Gas heater

A Gas heater is a device used to heat a room by burning gas.

The first gas heater made use of the same principles of the Bunsen burner invented in the previous year. It wss first commercialized by the English company Pettit and Smith in 1856. The flame heats the air locally. This heated air then spreads by convection, thus heating the whole room.

In 1881 the burner's flame started to be used to heat a structure made of asbestos, a design patented by Sigismund Leoni, an English engineer.

Later, fire clay replaced the asbestos because it is easier to mould. Modern gas heater still work this way although using other refractory material.