Domestic heating in America : a study of heating, cooking and hot water supply in small houses in U.S.A. and Canada. Report of a joint party from the Ministry of fuel and power and the Department of scientific and industrial research.

  • Great Britain. Joint Party to Investigate Domestic Heating in America.
Date:
1946
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Domestic heating in America : a study of heating, cooking and hot water supply in small houses in U.S.A. and Canada. Report of a joint party from the Ministry of fuel and power and the Department of scientific and industrial research. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    very different from the quantity used in Britain but instead of heating a small part of the house for part of the day only to a temperature of about 65°F. the houses will almost all have been heated to over 70°F. throughout the entire house for 24 hours of the day. ‘There must obviously be a considerable difference in the efficiency of the methods adopted in the two countries. It has been estimated by R. K. ‘Thulman, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Federal Housing Administration, that the average working efficiency of American house heating appliances is probably about 45 per cent. 1.13. This result is obtained by the use of more economical systems of heating than we have been used to, though economy of fuel seems to play a comparatively small part in more recent development work. Conditions of extreme cold have forced the Americans to obtain an adequate quantity of heat, and having reached. a stage when this can be provided reasonably economically they are now devoting most of their energies to improving the convenience and comfort of heating systems. ‘The demand for labour- saving methods leads to the elimination of solid fuel appliances from living rooms to avoid the dirt caused by them, and then, with increased income or standard of living, to the use of automatic firing of furnaces either by automatic stokers or by changing to gas or oil fuel. The same demand for cleanliness also leads to the use of forced warm air distribution which can include dust filters; comfort and convenience is also improved by the use of thermostatic control. While all these improvements are not at present common in houses for the lowest income group there is a definite trend in this direction and we feel that it is important to recognise this as being the kind of demand which has to be met once an adequate amount of heat has been provided at a reasonable price. Another labour-saving detail is that in many areas electricity meters are placed outside the houses to facilitate reading by the Supply Company representatives. Reference may also be made here to the system, described in Chapter 2, in which individual house meters for gas and electricity are eliminated and an unlimited supply of these fuels for cooking and water heating is provided at a standard charge which is included in the rent. 1.14. ‘The same attitude towards comfort is noticeable in relation to the provision of heat insulation in walls and roof and by double windows. Although it is realised that by using heat insulation annual fuel costs are reduced, people also appreciate very fully the fact that they are making their homes much more comfortable and it is often the comfort rather than the fuel saving which they stress most. 1.15. Humidity is another condition which is different. Whereas in Britain some heat throughout the house is required in order to keep the structure and contents in good condition and free from dampness, in some districts of America humidity is sufficiently low to cause attempts to be made to increase it by artificial means. ‘This then leads to problems of condensation of moisture on the inside of windows and outer walls owing to the extreme cold outside. Fortunately this latter trouble is not likely to be serious in this country if we provide full house heating or even some “background ”’ heat, i.e. a small amount of heating throughout the house, together with reasonable insulation of the structure and take steps to reduce the penetration of moisture into the structure when composite wall panels are used.