The History of Thermal Hot Water Bottles

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How long ago were thermal hot water bottles a thing, like in culture? Like, was that several hundred years ago? And secondary question, you would heat that up before you go to bed and you sleep with this bottle. But then in three in the morning, I would assume all the heat had dissipated. Do you go refill it then or what can you tell us a little bit more about that? Yeah. Hot water bottles, they show up in the records around like 1600. They were kind of used with glowing cold. So it was quite dangerous. You also had the best band. so it was like glowing colds under your mattress.

On this episode, Nate welcomes back journalist, inventor, and low-tech expert Kris De Decker to take a deeper dive into a more human-powered system on the backside of the carbon pulse. Through both historical and experiential lenses, Kris shares five creative alternatives to current high tech systems - from hot water bottles to electric buses and preventative-focused healthcare systems. Could a move towards communal services and human-power also shift our mindsets to think twice about how much energy is actually needed to thrive and still be comfortable? Will society willingly move from a resource intensive growth economy towards a lower energy, human powered economy?

About Kris De Decker:

Kris De Decker shifted from a journalism career covering high tech to exploring low tech through formal and personal research and projects, including the Human Power Plant and the Solar Powered Website.

De Decker is creator and author of Low Tech Magazine and No Tech Magazine, publications which explore low tech solutions to questions society assumes must be solved through high tech.

De Decker has contributed articles about science, technology, energy and the environment to Mother Earth News, Techniques et Culture, Design Magazine, The Oil Drum, Resilience, EOS, Molenecho's, "Knack", "De Tijd" and "De Standaard". De Decker’s books "Energie in 2030" advised the Dutch government on challenges related to science and technology and his book "Stralingswarmte: gezonde warmte met minder energie" provided a guide for how heat works.

For Show Notes and More visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/75-kris-de-decker

To watch this video episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/4MYqRvm7vX4