The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1915-11-04

vi
prepared by the United States Depart
ment Of Agriculture)
Generally speaking. the construction
of an ice house IL question Of econ
omy for the dairyman. The cost OF
harvesting and storing. interest on the
money invested. repairs. and depreci-
alton on the building should Offset the
saving in the melting of ice: beyond
this it is not good policy to go.
The location OF the house should be
such Is to shield it as much as pos
sible from the wind and from the di.
rect rays OF the sun.
The function of an ice house Is to
prevent. the outside heat from pass
ing into the interior and melting the
ice; therefore the problem is to mini
mize the passage of heat by interpos-
ing in the walls Q material or a con-
struction which will resist its transfer
from the outer to the inner side of
the building. There is no material
known that will entirely prevent the
passage Of heat; however. there are
materials which offer . high resis-
tance and are termed nonconductors
or insulators. The best insulators ap-
pear to be those that contain the
greatest amount of entrapped air con.
fined in the smallest possible spaces.
Formerly 1t was the practice in con.
structing buildings for the storage Of
ice or for cold-storage purposes to
provide series Of air spaces some of
which were as much as IL inches
wide, the supposition being that they
were dead-air spaces. As matter Of
fact, however, as the air in contact
with the cooler surface fell while that
in contact with the warmer surface
rose. it produced circulation tending
to equalize the temperature of the
sides of the air space. Therefore an
eir space inch wide is practically
as good ~ one IL inches wide. Air
circulation is valuable, however, be-
tween the insulated ceiling and the
roof Of an ice house In order to break
up the heat radiation through the roof.
No entrance or exit of air should
be allowed to take place in q room
where Ice is stored, especially at or
near the ground line. as the cold cur
rents of air at the bottom will filter
through. II the walls and foundations
are kept absolutely tight at the bot
tom, an opening at the top has but
little effect, as the warm air entering
will remain at the top of the room.
When 1t Is necessary to remove Ice
from the house, the door should be
kept open As short . time as possible,
and where . covering material is used
the ice shotld be carefully covered.
IN . properly insulated house a great
advantage is that no covering is re-
quired. The ice is packed on the floor
Of the room, depending on the insu-
lated walls and floor for protection
from the outside heat. But in the
cheaper houses 1t is better to cover
the ice with some material, such as
sawdust or mill shavings. A layer of
the insulating material should be
placed directly on the floor and the
Ice stacked thereon; there should also
be layer packed between the ice ard
the walls. Ice should never be placed
iirectly on the ground. soil being a
fairly good conductor Of heat, espe-
cially when wet, az the floors of all
.ce houses are sure to be. The larger
percentage Of waste, however is due
% the entrance of heat through the in.
sulat1on OF the walls and floor; conse-
4uently they should be carefully con-
structed.
Insulation.
AS sawdust and shavings are shown
IN some OF the typical designs. it is
not to be understood that they are the
oest insulators for this class Of build
'ngA They are used because they are
sheap and can be had In any part of
he eoontry. and If kept dry are good
insulatofs. is very difficult prob
len, however, to keep them dry. and
when they are to be used great care.
shoaid be exercised in the construc.
tien Of the walls in order to keep out
the moisture.
fianing-mill shavngs are better
than sawdust for insulating purposes:
they are elastic. do not settle readily
and do not absorb moisture so read
ly as sawdust; and, most importast.
are free from dirt, bark or chips.
When used as filing for walls on cell
Ing, they should be we'll packed into
place to prevent settling
Sawdust has In the past been used
% a great extent In rural districts for
insulating walls OF small cold storage
buildings. due to the fact that It is
lvailable in most country districts
md usually without cost. it is not a
Fery satisfactory material for INSULT.
'ng purposes, however, as it is al
ways more or less damp. Further
more the dampness not only destroys
ts insulating value, put it favors the
rowth of mold and rot. first in the
Awdust itself and then in the walls