Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Hearing" to "Helmond" / Volume 13, Slice 2

by Various

With closed stoves much less heat is wasted, and consequently less fuel is burned, than with open grates, but they often cause an unpleasant sensation of dryness in the air, and the products of combustion also escape to some extent, Closed stoves. rendering this method of heating not only unpleasant but sometimes even dangerous. The method in Great Britain is almost entirely confined to places of public assembly, but in America and on the continent of Europe it is much used for domestic heating. If the flue pipe be carried up a considerable distance inside the apartment to be warmed before being turned into the external air, practically the whole of the heat generated will be utilized. Charcoal, coke or anthracite coal are the fuels generally used in slow combustion heating stoves.

Gas fires, as a substitute for the open coal fire, have many points in their favour, for they are conducive to cleanliness, they need but little attention, and the heat is easily controlled. On the other hand, they may give off unhealthy Gas fires. fumes and produce unpleasant odours. They usually take the form of cast iron open stoves fitted with a number of Bunsen burners which heat perforated lumps of asbestos. The best form of stove is that with which perfect combustion is most nearly attained, and to which a pan of water is affixed to supply a desirable humidity to the air, the gas having the effect of drying the atmosphere. With another form of gas stove coke is used in place of the perforated asbestos; the fire is started with the gas, which, when the coke is well alight, may be dispensed with, and the fire kept up with coke in the usual way.

Electrical heating appliances have only recently passed the experimental stage; there is, however, undoubtedly a great future for electric heating, and the perfecting of the Electrical heating. stove, together with the cheapening of the electric current, may be expected to result in many of the other stoves and convectors being superseded. Hitherto the large bill for electric energy has debarred the general use of electrical heating, in spite of its numerous advantages.

Oils are powerful fuels, but the high price of refined petroleum, the oil generally preferred, precludes its widespread use for many purposes for which it is suitable. In small stoves for warming and for cooking, petroleum presents Oil stoves. some advantages over other fuels, in that there is no chimney to sweep, and if well managed no unpleasant fumes, and the stoves are easily portable. On the other hand, these stoves need a considerable amount of attention in filling, trimming and cleaning, and there is some risk of explosion and damage by accidental leaking and smoking. Crude or unrefined petroleum needs a special air-spray pressure burner for its use, and this suffers from the disadvantage of being noisy. Gas and oil radiators would be more properly termed “convectors,” since they warm mainly by converted currents. They are similar in appearance to a hot-water or steam radiator, and, indeed, some are designed to be filled with water and used as such. They should always be fitted with a pan of water to supply the necessary humidity to the warmed air, and a flue to carry off any disagreeable fumes.

Heating by warmed air, one of the oldest methods in use, has been much improved by attention to the construction of the apparatus, and if properly installed will give as good effects as it is possible to obtain. The system Warm air. is especially suitable for churches, assembly halls and large rooms. A stove of special design is placed in a chamber in the basement or cellar, and cold fresh air is passed through it, and led by means of flues to the various apartments for distribution by means of easily regulated inlet valves. To prevent the atmosphere from becoming unduly dry a pan of water is fitted to the stove; this serves to moisten the air before it passes into the distributing flues. If each distributing flue is connected by means of a mixing valve with a cold-air flue, the warmth of the incoming air can be regulated to a nicety (see [Ventilation]).

Fig. 3.

There are many different systems of heating by hot water circulating in pipes. The oldest and best known is the “two pipe” system, others being the “one pipe” or “simple circuit,” and the “drop” or “overhead.” The high Low pressure hot water. pressure system is of later invention, having been first put to practical use by A. M. Perkins in 1845. All these methods warm chiefly by means of convected heat, the amount of true radiation from the pipes being small. The manner in which the circulation of hot water takes place in the tubes is as follows. Fire heats the water in a boiler from the top of which a “flow” pipe communicates with the rooms to be warmed (fig. 3). As the water is heated it becomes lighter, rises to the top of the boiler, and passes along the flow pipe. It is followed by more and more hot water, and so travels along the flow pipe, which is rising all the time, to the farthest point of the circuit, by which time it has in all probability cooled considerably. From this point the “return” pipe drops, usually at the same rate as the flow pipe rises; and in due course the water reaches its starting point, the boiler, and is again heated and again circulated through the system. The connexion of the return pipe is made with the lower part of the boiler. Branches may be made from the main pipes by means of smaller pipes arranged in the same manner as the mains, the branch flow pipe being connected with the main flow pipe and returning into the main return. To obtain a larger heating surface than a pipe affords, radiators are connected with the pipes where desired, and the water passing through them warms the surrounding air.

The “one pipe” system (fig. 4) acts on precisely the same principle, but in place of two pipes being placed in adjacent positions one large main makes a complete circuit of the area to be warmed, starting from and returning to the boiler, and from this main flow and return branches are taken and connected with radiators and other heating appliances.

In the “drop” or “overhead” system (fig. 5) a rising main is taken directly from the boiler to the topmost floor of the building, and from this branches are dropped to the lower floors, and connected by means of smaller branches to radiators or coils. The vertical branches descend to the basement and generally merge in a single return pipe which is connected to the lower part of the boiler.