Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-03-31

Steana.HeRtinG.
Titus Munson Coan. In Harper's Weekly.

| Titus Munson Coan, in Harper's Weekly
The subject Of steam-heating is one that has
| attracted much popular interest and viii attract
| more and more, because by the use Of steam
and hot-water pipes it ia possible to distribute
heat on the grandest scale, even to the warming
OF whole towns from central boilers, and at a
moderate expense for fuel. The system prop
erly managed, is both sanitary and economical.
The cause Of the great efficiency of heating by
steam or hot-water pipes is found in the great
| capacity Of water to store up latent heat.
Water has, in other words, great specific heat
| -greater. indeed, than that OF any other sub
stance, 1t boils at 212o F., the barometer
standing at 80 inches. But after it has reached
| si3, and before it begins to pass into steam it
has absorbed the further amount of 1862 of heat.
called latent because the thermometer does not
| show It, But 1t is all there the 2l2o indicated
! by the thermometer and the 1862 not indi-
| Gated, and Of this entire quantity 1872, the
greater part is available for the heating Of our
| dwellings by means of steam or hOt-water pipes.
We may, indeed. use considerably higher tenn
peratures than these by making the apparatus
| strong enough to resist the steam pressure
This Is often done when it is desired to warm
| the walls OF room or building more rapidly
| than the air, as have said is the case when the
source OF heat is at comparatively high tenn
perature. Steam by itself can be heated to a
very high degree with comparative safety, be-
| cause its rate OF expansion, like that of other
gases. Is moderate. Water cannot be greatly
| heated with safety, because each added degree
| OF heat makes new steam, and the pressure soon
runs up to dangerous point. Forvery prompt
| and effective warming Of large spaces and for
the transport of heat to great distance. steam
| heating Is therefore the best. But the principle
/ IN each case Is the same-the steam and the hot
water In cooling give up their generous treas
ure OF latent heat. 1t is by this mysterious viz
l II hot hn{fl Ia oS hot
| feet warm so much longer than the same amount
| OF SAND or other solid substance, heated to an
equal degree according to the thermometer.
For ordinary warming the hot-water pipes
are preferable to steam pipes, because they do
not overhead the air, and are less likely than
steam pipes to get out of order They are rather
cheeriess things In the living-rooms but they
are an efficient continuance for heating large
houses. and especially for the halls. temper
allure Of 500 F. can readily be had, If desirable,
| IN the coils OF the ordinary hOt-water apparatus.
This is simple thing. as generally made-it is
circuit of closed inch tubing filled with water
coll OF this Is exposed to the furnace heat: the
| warmed water rises and flows through the upper
part OF the circuit, returning below, and partly
cooled to the furnace for fresh supply of heat,
and so the circuit goes on continually. A Glow
pressure gravity apparatus" ie., one without
an outlet, with thorough circulation, and re-
curing no mechanical means to return the
water to the boiler. is very complete and econ
| omical heating apparatus Baldwin likens it to
the circulation of the blood, ''the boiler being
the heart, the steam pipes the arteries, and the
return pipes the veins" 1t is safe and noise
less. and requires little trouble to manage it,
But IL ls for the heat supply not merely of the
largest buildings. as of asylums and hospitals,
but OF Whole villages, towns, and cities even,
that the system of steam-be heating promises to be
available. The features of the plan are Cd great
nres ana boilers at central station, where the
heat can be produced in the most economical
grand a of
radiatng pipes SO protected by felt, paper, as
Destos. and atmospheric air that little of the
iatent neat conveyed shall escape. This teem-
ing caiorc, 1t is claimed, can be distributed
without much loss by radiation, to all the
houses within the radius OF mile or more, at
less expense than that of the same amount of
heat produced in the kitchen range and cellar
furnace,
This has actually been accomplished upon the
large scale In more than one place. as in the
cities OF Detroit and Lockport In the latter
place two hundred houses were heated from q
central boiler. Four tons of hard coal per day
were used. The steam pressure in the boiler
was Kept at thirty-fve pounds during the
Wlmer. Ihere were three miles of main piping
leading up to the various points of cOnsump-
tlon; the supply pipes from these mains were an
men ana half IN diameter, and three-quarter-
men pipes were used in the houses Loss Of
neat was prevented by first wrapping with as
bestos paper, second with Russian felt third
with Manila paper, and the whole was incased
in timber tubing bored out three-quarters of an
inch larger than the pipes aud their coverings,
so as to include jacket of atmos heric air as
further protection. Injury from the expansion
ana contraction OF the pipes according to vary
Ing temperatures was guarded against BY using
at Intervals Of every one or two hundred feet,
extension or telescope" joints The pipes
were then laid in the streets like gas or water
mains. The loss of heat was surprisingly small
I'm house three-quarters Of q mile from the
boilers bucket of cold water could be raised
to boiling heat in three minutes by the passage
OF the steam through perforated nozzle
plunged into the bucket" The laid-on steam
was used for cooking purposes. for boiling, and
even for baking For warming the houses the
ordinary system Of inch pipes arranged verti-
caily as radiators was employed.
The working expenses consisted Of the coal
and two firemen's wages. The company laid
their pipes up to the houses, the consumer hay
Ing to pay for all the internal fittings In an
eight-rooined house these cost $3.50; in larger
houses. with more expensive finishings, about
S5V were paid. meter in each building indi-
Gated the total consumption of steam.
There can be no doubt that great economy in
principle may be secured by thus supplying heat
from central source, and the great expert
ment now In progress in New York city will be
watched with much interest by those who are
weary OF struggling with stoves and kitchen
ranges.