23 Capital Journal Building Section, Friday, March 10, 1950
WHY RADIANT MEAT DS USED
Some Factors
In Choosing
Type of Heat
Methods of heating homes are
being worked out that soon may
make the basement furnace
look as antique as a pot-bellied
stove.
Some of these, methods are
proving practicable in certain
areas. Others are still in the ex
perimental stage. The result is
that the prudent home builder
will consult his local heating
contractor for the best tried-
and-true plant and let his neigh
bor's house serve as a guinea
pig for science.
However, the things being
done are interesting to review.
Heated wallpaper, operating
on the electric blanket principle,
has been found practicable in
England. It forms a ceiling of
radiant heat that sends rays
down in the manner of the sun.
A similar system has been de
vised in this country without
any heating coils, but employing
sheets of carbon-impregnated
rubber as a continuous electric
conductor. These sheets are nail
ed directly to ceiling joists and
covered with paint or wallpaper,
or a thin coat of plaster.
Radiant glass heating panels
under windows and elsewhere in
walls in place of conventional
radiators also operate electric
ally. The glass covers an alumi
num heat reflector plate.
While electricity is considered
an ideal energy for house heat
ing, it can be used expediently
only in low rate areas.
A new means of employing
electricity is the heat pump. This,
contrivance reverses the process
of refrigeration, extracting heatj
from the earth, below the frostj
line, and using it to heat an en-1
tire house. In summer the pump
can be reversed to cool the
house.
Noteworthy experiments have
been made with solar heat by
researchers at the University of
Colorado, Purdue university and
the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. But so far all at
tempts to utilize the sun's ener
gy have been to supplement
standard heating systems, rath
er than to replace them.
That rapid changes in heating
systems will come in the future
seems more than likely because
of the changing fuel picture.
Coal, long the leader because of
its low price, has changed in
cost through higher wages for
miners and higher freight rates.
Oil reaped no advantage from
coal's troubles, for after the
wartime shortage the uncertain
ty of future oil supplies has cast
a shadow over this fuel.
Gas, in natural gas regions,
has approached the ideal in
fuels, but in spite of pipelines
the increased demand for it m
sudden cold spells has caused
some anxiety. Manufactured gas,
despite its higher cost, enjoys an
advantage of negligible service
costs over other heating plants.
Recently steps have been tak
en to burn coal in the mines to
create gas. The Bureau of Mines
has experimented along this
line in Alabama. The Pittsburgh
Consolidation Coal Co., and the
Standard Oil Co., started a j
chemical project to convert coal;
at the mine into both gas and
oil.
For standard fuels, however, j
heating plants are available in j
a wide range of types For small j
"economy" houses, gas or oil '
fired floor furnaces without I
ducts are both inexpensive and;
popular. For regular installa
tions, radiant hot water heating
has captured the limelight.
Baseboard heating is one of
the latest forms of radiation.
These units replace radiators
and baseboards in a room,. One
type presents a solid cast iron
I.
RADIANT HEATING pipes are laid on gravel under concrete.
face that works entirely on the
radiant principle. Another com
bines radiation and convection
heat through air circulation
with slots at the bottom and top
edges.
The most common forms of
all radiant heating employ cir
culating hot water. Warm air is
now being used in some instan
ces. Air ducts around the peri
meter of a concrete slab, are
equipped with registers for quick
heating. Then the registers are
shut off and heat through the
slab is relied upon.
In the northwest, electric ca
ble has been found feasible for
heating floors, walls or ceilings.
Convertible furnaces are now
being made, readily adaptable
for coal, oil or gas.
Plan Now for
Your Future Needs
Persons building new houses
frequently can save money by
installing electricity systems
which are larger than necessary,
says American Builder magazine.
The magazine points out that
the number of electrical devices
used in homes is expected to in
crease in future years Even now,
lighting represents only a frac
tion of the electricity which is
ordinarily consumed in a mod
ern dwelling.
"It is a comparatively simple
matter to install outlets when a
house is under construction, but
it is often difficult to add outlets
after the home has been com
pleted," American Builder explains.
6and Paper.
Nailed at Enw
(5LIGHTLY
Rounded
Time-Saving Tip
For Sand Paper Job
Searching for a new piece of
sand paper and fasteneing it to
a block can be a time-wasting
nuisance. Select a block of the
desired shape and size, round the
edges and then place about a
dozens strips of sand paper over
the face of the block, nailing the
ends to the ends of the block
When one strip wears out it can
be quickly torn off, bringing a
fresh stripe into position.
To give pastry a lovely gold
en-brown color brush the top
with cream before baking; this
is particularly attractive for a
lattice-work pastry topping of
a berry pie.
Uniform Temperature
Is Goal of Engineers
Tinv rtiprps of semi-sweet
chocolate may be added to mer-
lngue-type cookies made with
egg white, sugar, salt and va
nilla.
Some green vegetables are
higher in nutrients than oth
ers, but the green color of the
vegetables usually denotes a
plentiful supply of vitamin A.
Tile Wins New Favor
In the Modern Home
"It's pretty but what does it do?"
This is the question being asked more and more by budget-wise
home-buyers and a good question, too.
When it comes to clay tile, this question brings out one of
the long term savings in home building that can't be mea
sured in original outlay. Tile offers a long lasting finish. It
is a material that has been in use for some 7.000 years.
Until a few years ago, tile in American homes was used
primarily in bathrooms and kitchens. In the modern homes
it can be found in many rooms even dining room floors
and floors of patios and porches. .
Clay tile is now made in an almost infinite variety of de
signs and colors. Mother goose and animal cracker patterns
are available for children's rooms and table tops. Wallpaper
designs can be used in bathrooms. Decorated panels forming
mosaic pictures can be set in kitchen walls Old Dutch de
signs are reproduced for fireplace borders.
You can now have tile handpainted and custom made
for your fireplace facings, mural panels or other uses. War
ner Prins, New York artist, points out that such tiles are
originals and fit in with other objects of modern art in the
home. They are painted so that the metal oxides flow in
true ceramic fashion and penetrate the pores of the clay
body. Then a natural glaze unifies the work.
The artist has carried made-to-order designs into terra
cotta plaques for patios and hall murals with paintings
under weatherproof glozes. These plaques are made in
large sizes up to 40-inch squares.
Floor tiles of the faience type are being made commerci
ally in large oversize squares with a highly glazed irrades
cent finish in deep colors.
The lack of any need for maintainance is one of the vir
- -rues of tile. - -
Radiant heating has become one of the most popular as well
ns one of the most popularly misunderstood heating systems for
modern homes.
It has made the basementless house, built on a concrete slab,
practicable for northern climates. Its glamor has captured imag
ination and at the same time has stirred up a lot of needeless
worries.
Some people think radiant heating is a mysterious newly
discovered force like atomic energy, while others fear it is a
builder's contrivance to give the unwary home buyer the hot foot.
Actually, radiant heating is merely a logical application of a
heating system as old as the sun's. The basic idea is to send heat
waves to your body and all other objects in a room without
depending on warming and circulating the air.
One of its advantages is an almost uniform temperature from
floor to ceiling, instead of a difference of 10 to 14 degrees with
a layer of warm air for breather and cooler air along the floor.
It permits children to play on the floor, safe from drafts. The
heat, being mild, does not dry out the air and the absence of
air currents prevents the concentration of dust on curtains or
walls and ceilings above heat outlets.
Worry about a hot floor from properly installed radiant hot
water coils is entirely groundless. To maintain room tempera
tures at 68 degrees, the surface of a floor will be 85 degrees,
which is only about the same temperature as the surface of
the human body.
The most common form of radiant heating installation is a coil
of hot water pipes in the floor. But there are ceiling installations
of pipe coils or electric pads, and wall units in the form of elec
trically heated glass panels.
Because- of the economy of basementless, concrete slab con
struction, the greatest number of installations have been' in floors
with the coil embedded in the concrete. This system can be used
under wood floors of either double or single construction, with
more piping and slightly higher water temperatures to overcome
the insulating quality of wood.
Ceiling radiation and wall installations result in virtually the
same uniformity of heat for the average room as that obtained
from floor systems. For example, a concrete floor installation
under light covering, such as asphalt tile, and carrying a water
temperature between 120 and 140 degrees, will produce a general
room temperature of 68. The surface of the floor will be 85; the
air temperature along the floor will be 70; six inches above the
floor will register 69; at head and shoulder level it will be 68,
and under the ceiling it will be only 68.5 degrees.
Engineers who have made these tests found that an installation
under the plaster of a ceiling will produce a ceiling surface
temperature of 110, but the air temperature under that ceiling
'"ill be only 69: at head and shoulder level it will be 68 and at
t 3 floor it will be 68.
A thermal wall panel with an unpolished irregular surface
will give off rays at all angles, and they will be reflected from
other surfaces in the room. The result has been found to be 69
at the ceiling, 67 at the floor and 68 at head and shoulder level.
In addition a temperature of about 72 rises up the wall from the
panel because of convection circulation of air stirred up by the
heated panel. It has been found that about 40 per cent to 50
per cent of the total heat given off by wall panels is in the form
of convection. However, this rising warm air cancels heat loss
through a ceiling.
Ceiling systems cost a little more in hot water installation.
because more pipe is required. Ceiling water temperatures are
usually kept to 130 or less to minimize dehydration of plaster.
Ceiling rays are more like sunlight, but a disadvantage is that
anyone sitting at a table or desk has his legs and feet shaded from
the rays, while his head and shoulders receive the direct shower.
Floor coils under wood also call for higher water temperatures
virtually the same as for hot water supply, 180 degrees. Heavy
carpeting and felt pads on concrete also require wanner water
more than 140 degrees.
One of the disadvantages of radiant hot water heat in general
is the time lag involved in warming up a house. This may be
noticed especially in changeable seasons, spring and fall. Users
of radiant heat say they anticipate general temperature changes
by listening to radio forecasts and adjusting their thermostats
ahead of time. But every hot water radiator system also involves
a certain time lag over direct warm air circulation.
Another worry of prospective home buyers is whether the pipes
will clog or leak and require a complicated breaking up of the
concrete foundation of a house in order to make repairs. The
use of this system is less than 15 years old, and so experience is
incomplete. Pipe manufacturers, however, recommend only the
use of tubing that is known to be resistant to corrosion. Also the
fact that the water never boils should augur against lime deposits,
and since it is seldom replaced it should involve a minimum of
oxidation.
The safest guarantee, as with the installation of any heating
system, is to have the work done by the best heating contractor
you can get. Proper insulation around the edges of concrete slabs
is highly important. Heat loss under a floor is so negligible that
additional insulation under the concrete has been found to make
very little difference. But the edges are the vital points. Insula
tion between the slab and the outside foundation footings should
extend down from 18 to 24 inches.
Any kind of floor covering can be used, but should be planned
for along with the installation of floor coils. Variations in the
insulating values of floor coverings should be taken into con
sideration. For concrete slabs, asphalt tile has been the most
widely used because of its durability, variety of colors and ease
of cleaning. However, carpet can be laid directly on the concrete.
The same boiler can be used for hot water supply and radiant
heating through the use of mixing valves to give lower tempera
tures for the heating coils. Different temperature can be ob
tained for various rooms by .the use of balance valves. . . '