The Portland daily press., 1879-12-05
Benefits of Double Heating
From the Sanitary Engineer.

FROM the SANITARY Englnccr.J
1t is very true that the air inside of houses
should in high latitudes be heated in winter up
to 500 or 6Oo Fahrenheit in such apartments as
are occupied by women and children, or even
by men who are generally seated. This is warm
enough for any ones comfort or health, II, by
any other means, the body can be heated slight
ly by radiation from a fire in each occupied
ronro
1t may be suggested, why not put steam
radiator in each room to heat the inmates
without at the same time heating the air above
the desired limit? The reason is simply that
the, radiation from steam pipes surrounded by
air does not impart so much heat as is sup
posed Let man with cold feet try to toast
them before steam radiator without actual
contact and compare the effect with that OF
holding them before an open fire and he will
soon be convinced of this. The heat is i'm
parted by steam pipes to the surrounding air
yery rapidly, however, and heats the whole air
in the room in spite of us-not by radiation,
but by onduction-through actual contact
Its expansion when so heated makes it buoyant,
and it rises instantly, to be replaced by other
air thus keeping up constant circulation, TIL
ali the air within reach partakes of the heat.
If proper means were provided for introduc-
ing fresh air in every occupied room, heated in
winter to say 500 in sleening-rooms and 90 or
600 in rooms occupied in the daytime, with a
corresponding chance for the escape OF such
air after its contamination by passing through
our lungs. this air could be well heated by
steam: but this must be done in the basement,
where its proper regulation can be controlled
for each apartment. Steam pipes are better
heating surface than stoves and furnaces Tor
such duty, because they can by no means over
heat the air. as is often done by red-hot fur
naces and stoves. But for such additional heat
as is needed for radiation in each room 10 heat
us without heating the air, steam heated sur
faces will not answer the purpose. we want
something hotter to give the proper radiation,
and with limited surface to avoid oyerheat-
ing the air in contact with it..
For all those who can afford an open tire no
practically good substitute exists for this pur-
pose But as many-in fact, large part, per-
haps of our people--cannot with propriety al
ford the luxury, except in case OF sickness, the
| next best thing for them is a small open stove.
| In either case an ample draft is given, to IN
sure the carrying off of the eftete ar, aEd the
| slight vacuum thus created will ensure good
| supply of fresh air. either through the pipes
| which are provided to bring moderately heated
| air as above described, or in mild weather
| through such casual openings as may exist, and
| which, through the stimulus of the tre draft,
| become ten-fod more efficient than when not
so assisted In severe climates, this double sys-
tenn of heating is the best that has yet been de-
vised, the basement furnace or boiler serving
| to diffuse though the whole house an ample
| volume of moderately heated air, with small
| open fires or open stoves In the rooms that neeo
| such auxiliary.