Those Old Cast Iron Radiators Can Actually Help Fight Coronavirus

If you've lived in Maine for any length of time, especially when renting apartments, you've had a big old cast iron radiator. With all it's banging and clanking, and crazy hissing sounds, etc. And you've probably also found yourself on more than one occasion, opening the window to let some cool air in. Even in below zero temps.

We've all sat in an apartment or house like that, sweating our faces off, sitting around in our underwear, cursing the giant iron beast in the corner of the room. Next to a woodstove, nothing heats a house like old radiators. I used to come in from playing in the snow and put my wet mittens on it to dry them out, in like three minutes.

Funny thing is... radiators like this were invented for times like we're living in right now. I was reading this article, that basically lays out how back in the day, the biggest weapon against infectious diseases was fresh air, and being able to circulate air. So it became an issue of how to have windows open, but not freeze to death inside.

So the steam radiator was put to just that use. The idea was that it could produce an insane amount of heat, but allowing windows to be open and let the fresh air in. And here we are decades later, facing the same issue. One of the biggest corona fighters is making sure there's fresh air to help stop the spread caused of COVID-19.

At my house, we achieve almost the same results with the woodstove. It gets up to like 85 in our house sometimes. Lord knows there could be more cases come winter when we start having all the windows closed, and that will not make anyone happy. But no one wants to freeze either.

But maybe you're in one of these old apartment buildings or houses full of radiators. Consider yourself lucky. Believe it or not, you're actually ahead of the game. So pat yourself on the back... and go wash your hands!!