38 
HO USE & GARDEN 
HEATING THE 
COUNTRY HOUSE 
Notes on the Four Systems That 
Will Aid the Prospective Builder 
A. S. ATKINSON 
HE minds of many city folk even 
. today picture the country house in 
winter as a place largely constituted of 
icicles. Icicles pendant from the eaves, 
from the bathroom faucets, from the chin 
and whiskers of the lord and master when 
he retires at nine P. M. and when he arises 
in the cold grey dawn. This is the mental 
picture, I say, and it is no more accurate 
than are many other quirks of the imagina¬ 
tion. For, as a matter of fact, there is no 
reason why the country house should not be 
made as comfortable and livable in the cold¬ 
est weather as its city cousin. If it is not 
warm the fault lies either in the installation 
of the heating system, or the construction 
of the house itself. Most modern frame 
houses are built today to withstand the 
strongest winds, very few of which can 
find their way through. With properly con¬ 
structed walls, window frames and double 
sash, the house should be practically wind- 
proof and draftproof. If this is the case, 
everything depends upon the system. 
An Adequate System Essential 
To judge by the coal bills, there are great 
differences in heating plants as well as in 
houses. One house may require fifteen or 
twenty tons of coal in a winter to keep it 
warm, while another of the same size and 
construction will need only nine or ten. 
The variation may be due to the size of the 
heater or the arrangement of the registers, 
radiators or piping system. The finest 
house in the world is after all a mere shell, 
not a home, if it is cold and uncomfortable 
through the long winter months. 
By concealing the radiator in a box with grilled panels, 
spreading a sheet of asbestos over it to prevent excess of 
heat and setting the flower boxes on top. an otherwise 
objectionable feature becomes useful and decorative 
Whether a hot air, steam, or hot water 
system is used, one prime essential should 
be noted: the coldest parts of the house 
are on the north and west sides, and the 
furnace should be located so that the short¬ 
est and most direct pipes run to these parts. 
Scores of houses are equipped with heating 
systems which entirely ignore this principle. 
A properly heated house is one whose 
temperature can be regulated to suit any 
weather condition. To do this it must be 
possible to heat all parts in the coldest 
weather to a temperature of 65° to 70°. It 
is easy to shut off too great a heat, but 
difficult to get up the extra temperature if 
the furnace is not large enough. The most 
common mistake is to install a heating plant 
too small for the house, thus wasting coal 
by forced drafts. It is cheaper to install 
a plant a trifle too large than one too small. 
We all know more or less 
about hot air, steam, and 
hot water heating, but the 
Cross-section of the 
above, showing zinc lin¬ 
ing, water chamber, soil 
drainage and asbestos 
sheet 
al- 
for 
system, 
market 
years, was 
two years 
vapor vacuum 
though on the 
seven or eight 
hardly known 
ago. Today it is much used. 
Vapor Vacuum Heating 
There are several vapor 
vacuum systems on the 
market, and though most of 
them are good, care should 
be taken to select one with 
an established reputation. 
There are several advant¬ 
ages in this vapor heating. 
It is absolutely noiseless; 
each room can be heated to 
any desired temperature in¬ 
dependently of the others; 
the radiators are small and 
the valves are at the top; 
and the valves are gradu¬ 
ated so as to heat the radia- 
Enelose the dining-room radi¬ 
ator in a box with rattan pan¬ 
els and build shelves above; a 
serviceable warming closet 
has been made 
tor in whole or 
in part. There 
are no air valves 
on the radiators 
to sputter or 
hiss, the air is 
disposed of 
through the re¬ 
turn pipe that 
carries off the 
condensa¬ 
tion from the 
vapor, and its 
escape occurs al¬ 
together in the 
cellar, where it 
is prevented 
from returning 
to the system by 
means of a con¬ 
troller. Radia- 
t o r s can be 
closed off instantly and the heat stopped, or 
turned on in a moment with an equally 
quick response. If a mild day calls for only 
a little heat, the valve can be turned on a 
couple of notches; if it gets cooler later in 
the day, you can turn on another notch or 
so until the required heat is obtained. 
After a fire has been started in the boiler 
of the vapor system, the vapor commences 
to rise from the water, and quickly makes 
its way to the radiators. As the vapor en¬ 
ters the piping which has until now been 
filled with air, the air is rapidly forced ahead 
until it is dislodged from the radiator into 
the return air pipes to the controller in the 
cellar, where it is ejected from the system. 
Since the controller performs the function 
of air valve for the whole system, the vapor 
naturally follows the same course to the 
controller, but is prevented from escaping 
by the instant action of the heat on the 
expansion valve, thus closing the system. 
The system is now filled with vapor which 
enters on its duties as a heating agent. As 
heat is transmitted to the room the vapor 
condenses, creating the vacuum and exert¬ 
ing a constant suction on the boiler, thus 
pulling the heat up into the radiators. All 
this is frequently accomplished without 
creating noticeable pressure at the boiler, 
