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In the industrialized / western world, homes have water / sewer and electricity supplied almost as a "given". Many have natural gas as well. But how about the possibility of some other utility, either for heat or as a source of motive power?

In a few major US cities (Philadelphia is one), the power company has (or had) steam piped to buildings in the heart of the downtown retail/financial districts. So I suppose steam is one possibility for heating: at significant pressures, it could be reduced locally, roughly analogously to natural gas pressure reduction, to low pressure steam for space heating. The economy of scale of generation of large amounts of steam might have made this feasible.

One that occurred to me but I don't know of any instances outside of industrial plants/shops that generate their own: compressed air. That could be a motive source for almost anything (and with quick-connect couplings and flexible hoses, that includes appliances like vacuum cleaners) that could operate on an air motor. The one drawback: air motors are noisy.

So: what else could possibly be piped into homes today, and what effects might those have on the quality of life?
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