Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 21, no. 524: March 30, 1878

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Real Estate Record AND BUILDERS' GUIDE. Vol. XXI. NEW YOKK, SATUEDAY, MAECH 30, 1878. No. 52- Published Weekly by TERMS. ONE VEAU. in advance. ..SIO.OO. Coinmunications should be addres.sed to C. \V. SWEET. Nos. 3-15 AXD 3-17 Bno.iu\T.\Y. THE HYGIENICS OF BUILU1NC4. IV. Heati.ng.—There are three methods or cliisses 01 appliance usuallj-- emploj-etl for the purpo.se of furnishing artificial heat for ■^vanning inodern buildings. It iiiusfc he ob.^erved that the diU'cr- eiices between tliciii lie in the apparatus eniplu\cd and not in the methods, for the .system of nioduni healing is praclic.-iliy one and the .same, whether steam, hot waLer, or hot air, be the conducting ugciit made use of, couibiistion of fuel lying at the bottom of all. In any of these cases the lliCMi-y involved is simple and intelligible. It coii.sibts in lii^aling a given surlace of iron to a liigli ilegree uf l..iii]ici-aliii-c and then causing to be impinged iipc.ii this surface a current of cold air led to it by means ot a duct or set of ducts. After being lieated upon this iron surface tlio attenuated air is conveyed tlirough another set of ducts to the various rooms where it is reipiired. This, in brief, i.-- a l.iii- slalenient of the modern theory nf heat¬ ing. Tl-.e iiucesiary part whicii it plays in the ventilatien of buiidings and tho vital con.sidoi-a- tioii that it usurps the function fif supplying at- iiiosphcrc for i-cspiratimi toallininatc.s of a bouse, together render the subject one of priniui-y im¬ portance und worthy of tliouglitful stiuh-. We will consider tlie various methods of heat¬ ing in detail— Stk.am AiM'AH.-vTUs.—This consists of a tire-pot and tubular boiler wherein steam is being con¬ stantly gonerated and supplied to stacks or coils of pipe called radiators, suitably arranged to re¬ ceive it. T'lipse radiatoi-s may be placed cither in tho room intended to bo heated, where by means of direct radiation the atmosphere is loii- slantlj- heated and re-licated; or, the railiator may be placed in a box in the cellar at the foot, of a line of conducting pipe carried up to any giveii aiiartment or number of accessible rooms. The cold air ducts or boxes, as thej" are termed, carry the cold air from the street directlj^ to this coil of steam pipe. -Vfter being heated the air passes up the conducting pii»es,and distributes itself through various openings or registers. The advantages of steam heating are now fully recognized. It has this decided superiority over the hot air furnace, that -svhereas the latter is cir¬ cumscribed in its action to such points as may be conveniently connected with a central hot-air chamber, the steam jiipes of the other apparatus may be carried to au almost uulimited distance from the boiler and fire-pot, and at remote points made to do efficient service. Besides when man¬ aged and superintended by a capable engineer the steam heating apparatus is found to be more reliable and more easily controlled than any other. For heating large public buildings, ware¬ houses, depots, hotels, and all structures of the arger size, it is to-day literally -without a rival. There arc tv»-.( dilliculties, however, which stand in flu- way of using tho steam a[)pai-atusin private dwellings. The statement of tliu manufactnrci-.s to the contnii-j-, notwithstaiidiiig, it is indispcn- .sable that it .should be managed eitlior by an en¬ gineer, or by a person having .some of the tiiialifi- catioiis of an engineer. In the abspiici' of such management, and in the hands of incompetent licrsons, this appliance is the source of ii great deal of annovancc, apprehc-ii.sion and .<;ometiiiics serious accident. Boilers have been known to ex¬ plode, nnd tho steam in the pipe coils, through lack of continuous .supply, has been known tocoii- dimseinto water and then to congeal iuto ice, through the action of cold draughts of air on the coil, thii.s preparing the w-ay for the biii-.stiiig of the pipe as soon as the apparatus is started again in full motion. The eu.st of these appliances also operates against their general use for private dwellings and conseinienth" we are apt to iiud them only in the nian.sionsof the wealthy. When used in dwelling houses the method of direct rad¬ iation—tliat is tho introduction of the radiating pipes into the room that is to be warnu'd- acts unlavorably iu three wavi^. It churns over and over again the same air which is constantly being polluted with the products of respiration; besides it extracts all moisture from tho air and produces a ilry ami .snllocating atinosiiiiere; aiidfinailj- the clanking of tlie radiators is e.-pecially annoying to nervous and sen.siti\ e perMias, and during the niglit liccoines the revei-.-e of .soporilic. Even when these coils of pipe are placed in the cellar, there is tliesameserioiisob.jeetion of a dry atmos¬ phere. .-Vt times the coii.s become heated to so high a temperature .ts tofat.iHy parch and vitiate even the fresh air brought in from tho street. To render .steam heating popular and .serviceable in domestic use some method must be devised of imparting moisture to the air that has been heat¬ ed over the steam coil.-^. HOT-vvATEK AWAU.vrLS.—The j.rincipie.s of this appliance are .so closely allied to those of steam that iu describing one we may .sity we de scribe the other In the hot-water apparatus the boiler answers the purpose of a large caldron or teakettle in which the water is allowed to reach the boiling point, but isrestrainetl from expansion into vapor. What little .steam is generated by this process is quickly condensed again. Tho hot water is introduced under iiressure into coils placed at 1 he foot of conducting pipe.s, and cold air is led against the coils aud introduced into the dwelling in precisely the same manner as de¬ scribed in the previous section. The serious ob¬ jection to tiiis form of lieatiii.g is the dillicult}' of maintaining the temperature of the water at or near the boiling point after the pipes which con¬ tain it hav9 beeu exposed for a length of time to outside atmosphere at a low temperature. Having one stage less to pass through than steam, the re¬ duction of the temperature of this water to the freezing point is a comparative ly eiusy matter, and in practice the water in these pipes is found to be quickly aud readily chilled aud at proper temperature reduced to ice. We are not aware that this mode of heating is either popular or satisfactorj-. The gj-eatest and the only merit ever claimed for it is that it presents a moderately heated surface to tbe in¬ coming cold air, and in consequence only gently vvitiioiit e.vtraeting frr>m it L-Ithei any "f it.s other life sustaining jirop in n variai.le climate like this, s'libjc'i l(.*mper> II iiKiisture or .'i-tie..:. lUi( tu cyeies oft-.Ktreiiieiy cold teniperaiure. it is tpiite tK-ee.ssai y < > h;ue a radianng .>urf.-ice for he.-itin;; luirposo v.iiic:i is capable of lieing rcaiiily tn!- justed lo ..•iiinaiie variatioii«. H(n---\ii: Fi:f.NACi«.—The fi.xtui-e Ui.it i.-< mosi accejMai..!e and inure uiiivt-r.s.-dly used is the hot- air furn.-ic'. Devices of thi.s kind arc literally legion ill miuiber. Abno.st e-.ery plunibei-, r^tovi- niaker aiiil wliitesniitli who ever ro--'.' lo aii>- tlignitj-ill the in-ofe.-.>io;i sr-.-in to have exerci.-e.i their ingemiitv in devising .«iOiiio hot-air appa¬ ratus for heating, iu contradistinction to the sleani apparatus the hot-air method is adiiiii-.*ibl\- suited for tho heating uf domestic bniitiings. though it is ijiiite inadttiiuit'- or fails entiiely to answer the pur.use in large hniidiiig.s, or tur ih*- heatiiiguf .-pat escf e.-ctraoniinary ciil-iciil .:in;t u sioiLS. All liot-air furnnee^ are eonstructed upui: verj- much the samr> inoilel. Nearlj- all pat terns .ti-e iii-eseiUed in vi hat is called the jiort- ablc shape, which means that the furnace is niereh- enclosed in a covering of galvanized iron iii.stead of brick work. The objection to this st>-le of furnace is that ii is apt to draw itsairfor transmii.sion to.the dwelling from the cellur—a C(.iiiditioii which should ne\er be toler.atid or saiictionev.1. „^Vhen llie.se jiortalilc or iron-ca.sed furnaces arc used tiicy should be supplied with cold .-lir !>\' an air dtn-t or l,ox from outside, and the atiiio.-iihere and gast-> of tie* ci-liar should be studiously ercchided frinu th'-ni. Tho regular hou.se furnace is usiwilv encio-ed v.-illiin walls of brickwork. Tiiis is done fur ih<' !mi[io.-e of con fiuiug till! heat •.vi'Jiiu Li'- e.jre of t!ie furnace structure and fur more coiaiiletely e.xcliiding the deleterioi-s ga.se.s oj" ihe cellar ami for protection agahist the ignition of adjaceui wood work. Tlie furnace proper, to wit., the iron structure itself, is enclosed within a brick dome called the hot-air chamber. This dome, or chamber, is al.so eiu-losed at adi.staiice of si.>c or eight niches, w-ithin foiir outside walls carried to within a foot of the ceiling. The si;.!i(re between the brick dome and the outside walls of the furnace might be called the cold air cliainber or continuation of the cold airduns, as into this the cald air box delivers its supplj- of fresh air from outdoors;. The enld aii- than drops bj- its gravitj- to the lowest point in this air space, and is sucked into the h.ot air chamber through openings left at the foot of the dome enclosure lor this purpose. The hot air piyes intendefi to carry the heated atmosiihero into the dwelling penetrate directly through the outside walls, aud tho cold air space into the domo or interior enclosure. As fast as the air is sucked iuto the hot air chamber it becomes heated to a high temperature and volatilized, ris¬ ing bj- its own buoyancj- through these hot air ducts into the several chambers where it is re¬ quired. In most of these furnaces a pan supplied w-ith water is placed in the hot-air chamber, and a steadj- evaporation of its contents is effected, causing a mechanical mixture of moisture with the heated air to supplj- the place of that w hich may have been abstracted from tlie natural atmosphere in the operation of heating. In brief outline this is a fall delineation of