HOUSE AND GARDEN 
October, 1913 
213 
The radiator covers may conform with the decor¬ 
ative scheme; here is one for a room in mahogany 
the heating' surface have been proper¬ 
ly planned, the water need not be 
heated above 122 0 F. Its heating ef¬ 
fect comes nearest that of a good tiled 
stove. Pipes of large diameter 
through which much water flows, 
give more heat with a smaller heating 
surface than narrow pipes — in which 
the smaller quantity of water easily 
cools off—do with a larger heating- 
surface. 
It is not practical to build the boiler 
for hot-water heating in the stove 
used for cooking, as may seem possi¬ 
ble at first sight, as the stove, even 
when not being used, requires more 
fuel than is necessary for the prepa¬ 
ration of the food; the kitchen itself 
easily becoming overheated. 
Though this system is efficient, it 
has several drawbacks. The radia¬ 
tors are ungainly, and very often ren¬ 
der the decoration of the room diffi¬ 
cult. Besides, dust collects upon 
them, and, as soon as the heater is in operation, burns, making the 
air unwholesome and ill-smelling. This last defect is corrected 
by the use of radiators with smooth surfaces. These are dearer 
than the cheap ribbed heaters which collect dust, but materially 
surpass them in heating power. 
To get rid of the unsightliness of the radiator, if means are 
limited, these smooth radiators may be painted with a heat-resist¬ 
ing paint in color harmonious to the decorations. The ordinary 
paint will not do; a special sort is necessary. The heaters thus 
equipped are rendered less obtrusive and their covering is not 
absolutely necessary. 
In general, however, it will be advisable to hide the radiators, 
which never look well and always are a disturbing feature in the 
room. This is most easily done by building them in beneath the 
window sills, where, for technical reasons, they are best placed. 
Not only does the temperature of the rooms become most chilled 
at the windows, but a piercing cold enters through the cracks of 
the frames, which can reach the room 
only after passing over the heatin: 
surface and thus becoming warmed. In stormy weather, or in 
rooms exposed to strong winds, such a location is a great advan¬ 
tage; yet this advantage is only fully attained if the window sill 
above the radiator is perforated so that the warm air can be 
conducted vertically, not horizontally, into the rooms. This again 
has the disadvantage that the particles of dust carried around by 
the circulating air settle in the window curtains, and soil the latter 
in a short time. If the warm air can rise through the latticed 
window base, the sill may be about four inches lower than is de¬ 
manded in other 
cases for radia¬ 
tors equally large. 
In order to pre¬ 
vent the heating 
surface from 
being too small, 
and the capacity 
Above all, a radiator cover must provide easy ac¬ 
cess for regulating and cleaning the pipes 
A built-in heater cover such as this really 
serves as an article of furniture 
The three panels of brass work beneath 
this cabinet open upon the radiator 
in many finely decorated rooms a curtain of 
strung beads serves to hide the heating pipes 
