戦前日本において家電製品はアイロンとラジオが中心で、掃除機や洗濯機のような家事労働を軽減する機器の普及は外国と比較して特に低かった。自家用自動車の所有率も低く、１９４０年においても０．０７％に過ぎなかった。都市部における用途別熱需要の構成は、暖房４０−７０％、炊事１５−３５％、風呂１５−３０％となっている。山口県農業試験場による調査によると、農村部での構成比はそれぞれ３３％、１２％、５５％であった。薪炭には発熱と燃焼率に優れたナラ、クヌギ、カシ、シイなどの広葉樹が使われた。
In the pre-war Japan, electrical appliances were mostly irons and radios. Penetrations of vacuum cleaners and refrigerators, which help ease household labors, were very low, especially in comparison to overseas countries. Also automobile ownership was extreamly rare, and even in 1940's it only reached 0.07% of the population. The thermal demand in the urban regions were from 40% to 70% of the heaters, 15% to 35% of cooking, 15% to 30% of heating up the water in the bath tabs. According to a study by Yamaguchi Prefectural Agriculture Laboratory, the same in the rurals were 33%, 12%, and 55%, respectively. Trees used for the firewood and charcole were broad-leaf ones among quercus, oak and castanopsis as those were superior in producing heats and with higher burning rates.
