Part 7

However, where there is no gas to be used, the coal-heater must be employed—either the tank-heater or the water-back in the kitchen-range. The latter was the usual old-fashioned method of heating the water, and the boiler was located alongside of the kitchen-range. The size of the water-back was proportioned on the basis of 2 square inches of heating surface to each gallon storage capacity in the boiler. The tank-heater is a special coal-burning stove, designed to serve as an iron-warmer and a water-heater, being usually placed in the laundry in the cellar. Another method of securing hot water, which is not recommended, is to place heating coils in the furnace; it obstructs the fire-pot, chills the fire, overheats the water in cold weather and underheats it in warm weather, and does not operate at all during the summer.

_Fixtures_

The modern bathroom fixture may be made of one of three materials: true porcelain, earthenware, or enamelled-iron. The true porcelain fixtures are the heaviest, the most durable, and the most expensive. The material is non-absorbent and white in color, and the surface presents a gloss which is in reality a form of glass. When it is chipped the fracture shows the material below as white, and a drop of ink will not be absorbed by it.

In imitation of the porcelain fixtures are made earthenware ones, but which are in no way to be compared to the true porcelain, although a casual glance at them would lead one to think that they were porcelain fixtures. However, a chip from the surface will reveal the yellow and porous texture of the earthenware below the glazed surface. The glossy white surface in time stains and becomes covered with small hair-cracks, unlike the porcelain fixtures, and for this reason they are not as sanitary nor as durable. They are cheaper than the true porcelain fixtures, but this material should be avoided in water-closet bowls, but is admissible for use in tubs and lavatories.

The enamelled-iron fixtures are considered by most to be superior to the earthenware fixtures, since they do not craze, are lighter, and generally more durable. The quality of this ware can be judged by the absence of roughness, blisters, bubbles, and spots, and freedom from hair-cracks and peeling. Bathtubs of the modern type made of enamelled iron have the rich appearance of porcelain fixtures, since the sides are rolled over and covered with enamel, unlike the old-fashioned types, which had the interiors lined with the enamel and the exteriors painted with white paint.

The mechanical operation of the various fixtures is so well standardized that not much choice is given between the catalogue of one firm and another. The best type of water-closets are the siphon, the siphon-jet, and the converging jets, the latter being a more modern development, which has eliminated the noise of the siphon action and yet which accomplishes a quick and rapid flushing action. The lavatories which are most commonly specified are of the pedestal type, although the modern tendency in sanitary bathroom design is to eliminate as far as possible all junction of fixtures with the floor, for it is here that dirt and stains develop. Such arrangements carried to the extreme would require a sunk bathtub, a lavatory without legs, and special compartment for the water-closet, but this would be absurd for the small house. However, the built-in bathtub is far superior to the old-fashioned tub which stood upon legs, and under which all manner of dirt could collect.

We often hear the remark that no wonder the cost of living to-day is so much higher than it was with our ancestors, who knew nothing about the clean, tile-lined bathrooms with porcelain tubs, white and glistening lavatories with all the cold and hot water needed, while in the old days the wooden tub, set up in the kitchen near the range, was good enough for the Saturday-night bath, and the tin pan, filled under the hand-pump outside on the back porch, was good enough to wash the hands in each morning. But although the modern bathroom and the modern plumbing system is an economic burden to the small house, it is doubtful if we shall ever see the day when it is abolished in order to cut down on the cost.

IX METHODS OF HEATING

_System Adapted to the Small House_

The heating problem for the small house was for our ancestors a very simple mechanical device, consisting, as we all know, of either the fireplace or the stove. The former method still has a charm which we are not willing to dispense with, although we do not depend upon its efficiency to do the actual work of warming, but install some more complicated system, such as a steam heating-plant, to perform the practical work. A fireplace has a sentimental and intellectual warmth that no radiator can supply.

Even the stove has a certain fascination for many, recalling cold wintry nights when the family sat about the red-hot casting, the women knitting and the men burning their shoe-leather and smoking. Some advocates of the stove are so energetic in their arguments concerning the efficiency of this method of heating that one almost doubts the defects which lead inventors to manufacture other devices. But the housewife knows the labor of shovelling coal into three or four stoves, knows the great clouds of hot, fine ashes which rise into the atmosphere and settle upon the shelves, the tops of picture-frames, and the polished surface of the piano.

And the inventor saw the tired, worn look of the housewife, removed the stove to the cellar and installed tin pipes from this central heater to the various rooms, and then waited for applause and purchasers. It seemed so simple, but it did not solve the problem entirely, for when the wind blew from the north into the windows, it pressed out the warm air from the exposed rooms, forced it down the pipes up through which it was supposed to come, and then rushed it up the flues on the south or warm side of the house, overheating this part and leaving the cold rooms of the house unheated. The drum of the furnace over which the air passed to receive its warmth from the burning coal would leak every time fresh fuel was added, for the odor of coal-gas became very evident throughout the house. Moreover, the heat was very dry and unpleasant, so that water-jars had to be set about to moisten the air.

Then came the inventor again with a new device, a steam-boiler, pipes to distribute the steam, and radiators to give off the heat in the steam to the room. Here at last was a method of heating which would supply warmth in the cold parts of the house, even under the windows, through which the chilliest air penetrated. But the sizes of the radiators were calculated to heat the house to 70 degrees when it was zero outside, although the average winter day was much warmer than this. In this way the occupants of the house were cooked with an excess of heat during moderate weather, for there was no way to regulate the amount of heat given off from the radiator; it either was filled with steam, giving off its maximum quantity of heat, or else it was empty and cold.

To meet this difficulty presented by the steam-heated radiator, the hot-water system was developed. Instead of distributing heat with the medium of steam which under low pressure was fixed at one temperature, heat was circulated by hot water from the central boiler. The temperature of this water could be regulated for mild weather by lowering the fire. However, since the hottest water was cooler than steam, it required larger radiators and more piping, so that the initial cost of a hot-water plant was more than that of a steam system.

In order to overcome the disadvantages of the inflexible steam-radiator, inventors finally developed the so-called “vapor-vacuum” system of steam-heating. In this equipment the air was driven from the entire length of pipes and from the radiators by the pressure of the rising steam from the boiler, and forced through a special ejector which closed when the steam came in contact with it, preventing the return of air into the interior. Thus when the pipes and radiators were filled with steam (there being no air left), no pressure was set up to resist the circulation of the water vapor, and when the hot steam condensed in a radiator to a thimbleful of water, more steam was drawn in to take its place, for no air could enter the pipes. In this way the quantity of steam delivered to the radiators could be regulated by a special valve with a varying number of ports, and by turning the valve to a certain position enough steam would be permitted to enter the radiator to keep it half full, or by shifting the valve to another point enough steam would enter to fill the radiator to three-quarters of its capacity. In fact, the requisite amount of steam could be admitted to the radiator to balance the speed of condensation and retain whatever level of steam in it was desirable. Thus the steam system became at once a flexible system of heating, and could meet the changing requirements of the weather.

A further development of the hot-water system then came about. In this device the radiators were made to contain water, but the heat was circulated through the pipes by means of steam. This steam was poured over the surface of the water in the radiator and transferred its heat to it. According to the quantity of steam poured over the water, the latter could be heated to various temperatures. Of course the water in the radiator was the medium for distributing the heat outward from the radiator itself.

Still another improvement was made upon the hot-water system by introducing the principle of the closed expansion tank. In the ordinary system the water is allowed to expand at the top through an expansion tank, so that the actual pressure on the water of the system is atmospheric. Under this pressure the temperature of the water cannot be raised to more than 212 degrees Fahrenheit, for beyond this it boils and changes to steam. However, in the closed-tank system a so-called heat-generator is added on the line leading to the expansion tank, which, by means of a column of mercury, is capable of adding 10 pounds more pressure than the atmosphere to the water in the system, and thus raising the boiling-point to about 240 degrees. This generator is so designed, however, that, although it adds this greater pressure to the water, yet the natural expansion of the water in the system is permitted through it in case of emergency. By permitting the raising of the temperature of the water, the size of radiators can be cut down 50 per cent, which, of course, reduces the quantity of water needed and permits a quicker heating of the system when the fire is started. Thus a saving of fuel is accomplished and the disadvantage of the ordinary hot-water system is eliminated; namely, the long time required to get hot water in the radiators after the fire is started in the morning from its banked condition of the previous night.

However, the genius of the inventor was not at rest on the problem of warm-air heating, for he discovered that he could abolish the flues, which he once thought were essential, and use but one register and one flue. This is called the pipeless furnace. A register is employed which has an outer and inner section. The outer section permits the cold air from the house to pass down through it and over the drum of the furnace. The inner section of the register permits this hot air to escape upward and through the house by natural distribution. Thus the hot air rises from, and the cool air settles back into, the furnace without utilizing flues. The circulation of this system was found to be superior to the older method as ordinarily installed, and very much cheaper to install. In fact, it is the cheapest of all systems of heating. It is especially adapted to the small, low-cost house.

To reduce the cost of hot-water heating and make it also available for this class of small house, the manufacturers produced another type of water heating-plant. In this device the water-heater was installed in one of the rooms of the house, like a stove, but the exterior was designed to serve as a hot-water radiator for the room in which it was placed. From this heater pipes were taken off to distribute heat to other radiators, located in adjoining rooms. The principle remains the same as the former system; the only difference lies in the reduction of cost by eliminating the boiler from the cellar and utilizing it to heat the room in which it was placed.

Other attempts to improve the mechanics of heating have been more along the line of perfecting the operation of valves or the utilization of other fuels than coal. Gas-radiators have been tried, but they are so expensive to operate in most parts of the country that they are not always suited to the needs of the small house. Electric heaters, too, are not within the pocketbook of the average person owning the small house. Fuel oil-burners also have been devised to take the place of the coal-grate. Wherever oil is cheap enough to permit their use they are great labor-savers, since they eliminate all the shovelling of coal and handling of ashes. These will be discussed later.

Briefly, then, the available systems for the heating of the small house are:

_Hot-air.—a._ Furnace with flues. _b._ Furnace without flues.

_Steam.—a._ Ordinary gravity system. One-pipe. Two-pipe. _b._ Vapor-vacuum system.

_Hot-water.—a._ Ordinary open-tank system. One-pipe. Two-pipe. _b._ Closed-tank system. _c._ Special open-tank system with boiler used as radiator. _d._ Patent system using water in radiators but steam for circulation.

_Methods Employed in Calculating the Required Size of Heater_

The basis of calculating the required size of any one of the systems previously mentioned is to assume that a certain temperature of heat is to be maintained when the weather is zero, and then by means of the laws of heat transmission estimate the quantity of heat lost per hour from the house. The amount of heat lost per hour is, of course, the quantity which the heating system must supply. Knowing this, a system is installed which is capable of supplying this heat loss.

In such devices as the warm-air furnace the required size can be computed directly to meet the heat loss, but where radiators are used the required sizes of these must first be determined to offset the losses from the rooms in which they are installed, and then the size of the heater must be estimated to supply sufficient heat to the radiators and to make up for the losses of heat through the distributing-pipes.

The usual temperature to which the small house is heated when it is zero outside is 70 degrees Fahrenheit. It is then assumed that a certain quantity of heat is lost through the walls of the house by radiation and convection and conduction, and another quantity lost by the leakage of warm air out through the window-cracks. (The quantity of heat is measured in British thermal units, called B. T. U.’s.)

To understand the manner by which heat is lost through the exterior walls, it is necessary to know the meaning of radiation, convection, and conduction.

By standing before an open fire the heat given off by radiation can be observed by shutting it off with a piece of paper held between the face and the fire. This is the transmission of the heat through the ether, and is similar to the transmission of light, since this heat will pass through glass, like light.

Convection of heat is illustrated by heating air in one place and transferring that air to another place, where it will give up its heat to surrounding bodies.

Conduction of heat is illustrated by heating the end of an iron rod and noticing that the heat will eventually be transmitted along the length of it to the other end.

The heat within a house escapes from the interior to the colder atmosphere of the exterior through the walls, by radiation through the glass windows and the substance of the walls, by the convection action of the warm air of the interior giving up its heat to the interior face of the wall and the cold air of the exterior extracting this heat from the exterior face and carrying it off, and also by the action of conduction of the materials of which the wall is composed.

The quantity of heat lost is measured by the number of B. T. U.’s lost through one square foot of the wall each hour. As the window-glass loses heat through it more quickly than the wall, it is necessary to calculate this separately. The process, then, for estimating the heat loss from a room is as follows:

1. Estimate the number of square feet of exposed wall surface in the room, including windows.

2. Subtract from the above the area of the windows to find the net wall area.

3. Multiply this net wall area by the number of B. T. U.’s which the wall loses per square foot of surface for each hour.

These factors are given in the following table:

Zero outside and 70 degrees inside—Number of B. T. U.’s TYPE OF WALL lost for each square foot of wall surface each hour Brick wall, furred and plastered: 8" thick 21.0 12" thick 17.5 Frame wall, sheathed, clapboarded, and plastered 21.7 (with building-paper use 20.3)

Hollow-tile wall and concrete and stone have factors about the same as for the furred brick wall.

4. Add to this the number of B. T. U.’s lost per hour through the windows. This is determined by multiplying the area of the windows by the heat loss in B. T. U.’s per hour for each square foot of window, which is 78.8 for single windows, and where storm-windows are added it is 31.5 B. T. U.’s.

5. This total sum is the number of B. T. U.’s lost through walls and windows for each hour.

6. To this must be added the heat lost by leakage through the window-cracks. This is secured by measuring the length of window-cracks on the side which has the greatest length of crack and multiplying this by 168, or the number of B. T. U.’s lost each hour for each linear foot of window-crack. For very tight windows reduce above to 84.

7. The total of all the above gives the number of B. T. U.’s lost each hour from the room when the outside temperature is zero and the inside is 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Knowing the quantity of heat lost per hour, a radiator must be installed which will supply this amount per hour. As the average steam-radiator supplies about 250 B. T. U.’s per hour from each square foot of its surface, the number of square feet required for a radiator to be installed in the room can be found by dividing 250 into the number of B. T. U.’s which were found to be lost from the room each hour.

A hot-water radiator gives off about 150 B. T. U.’s per hour for each square foot of surface, so that the radiator is generally about one-third larger than the steam-radiator.

Knowing the required number of feet of radiation for the radiator, the proper size can be selected from the manufacturer’s catalogue.

By lumping the total number of square feet of radiation for all the radiators throughout the house together and adding 35 per cent to this to make up for loss through pipes and under-rating of boilers, the size of the boiler can be selected from the catalogue to fit this need.

To estimate the size of a warm-air furnace, the total quantity of heat lost from all the rooms of the house should be calculated in the same way, and then 25 per cent added to allow for cold attics and exposure. This quantity should then be multiplied by 2.4 and divided by 8,000 to find the number of pounds of coal which will be required to be burned per hour. By dividing this amount by 5, the grate area of the required furnace can be found, and the correct size selected from the manufacturer’s catalogue.

X LIGHTING AND ELECTRIC WORK

_Modern Developments_

When we talk of lighting the modern home, there is generally but one idea that enters our minds—electric lighting. Even those dwellings remote from any power-house are installing small generators in preference to the oil or gas lighting systems.

Then, too, when we refer to good lighting we no longer think of glaring bulbs of light, exposing all the harsh glow of the white, hot filaments, causing one’s eyes to squint and strain to find things in the corners of the room; but we picture a room flooded with mellow illumination emitted from fixtures which shield the direct rays of light from our vision.

Another change that has come about in our conception of good illumination is the quantity and intensity of the light we expect from the incandescent bulb. It was only a few years ago that we marvelled at the yellow light given off by the 16-candle-power carbon-filament bulb. But to-day if a bulb gave off as feeble an attempt at lighting as did these old ones we would think it on its way to the graveyard of lightning-bugs. We cannot talk of 16-candle-power lamps when the glow of a modern Mazda light is around. We used to specify on the plans so many 16-candle-power lights for the dining-room or living-room fixtures, and it is hard to change our habits to refer to the modern 40 or 50 watt lamps which have taken their place in the home.

Thus within a period of not more than ten years our whole conception of illumination has been jolted out of a rut.

_Indirect Lighting_

Now we have reacted so far in the matter of protecting our eyes from a direct view of the source of light that some enthusiasts advocate a system of indirect illumination, concealing the lights so completely from the eyes that their location is difficult to know. This is carrying the problem too far beyond its rational limits. Such a system of indirect illumination reduces shadow to a minimum; consequently the forms and the beauty of objects in the room are flattened. Moreover, the eye unconsciously is confused at not being able to locate the source from which the illumination comes, and, being puzzled, the mind naturally resents it. For the small house, at least, the system of indirect illumination carried to this extreme is not at all suitable.

A type of fixture which develops a partial indirect illumination, and yet which allows a certain quantity of light to come through direct to the eyes, so that the source of light is easily discernible is the most satisfying and most suggestive of home comfort. Such a fixture is shown on page 122.

_Common-Sense Solution Needed_