairs and upstairs, even though she is a 3/4 story.

Does anyone know of a book that cites the reason for high ceilings and their function? As on here the old house owners who do reenactments mention that their house is cooler without A/C.

I think you're going to find all kinds of answers ... city or country? high end or low end? Cold climate or hot climate?

[DavidP]

The factors that people have mentioned -- light, ventilation, and better heating systems -- are all important. Yet there are always houses that don't 'conform,' for whatever reason. Two examples:

The house my parents owned in retirement is a Cape located in central Vermont (cold, oh yes). It was built 1790-1800 so heating technology was still primitive. Yet it had fairly high ceilings; I didn't actually measure, but I would say maybe 8.5.' The windows are the relatively small ones typical of such houses and didn't reach all the way to the ceiling, so they weren't trying to maximize light.

A house near me in the Hudson Valley is a nice example of the Gothic revival popular in the decades before the civil war. This style calls for tall, narrow windows (or at least the appearance of such; we've all seen pictures of Gothichome here, but with 11.5' ceilings I'm sure windows in that house can be pretty wide and still look tall and narrow). The house I am thinking of is modest and has relatively few, very narrow windows. This seems impractical, since the interior would get little light (important for getting anything done) and little ventilation (one might argue that in the Northeast this is less crucial; but tell that to overdressed ladies in the 19th century). Maybe impressing the neighbors with one's stylish house trumped function.

[jharkin]

All true..And in reference to you comments Kelt yes I'm thinking of cold climate homes as that what I'm used to... Looking at other houses around here of similar vintage my ceiling height is not unusual for c.1800. But there is variation of course, larger more expensive homes often have much higher ceilings... Showing off that they could afford to heat it:)

Heating was a very real problem up here, and in Canada -especially during the little ice age cold years of the 1800s. Go visit a museum house with an old non rumford fireplace and it could be freezing cold anywhere but within a couple feet of the fire. People can and did freeze to death in winter back then... In summer you where just really uncomfortable. ( Yes I realize in the deep south heatstroke may have been an issue..)

I've been in 17th century museum houses here and the ceilings are mostly so low you have to bend over if your 6ft+

OTOH the Newport Mansions (c 1880s through the teens built by Rockefellers and the likes) all have ceiling as high as your grand new Orleans house.

[jharkin]

When did coal become popular for heating?

I wondered the answer to this as well and coincidentally it was posted yesterday on hearth.com


http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=21912

Looks like coal first appears around 1850 and probably overtook wood by the 1880s or so. I have read that before the civil was New England was already basically deforested for farmland and they where shipping in firewood by river from up north.

[kelt65]

I wondered the answer to this as well and coincidentally it was posted yesterday on hearth.com


http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=21912

Looks like coal first appears around 1850 and probably overtook wood by the 1880s or so. I have read that before the civil was New England was already basically deforested for farmland and they where shipping in firewood by river from up north.

Isn't whale oil conspicuously missing from that list? Wasn't that a major heating oil source for a while?

[jharkin]

Isn't whale oil conspicuously missing from that list? Wasn't that a major heating oil source for a while?

The chart is total energy consumption not just heating... If I had to guess I would bet that even at its beak whale oil is too small BTU consumption wise to make a dent in that chart.

I dont think it was ever used for heat - just for lamp oil and soap..

[Mick_VT]

I hadnt heard of its use for heat either, unlike kerosene, but I think that was only used for heat once lamp and wick designs had evolved