Equalization of Temperature^ S^c. 85 



tions. The air was admitted into the air chamber of the furnace 

 from the basement rooms and hall where it was placed, and this 

 air ascended into the parlors loaded with coal dust and other im- 

 purities. This evil was entirely corrected by obtaining all the 

 air for the supply of the air chamber from without the house. A 

 large eight inch pipe was led from the bottom of this chamber 

 through one of the walls of the house to the open air. This, 

 besides obviating the difficulty above stated, ventilated our rooms 

 with a constant supply of fresh air. The next objection was, 

 that persons sitting in our rooms complained of cold feet, while 

 in every other respect they felt comfortable. On examining the 

 temperature of the air in the room at different heights, I found a 

 variation of a degree for every foot. That is, at the height of 

 six feet from the floor the thermometer stood six degrees higher 

 than at the floor itself This, then, was a very serious objection, 

 and I set about immediately endeavoring to remove it. On re- 

 flection, it occurred to me, that as our rooms were very tightly 

 closed, having double sashes to our windows, the flues of the 

 chimneys closely stopped, and the doors (made to fit tightly) gen- 

 erally closed, that there was no way of escape for the air already 

 in the room, when the furnace was set in operation, so that it 

 could not readily receive the addition of heated air, and none for 

 the exit of the air after it had given out to the room its share of 

 caloric received from the furnace. This cold air settled to the 

 floor and there lay almost stagnant. Here, then, was the root of 

 the difficulty. To remove it I adopted the following expedient, 

 which proved entirely effectual. I led a pipe from the floor of 

 each room to the bottom of the air chamber, and cut off all other 

 supplies of air. The process of heating the air, then, was as fol- 

 lows. That already in the chamber was heated and ascended to 

 the rooms above ; to supply its place the cold air of the rooms 

 descended by the pipes which I had introduced and was in its 

 turn heated and ascended ; thus keeping up a constant circulation 

 of air in the rooms. I afterwards introduced a two inch pipe to 

 supply fresh air to the chamber from without the house. This 

 pipe had a valve, so that I could regulate the amount of air sup- 

 plied by it. The effects of this improvement were, that there 

 was a difference in temperature of only a degree and a half in six 

 feet instead of six degrees as formerly, and we were no longer 

 troubled with cold feet while sitting in these rooms. 



