Abstract Why did early modern households bring the polluting energy of fossil fuels into their homes? For a long time, peat and coal were considered inferior to firewood due to their smoky nature. And yet, by the late eighteenth century, these ‘dirty’ fuels had become not just acceptable but even desirable — precisely as consumer ideals of domestic cleanliness and private health were gaining in prominence. How can we explain this paradox? This article shifts the focus in energy history from the ‘outdoor’ to the ‘indoor’ by exploring the ecology of everyday life. Using household manuals, medical advice books, autobiographical documents, and other narrative sources, it examines how discussions of heating and air quality grappled with the tension between smoky warmth and clean, fresh air at home. It argues that the early modern energy transition involved an important eco-cultural transformation, in which domestic consumers increasingly detached themselves from the ‘dark’ side of fossil fuels, only to emphasize their ‘bright’ side. By the dawn of the modern consumer society, peat and coal were seen no longer as sources of smoke nuisance but as essential elements of a warm, cosy, and clean home.
Wout Saelens (Wed,) studied this question.