The Electric Century by J. B. Williams

Author:J. B. Williams
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

It had long been known that electric current flowing through resistance wire produced heat, but it took until the 1880s and 1890s before serious attempts were made to incorporate this concept into practical appliances. The Canadian Thomas Ahearn may have invented the first electric oven in 1882, but it doesn’t seem to have been put into service until a decade later. 6 Certainly, an electric stove was exhibited at the Chicago World Fair in 1893.

Obviously, a bare wire is dangerous and it wasn’t until H.J. (Herbert John) Dowsing managed to sandwich the heating element between metal plates that practical hotplates became available. 7 By 1892, he was giving demonstrations of cooking by electricity, and was going around the country giving talks on the subject. 8 It seems strange now but people needed to be convinced that it was possible to cook without a flame. By the turn of the century Dowsing was producing heaters using a form of electric lamp (still a carbon filament at this stage) which was run at a lower temperature so that it produced only a slight glow and nearly all the energy was turned into heat. This nicely overcame the problems of the resistance wire at the time which tended to rust.

In 1906, American Albert L Marsh invented Nichrome wire, which was a more flexible and satisfactory solution for the resistance wire, and a vast array of appliances started to appear. 9 In addition to cookers there were fires, kettles, grillers, water heaters, saucepans, toasters and irons (Fig. 12.3).

Fig. 12.3A range of small appliances dating from 1913. These were in addition to cookers and irons. Source: Electricity in the Home and Office, The Times, December 1, 1913.

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