Charlevoix county herald., 1911-11-04
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THE ICE
HOUSE
By H. II. MUSSELMAN, Instructor in Farm
Mechanics. Michigan Agricultural College.

solved to forestall the running OF the
butter, the souring of the milk and the
spelling of the roast by means OF
some method of cooling. The present
Is not bad time to think about car
rying these resolves into action.
One method where good ice may be
obtained at reasonable distance from
lake or stream is to provide an Ice
house and ice box or refrigerator. Ice
making, though somewhat disagreea-
BILE, may be done at time OF the year
when other work is slack, and II at
tackled In the right way is no worse
than much other works which must be
done. With a bountiful supply OF ice,
and refrigerator Of sufficient capac-
ity, cold storage may be provided for
food and dairy products. 1t is recon-
mended that a refrigerator of not less
than 100 pounds capacity of ice be
used for average conditions, and one
of from $50 pounds to 200 pounds
capacity will be found to advantage
in some cases.
The Ice box or refrigerator should
be easily accessible to the kitchen and
dining room, and for filling. II placed
so that it may be filled without enter
ing the house a great deal OF dirt may
be avoided. This is sometimes accom-
plished by placing the refrigerator on
the back porch or In a permanent To-
cation where 1t may be filled from an
outside window.
With regard to Ice storage, an ex-
pensive or specially constructed build
ing is not essential. Any room OF
proper dimensions where good under
drainage may be provided, the walls
fairly alright and SO arranged that
ventilation may be secured above, ice
may be stored without great loss from
melting. A building designed for this
purpose will have several points of ad-
vantage, however.
In building an Ice house the capacity
is the first thing to be considered.
Solid ice weighs about Sc pounds per
cubic foot, and stored ice, allowing
for voids between cakes and layers,
averages about 40 pounds per cubic
foot. On this basis cube OF stored
Ice 10X10X10 feet 1uld weigh 20 tons.
per week, a weight of one ton per
month would be consumed, which for
six months would be six tons. Consid-
cradle allowance must be made for
meltage, however, so that 1t Is safe
to say that space for not less than fif-
teen or twenty tons should be provid-
ed. In cutting ice the size of cakes
should be such as will be best suited
to loading, storing and the size of the
Ice box or refrigerator. A cake OF ice
s inches thick, 1S inches wide and 30
inches long weighs 140 pounds, so that
some care should be taken not to
get the cakes too large for handling,
especially where lifting must be done.
The keeping property OF Ice de-
pends almost altogether on how well
1t is insulated from the heat. Air,
mineral wool, asbestos, sawdust,
shavings and chaff are good non-con-
ductors. Air Is one of the best, pro-
vided 1t is confined to small porous
spaces, as in the voids in sawdust,
shavings, etc. Dry materials are also
more effective as non-conductors of
heat as a rule than wet. Let us note
how these principles may be applied
in ice storage.
We have mentioned good drainage
beneath the ice. In any event there
will be considerable meltage and the
water thus formed should be drained
away to prevent wetting Of the non
conducting material and thereby rem
dering 1t less effective. A line of or
dinary drain tile should be laid under
! the center or along each side below
! the ice and covered with six inches of
gravel. This, then, should be spread
with from four to six inches of Gin
ders, If obtainable, which is a better
non-conductor than gravel. On the
cinders then should be placed from
six to twelve inches of sawdust or
shavings, upon which the Ice is laid.
The tile drain should be provided with
u trap outside of the ice house to
prevent any possible chance Of circu-
lation OF air beneath the ice.
The walls Of the ice house may con-
sist Of studding sheathed on the in
side with rough lumber, and with tar
paper and siding outside. Cement
blocks should also make excellent
walls, since they do not deteriorate by
dampness as does wood. Little is
gained by placing sawdust between
the sheathing and siding, as 1t is like
ly to become damp. Placing 1t thus
does save rehandling each year, how
ever. In any case the total thickness
Of insulation should not be less than
IL inches either at the sides, above or
below the Ice.
Ventilation is necessary above the
ice to keep the air and insulating ma
terial dry. This may be accomplished
by latticed windows and a ventilating
fiue or shaft at the peak of the roof.
Protection from the sun is also advan-
tageous. Shade trees and wide roof
projection help In this respect. A
continuous door In the ice house is
also desirable so that the Ice may be
put in at any level and unnecessary