Evening star., 1915-12-19
SCIENCE BEGINS AT HOME
N.-Light and Heat.
By Frederic ]. Haskin.

For instance, It is considered good
form In the best circles to keep the
various stoves in the household black.
Not one woman in ten knows why she
does 1t. black stove is undoubtedly
more ornamental than one which is
rusty brown. but proceeding on esthetic
principles solely. a pale yellow or nile
green might be more decorative than
either. Heating stoves really are black
ened because a black stove is the hot
more than a cold scientific fact that IL
you nickel-plate a stove you cut its
heat-giving capacity In half.
This property of black things to give
and take heat readily means that when
you want to carry heat without losing
it, as in hot-water pipes, you must see
that the pipes are bright and shining.
This is SO true, that science has shown
that bright hot-water pipe loses less
heat than one insulated in a thin as
bestos coating. For the same reason
pots and pans kept bright will stay
hot longer. The ideal kettle is black
on the bottom, to take heat easily, and
bright on the sides, to hold 1t long.
The various kinds Of fuels available
for kitchen and general household
heating are
Wood and Soft Coal used too
Are More Economical. ont a clsar
understanding Of their fitness for the
particular purpose involved. On a pure
ly theoretical basis, soft coal and
wood are the most economical fuels by
far. in districts where their price is
a
fires do not last, however, and a coal
fire takes half an hour of preliminary
naneuvering to get enthusiasm enough
to fry an egg. Gas is expensive, but
quick and clean. The gas fame should
hence be used in culinary skirmishes,
when heat is needed for short time in
a limited area: but for major cooking
hsr soft coal is just about ten times as
econ aomical. Such an estimate, of
course. does not consider the factor of
convenience. To secure this latter in a
cooking with electricity. which is about
twenty times as expensive as gas.
The gas flame can be rendered more
economical and effective by a little
understanding of its personal peculiar
tiles. What you burn is really not
gas, but an air-gas mixture, and the
amount of air should be carefully reg
ulated by means of the little damper
at the base Of the burner. If you have
too much air. OF not enough, the gas
is is cniy partially burned. a condition
which is both Wasteful and dangerous
to health. because the partly burned
gases are poisonous. For this rea-
son. f1ue over gas stove to carry
away the invisible products of com
bustion is a good thing, but careful
regulation of the air supply will pre-
vent the forming of the harmful
vapors, and give you a hundred cents
worth of heat for. every dollar on the
bill. gas flame consists of two parts:
a central blue-green portion, surround
ed by yellow flame You will know
that your air supply is right when
the blue-green portion is half the
height of the flame.
Actual cooking is only small part
of the household heating problem. The
furnace eats
Handling Furnace to several times
Get Most Heat. 60 GO .na o 80 uoa'
and it is worth a little study to keep
much of that coal from flying up the
chimney to heat the circuma ambient at
the smaller sizes, and many furnaces
feed your furnace with coal too large
for it is double waste. The furnace
flues and heating surfaces should be
kept several times cleaner than the
majority of them are. Whether the
system works by hot water, or steam.
or air. it must heat its conducting
material in some sort of reservoir. To
let that reservoir get plastered with
SCOT is taking considerable pains to
-, -.,.1a
is the same as though you put an
asbestos mat between your coffee pot
and the stove.
The successful solving of the winter
heating problem. in most climates,
makes the difference between comfort
and annoyance for six months in the
year 1t is double problem. of which
one side is rarely given its true i'm
portance. The house must be heated,
and ventilated as well. Most winter
ventilation is faulty and fortutious.
There is a tendency to regard the out
side air as a subtle intruder who steals
into the coal bin and spirits away its
contents. AS matter of fact, it can
be stated almost absolutely. with a
backing OF scientific authority, that the
open window does not affect the coal
bill. Ali the fresh air that one per-
son needs can be admitted from out
doors when the temperature Is freezing
Of 70 degrees at a daily expense of
of one cent. The windows
to be opened should, of course, be Sc
lected so as to avoid the direct path of
a northeastern gale, but a great deal
more latitude is both desirable and
profitable in this connection.
Investigations by the government
will give you an idea of what your
house should cost you to heat. If the
average winter temperature Is As de-
grees, which represents fairly cold
winter, it should take a little more
than a ton of coal per room for the
season. If your house is one of a row
it will require less. IL small and isolat-
ed, relatively more.
With the coming of winter, the light
ing question again assumes important
Improvements in house,
lighting are developed SO rapidly that
few of us keep UP with the times. A
of the common methods
of lighting shows that gas, burned
through a good mantle. is the cheapest
Of all Fod electric lighting, the tung-
stem bulb leads the procession. The
United States bureau of standards
makes the statement that no consumer
can AFFORD to use carbon dlament cleo
trio lamps. even If he were paid a
bonus for doing so. The tungsten fla |
ment is very economical Of current. In |
the last year or two the old objection
of great fragility, which still keeps
many householdsrs from installing