Heating

“ The chief points to be considered are efficiency of heating surface and capacity of grate in proportion to surface, strength of parts, tightness of joints, ease of cleaning and effectiveness of circulation—there should be no "dead ends" where the water is not kept in circulation by the heat of the fire. ”

“ These methods—in all of which the heating agent is brought from another room into the one to be warmed—are of three kinds; heating by hot air, by hot water, and by steam.
When we speak of warming an apartment by heated air, it is necessary to give precision to the meaning of the term. All rooms are, in fact, warmed by heated air, for the stove or grate must raise the temperature of the air in the room before we can appreciate the sensation of warmth. ”

“ Having selected the system of heating to be employed according to the needs of the building in hand, and having proportioned the radiator surface according to the requirements of the various rooms, it then remains to lay out the system of piping and arrange the various details of construction. ”

“ Heating.—Houses in the country are often heated by open fires, stoves or hot-air furnaces, all of which make use of heated currents of air to warm the rooms. But in the city apartments, usually pipes conduct steam or hot water from a central plant to our rooms. ”

“ For large public buildings, factories, &c., heating by steam is generally adopted on account of the rapidity with which heat is available, and the great distance from the boiler at which warming is effected. ”

“ Must be heated, where artificial heating is necessary to prevent freezing, by steam or hot-water systems, the heater to be located in a separate building, and no open flames to be permitted within generator enclosures. ”

“ Respecting the questions of heating, ventilation, and covering, a few more words may be added.
I have before recommended hot water tanks for supplying bottom heat, with attached pipes for the circulation of hot water to warm the atmosphere. I can see no reason for recommending any other arrangement now; for the experience of successive years goes to show that hot water, applied on sound principles, is, above all other means of heating, effective in its operation ”

“ The heating is a single-pipe steam system, the heat generated by a boiler in each building. The principal rooms are heated by radiators, with heating risers used elsewhere. The hardware and lighting fixtures are simple and substantial. ”

“ It is of the utmost importance that the mode of heating should be thought of when a plant-house is designed in the first instance, because heat is generated and diffused, in accordance with fixed laws, to which all our arrangements must conform. ”

“ Hot-air Warming.—In small houses the warming of the various rooms and halls can be accomplished by placing the stove or furnace in the cellar, heating a large quantity of air and conveying it through proper tubes to the rooms and places to be warmed. ”

“ The application of hot water to the heating of churches, public libraries, and other buildings, has been attended with considerable success, and it is now looked upon as the safest, as well as one of the most effectual artificial methods of heating. ”

“ Particular care should be taken to make sure that whatever type of heating is employed is adequate in size. It is more economical to operate a heater that is somewhat oversized than to “rush” one which cannot easily maintain a comfortable temperature in cold weather. Heating engineers and contractors are available to furnish information on heating costs in every locality. The generally used types of heating include stoves, circulator heaters, warm air, hot water and steam systems, and fireplaces. ”

“ In a dwelling house, properly constructed, the entire heating apparatus is a hot air furnace, with a cold air box connected with outdoors constantly bringing in a fresh supply of pure air to be heated. If it were possible this would be the ideal way of supplying the heat to the hover, but of course in a long Brooder House it is impossible to do this. ”

“ HEATING. In temperate latitudes the climate is generally such as to necessitate in dwellings during a great portion of the year a temperature warmer than that out of doors. The object of the art of heating is to secure this required warmth with the greatest economy and efficiency. ”

“ Heating houses.—In winter our bodies cannot make heat fast enough to keep us warm unless we put on a great deal of clothing. So we warm our houses. Our grandfathers used fireplaces, but these did not give out much heat. People now use stoves, but some use a furnace in the cellar, or heat the rooms by steam. ”

“ For reasons of health it may be assumed that no system of heating is advisable which does not provide for a constant renewal of the air in the locality warmed, and on this account there is a difficulty in treating as separate matters the subjects of heating and ventilation, which in practical schemes should be considered conjointly. ”

“ Heating by warmed air, one of the oldest methods in use, has been much improved by attention to the construction of the apparatus, and if properly installed will give as good effects as it is possible to obtain. The system is especially suitable for churches, assembly halls and Warm air. large rooms. A stove of special design is placed in a chamber in the basement or cellar, and cold fresh air is passed through it, and led by means of flues to the various apartments for distribution by means of easily regulated inlet valves. ”

“ Where a house is heated by a furnace, the style of this should be selected with great care, special regard being had to the economy of fuel. The systems of steam-heating, hot-water heating, or hot-air heating have each their merits, depending on the location of the house and the climate of the region. The cellar can also be used as a storeroom for those things not affected by the heat of the furnace, such as perishable food requiring an ice-box or a cool place, vegetables, especially those with a penetrating odor ”

“ The most obvious defect we discovered in our house was that it was very cold—a universal English drawback—and the inadequate open fires seem to accentuate the chill.
Would that my feeble voice could do justice to the much-calumniated American methods of heating! It does pay to be less prejudiced and more comfortable! Possibly the furnace and steam heat may be a little overdone, but not with moderate care. No one can make me believe that it is healthy to sit shivering all over, or roasting on one side and freezing on the other. ”

“ Having first reduced the supply of fuel to the smallest limits consistent with keeping the fire going, by lessening the appetite, and by taking away the craving for heating food, and having given a hint to adopt such outer coverings for the body as are as little obstructive of the passage of heat as possible, the heat drenches the surface of the frame abundantly with moisture, which has the power to cool by its ready evaporation. ”

“ Water-ways thin enough to heat water rapidly. Quality and position of heating surface must not allow for waste of heat. 65% of heating surface should be in direct contact with heat, 35% in flue surface. Response to your dampers will show you if you have 65% of your heating surface in direct contact with flame! Go and see the best hot water boiler in your vicinity—before you buy consult your engineer and ask about others. ”

“ It is now being more generally recognised in this country that the ventilation and the heating of a building should be kept separate and distinct, and that the fresh air warming arrangements should be independent of those employed for heating. ”

“ The heating power of furnaces must be studied. Having calculated the cubical contents of the rooms to be heated, and given the heating power of the stove or apparatus to be employed per cwt. of metal or superficial foot of radiating surface, we arrive at the necessary size. ”

“ In arranging heating-surface, the effort should be to impede the draught as little as possible, and so to place them that the circulation of water within the boiler should be free and rapid at every part reached by the hot gases. ”

“ A Lesson from the Coal-Pits.
We require in our houses an artificial temperate climate which shall be uniform throughout, and at the same time we need a gentle movement of air that shall supply the requirements of respiration without any gusts, or draughts, or alternations of temperature. Everybody will admit that these are fundamental desiderata, but whoever does so becomes thereby a denouncer of open-grate fireplaces, and of every system of heating which is dependent on any kind of342 stoves with fuel burning in the rooms that are to be inhabited. ”

“ Our heating systems take much more water from us than the former methods of heating. The result is seen in our furniture that comes apart from dryness and in our books and other things which crack and deteriorate. ”

“ It is true that a house of a given size cannot as soon be brought to the required temperature after the fire is first lighted, as by other modes of heating, but when once in full operation greater regularity is maintained, and if the fire should by any neglect go out, heat is still radiated, often for several hours, before the pipes become entirely cold. ”

“ Hot air stoves have been so generally condemned and discarded as a means of heating glass structures, that we shall not discuss their faults or merits, but confine ourselves to heating by flues, steam, and hot water in pipes and tanks. ”

“ Gas-heating.—The heating of houses by means of gas is a modification of the hot-water system above described, and should, as far as possible, be conducted on precisely the same principles, the fuel being gas instead of wood, coal, coke, or charcoal. ”

“ Where a properly designed superheater is installed in a boiler the heating surface of the boiler proper, in the generation of a definite number of heat units, is relieved of a portion of the work which would be required were these heat units delivered in saturated steam. ”

“ The many fires consequent on wooden construction even in the large cities; the bad effect of sudden climatic changes—drying, parching heat being followed by weather so cold as to require artificial heating; the less safe character of heating appliances ”

“ There is a further consideration in regard to economy with hot-water pipes, steam-heating, and all appliances for warming buildings from a central fire, viz., that if the heat has to be conveyed for long distances before its useful application comes into force, very much heat is lost, and consequently fuel is wasted. ”

“ The Flue System.—The simplest method of heating is by means of a furnace and brick flue. Every skilled bricklayer knows how to heat a house by this method, but it is well that those who have to pay and take the consequences should know something about it also. It is necessary, in the first place, to provide a sufficiently capacious stoke-hole at the end of the house, or, in the case of a lean-to, behind the back wall. ”

“ HEAT AND VENTILATION.—COMMON HEATING ARRANGEMENTS.—PRESENT METHODS GENERALLY UNSATISFACTORY.—IDEAL CONDITIONS.—PROPER AMOUNT OF MOISTURE RARELY ATTAINED.—A FURNACE DEFINED.—METHODS OF REACHING BEST RESULTS.—SUPPLY OF PROPER AMOUNT OF MOISTURE.—REMOVAL OF FOUL AIR.—SUPPLYING FRESH AIR WITH PROPER MOISTURE FROM STOVES.—STEAM AND HOT WATER HEATING.—DIRECT AND INDIRECT RADIATION.—LOW-COST HEATING APPARATUS.
It is only within a short time that the heating and ventilation of buildings of any kind have been in any measure satisfactory. ”

“ The object of all heating apparatus is the transference of heat from the fire to the various parts of the building it is intended to warm, and this transfer may be effected by radiation, by conduction or by convection. An open fire acts by radiation; it warms the air in a room by first warming the walls, floor, ceiling and articles in the room, and these in turn warm the air. Therefore in a room with an open fire the air is, as a rule, less heated than the walls. ”

“ The application of these remarks would be, putting in the furnace as soon as possible, and keeping it steadily at work drying sap from the wood and water from the plastering till it enters upon its legitimate mission of warming the house.
When you have read all this about heating and ventilating two or three times over, these conclusions will begin to crystallize in your mind:—
Open fires give the surest ventilation and the best cheer.
If stoves are used for economy, fresh air must be systematically admitted. ”

“ The best combined heating and ventilating arrangement at present seems to be that which warms [Pg 19] the fresh air by means of a soapstone furnace or steam-coils, and removes the foul air through a fireplace. In milder weather, gas may be burned in the chimney at a slight expense. According to Morin, seven cubic feet of gas burned in a flue eleven inches square and sixty-six feet high, will draw thirteen thousand three hundred cubic feet of air per hour from a room. ”

“ All heating in winter is done by stoves of sheet iron with a chimney leading out through the nearest wall. These stoves, fed with wood, give out a tremendous heat for a short time, but it is very hard to maintain anything approaching an even temperature. ”

“ The ability to maintain a satisfactory temperature depends as much upon the construction of the house as upon the heating apparatus itself. Heat is readily lost through walls, roofs and windows. Most houses can be made more comfortable at small cost by applying insulation or by correcting defects in construction. ”

“ Plenty of Heat Needed. Any method of heating—open fireplace, stove, hot air, furnace, hot water, or steam—which will keep a room with the windows open comfortably warm in cold weather is satisfactory and healthful. ”