Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-09-06
INSULATION OF WALLS
LATEST BUILDING FAD
Modern Homes Built to Resist
Changes in Temperature
Out of Doors.

l
fronting the owner and builder OF dwell
! ings. whether they intend TO live therein
! themselves or rent them. is that of heat
! ing. This is especially the case in north
ern climates.
| In a climate like this our dwellings
must be built in such a way that sudden
| changes of temperat ure outside will af-
feet the inside with sufficient slowness
that the heating plant may properly take
care OF the change without too much of
a shock to the Inhabitants. This Is not
| so much a question Of the make OF the
| boiler or the system Of the heating as 1t
! is of the construction of the outside
walls No matter how efficient the heat
ing plant may be, IL the walls are not
constructed in the most improved man
ner that plant cannot satisfactorily do
the work that is put upon it.
Save Half the Fuel Bill.
There is only one way to overcome
once and for all the many heating diff
culties. That is to erect what are known
as insulated" or "heat-proof' walls.
| Many architects appreciate this fact and
specify some efficient insulation to be
used in the construction. The house that
is properly insulated in its outside wall
construction will require the conSump-
| ton OF little more than half the fuel to
| keep 1t at the same temperature con-
| stantly as the house built and furnished
in exactly the same manner, except for
| the insulation.
! For years no building paper was ever
used but as the science of building adj
vanced red rosins and tarred felts came
into more or less general USE Their OBJ
| ject is to keep the house warmer by
| covering cracks, thus protecting against
| M
| plish such object If they remain intact
and completely cover the walls.
| 1t Is only natural that the more adj
| vanced architects. engineers. contractors
and owners are turning their attention to
! thorough insulation as a solution of the
problem of maintaining an even tempera-
| ture on the inside Of the dwellings with
| minimum consumption of fuel. They
| appreciate the worth Of building papers
| and back-plaster. especially for prevent
| Ing cold winds blowing into the house.
! and, taking their lesson from the stabil-
| ity of temperature of refrigerator railway
| cars. they argue that the walls and floors
| OF residences should be insulated with
| special care. Such insulation pays.
An interesting test was recently made
| In Minneapolis to determine the saving
In fuel of heating insulated dwellings.
Several houses We're built under as near
ly the same conditions as possible except
that In their wall construction some had
| the same insulating quilts that are used
| in the coldstorage trade. and the others
the usual tarred felts. Careful records
were kept of the fuel consumption The
difference between the insulat ed houses
and the undnsulated ran all the way from
% per cent to 40 per cent in fuel con-
sumption. maintaining the same tempera-
ture on the inside Of each
Insulation Cost insignificant.
The next question was that Of expense
TO the great surprise of the investi-
gators. 1t was found that the additional
cost of insulating quilt over red rosin
or tarred felts was less than $50 on the
ordinary house. and rarely over 500 in
the largest residences. The saving in
the fuel was. however, so great that this
additional expense was recovered in two
ways; first, the heating plant could be
materially reduced in size and cost with
out in any way jeopardizing its ability
to properly warm the house; secondly
the saving in fuel even if the plant were
not reduced in size, would cover this
additional cost of insulation i'm from two
to four years, depending upon material
used and the climate in which the house
stood.
In climates of long winters and COM
paratively low temperatures it is safe to
say that cost of insulation is recovered
In from two to three years If the size
Of the heating plant is not reduced. Yet
the heating plant can be reduced safely
10 per cent to 20 per cent, thus at the
outset saving almost the entire cost of
the extra insulation. Indeed. the smaller
plant In the insulated house will furnish
the heat necessary with a good deal
greater facility than the larger plant in
the uninsulated house, for the sudden
changes in temperature will leak through
to the inside so very slowly that the
| plant is taxed not at all to counterfeit
| the scarcely perceptible, slowly leaking
in cold
No mention is made above of the cold
that comes through the windows. At
first this was thought to be the greater
walls. But careful tests made by the
| American Society of Heating and Venti
latinS Engineers, and since substantiated
by the American Society of Refrigerating
Engineers, shows that in the ordinary
residence constructed without insulating
| quilt. but with windtisht wall only
about 40 per cent of the heat is lost
through the windows if single windows
are used the balance, or 60 per cent, be-
ing lost through the rest of the walls,
| although windtight. AS this 80 per cent
| is the portion that Is reduced by the use
of insulating quilt, the majority of the
! heat lost through the walls of the insu-
| lated house Is lost through the windows.
In fact. If a quarter-inch insulating quilt
| of the most efficient character is used in
| the ordinary frame or plaster-veneer resi-
| dence, so very little heat will be lost
| through the rest of the walls that the
total is reduced from 100 units to. prob
! ably, fifty units, or 30 per cent saving
Houses Sell or Rent Better.
| 1t will pay every carpenter and builder,
| whether he builds for his own use or for
| others, to insist on some form of insula-
| ton In his wall construction. Such a
| house is naturally more desirable rent
| ing property or selling proposition than
| the residence unprotected against sum-
mer heat or winter cold and requiring
much larger consumption of fuel to keep
it warm in winter. The largest specu-
| lative builder in the country, John Cor
| bin of Brooklyn. insulates every house
J he erects The total cost of the COM
pleted house is no more. and the buyer
| is better satisfied. To the owner or the
occupant this matter Of insulation really
| means another reduction in the cost of
| living-and, with coal prices higher each
| year, a very welcome, very substantial
reduction.
Probably there is no better method of
| making a house 'heatproof' than by the
| use of the quilts. felts or boards that are
used in she cold storage and refrigerator
trade. Back-plaster is better than moth