What are Transom Windows For? 

The History of the Transom Window

So it turns out the history of the Transom window is all about air circulation and privacy. While the first transom windows were used sometime back in the 1300’s, I would say that they’re most commonly associated with Victorian decor and architectural style. Now, in my opinion, the transom is a magnificent idea, but it has fallen in and out of use throughout time, primarily because of what was going on outside of the world of architecture.

Transoms in the Victorian Era

Transoms were especially popular during the Victorian era, and as you can imagine, the need for ventilation—if you’re wearing that many clothes—is profound. I don’t know how many layers of Victorian person would have to wear, but I can tell you it’s a lot more than I would want to wear in Pennsylvania in August. And so if you’re living in a house without central air, you’re going to want some way to keep the airflow moving, and the transom was a great way to do that and still afford you some privacy in a room.

Because the transoms were mounted above a door, you could open the transom, still keep the door closed, you still get to maintain some privacy and get to circulate the air.

Oil Crisis Impacts Architecture

In the 1970s, there was war in Israel, and as a result, there was an oil crisis in this country that resulted in a shift in architecture that continued to maintain the simple conservative, and little-bit boring architectural styles. So you have the ranch style house, for example, that has low ceiling heights, and if you have low ceiling heights, there’s no space for transom windows. Also, during the 1970s, you saw the advent of air conditioning, which meant that there was an alternative method for circulating air in your house and cooling down a little bit without having the need for a transom. At that time, because of the oil crisis, the cost to heat a house was still high. And so ceiling heights were brought down and houses continued to be built smaller so that there wasn’t as much area to heat.

New Architecture Brings Back the Old

New architectural styles were born in the new age of central air and cheaper heating solutions, and these pulled in beautiful design elements that are without the need of their original function. So now we have form without function.

The Challenge of Today’s Transom Window

The challenge with creating that extra window space is first managing the glare and then heat gain. And secondly, dealing with the privacy issues created because of higher housing densities than we used to have. After all, if my next door neighbor is just uphill and I have a transom window, my neighbor doesn’t need to see me. Stumbling around in my bunny slippers before my first cup of coffee has made me marginally presentable to civilization.