September, 1919 
THE VENTILATION OF THE HOUSE 
33 
Complicated and Disused Systems of the Past Have Been Supplanted by 
Windows and Doors and a Good Heating Plant 
FRANK CHOUTEAU BROWN 
A S a rule, little difficulty is ordinarily en- 
. countered in the ventilation of the mod¬ 
em house. In these days of the wide preva¬ 
lence of sleeping and sun porches, the universal 
employment of generous fireplaces, and the gen¬ 
eral tendency towards a more informal and 
outdoor method of life, there exists little op¬ 
portunity for the enclosed, dark, gloomy, and 
depressing spaces that are occasionally still 
found existing in our old houses—particularly 
those of the mid-Victorian period. 
Thirty or forty years ago, the problem of 
ventilating the dwelling was a matter of far 
more concern to the occupant than is the case 
today; indeed, it is only occasionally—when 
the architect perhaps encounters some client 
who has had recent experience in living in 
one of these gloomy and ill-arranged dwell¬ 
ings—that the matter of ventilation is con¬ 
sciously considered at all. With the generally 
better methods of planning now almost uni¬ 
versally in vogue, the architect seldom bothers 
his client in regard to ventilation systems, as 
such, and only occasionally, on some such oc¬ 
casion as when a change proposed by the owner 
is such as will seriously interfere with those 
natural air currents upon which the architect 
depends for keeping the air in circulation 
within the house, is this subject taken up 
in their conferences at all. 
The Old System 
Forty or fifty years ago, however, stand¬ 
ards of architectural practice were such 
that enclosed, dark closets, often with 
plumbing—especially the generally preva¬ 
lent “set bowl”!—as a part of their equip¬ 
ment, were frequently employed. This 
was also the period of dark and “spooky” 
passageways; of the unexpected step oc¬ 
casioned by sudden changes of floor level; 
and the dangerous and winding, dark and 
internal staircase; of “enclosed plumbing,” 
and all the rest of the inherited ills from 
which we are now striving to escape by 
the adoption of a radically different sys¬ 
tem of outdoor life. 
Possibly the tendency to bury the house 
plumbing system somewhere in the dwell¬ 
ing’s innermost recesses,—muffling tub, 
lavatory, and seat in cabinet work and 
panelling, designed to alter and disguise 
their natural outlines as far as possible, 
was a natural result of the same methods 
of thought that developed the folding bed, 
and caused any casual reference to those 
essential elements of the art of locomotion 
to bring a blush of shame to the romanti¬ 
cally pallid cheek of the fair debutante! 
Nowadays both long, voluminous skirts 
and crinoline have gone out of fashion; the 
girl of today to be fashionable does not 
cultivate either a delicate pallor nor the 
“Grecian bend”! Tennis, golf, boating, 
riding, motoring, and other healthy, nat¬ 
ural uses of nature’s heritage have brought 
about more normal directness in thought 
and manner of living; created a greater 
demand for air and sunlight, indoors as 
well as out; and, as a result, the modern 
house is planned almost unconsciously to 
meet this modern need with benefit to every 
one concerned—including the glass manufac¬ 
turer and the coal merchant! 
Complicated Ventilation 
In those “olden times” to which we have 
above made reference, it was often customary 
to introduce into even the moderate sized dwell¬ 
ing comparatively complicated systems of arti¬ 
ficial ventilation—which, once finally installed 
and paid for, were generally neglected and 
forgotten by everyone concerned. The owner 
(having paid a sizable additional bill for metal 
work and piping, and knowing nothing of any 
theory of ventilation) seldom concerned him¬ 
self further in the matter. The bill was gen¬ 
erally of sufficient size to convince him that 
his house was amply ventilated to meet all 
needs, and probably he received psychologi¬ 
cally a sufficient amount of benefit to pay him 
for the expense he had incurred,—although it 
is very doubtful if, after the first few months 
at most, he obtained any physical benefit from 
the payment he had made. For ventilation 
systems, less than almost anything else about 
the house, ever run themselves! They require 
to be understood and taken care of. and ad- 
vSWoke Pipe. 
Ifw. 
Ven.tr 
Opeairx^ 
vltnoke 
. Flue, 
Chimney- 
Top 
•'Vent 
Opening 
Heated 
A It .Space available 
' r Ventilation, 
purjnscj' while 
-Flue if warm. 
JkcOND 
Floorj- 
A constantly hot flue inside a larger ventilator flue, 
as from a kitchen-range, would be effective for the 
ventilation of adjacent rooms 
justed to meet the constantly changing con¬ 
ditions of temperature and use. Air can be 
forced to move only by means of artificial 
energy; or by occasional differences in tem¬ 
perature, provided and maintained at care¬ 
fully planned and vital points in the ventilat¬ 
ing system. 
Often, in altering an old house will be 
found an elaborate system of piping running 
through partitions and floors, converging to 
some shaft or enclosed space in the roof, in 
which an ancient and lonely gas jet has been 
provided to heat and move the air over the 
entire house! Sometimes the thick accumula¬ 
tion of soot found in this space indicates that 
it had at one time been religiously employed 
by the occupant as an aid to health, long life, 
and happiness. Far more often, however, the 
gas tip and the metal work are alike unsoiled 
and undimmed by use of any kind whatsoever! 
Kitchen Odors 
In one instance within recent memory, a 
long and protracted investigation, caused by a 
persistent and pervading odor of the coming 
meal, which clung about the sacred purlieus of 
the family library—finally disclosed an old 
ventilation pipe that ran from a large 
pierced plaster ornament in the center of 
the ceiling (from which hung an elaborate 
chandelier) out through the floor and 
opened into the flue from the kitchen 
range. In this case the system worked 
constantly and efficiently,—the only de¬ 
fect being that it drew backward -—instead 
of in the way it was originally intended, 
when first installed! 
Nowadays, every endeavor is made to 
provide the fumes from the kitchen stove 
—gas or electric—with a natural line of 
vent that would be carefully kept intact 
and uninterrupted for its entire height. 
\\ here it is possible to pass a constantly 
“live” or hot flue inside a larger ventilator 
flue so that the heated air passing up the 
inner stack would sufficiently warm the 
surrounding area to heat and set in motion 
the air it contains, a possible and practical 
working ventilation stack would be pro¬ 
vided, which would be effective—under 
certain limitations—for the ventilation of 
adjacent rooms. 
But the vent air would only be set in 
active motion when the inner flue was 
sufficiently warmed to heat the space sur¬ 
rounding it. In other words, in summer 
time or between meals—when the live flue 
would not be in use—the ventilation sys¬ 
tem would not be working in the way it 
was intended,—and, as a matter of fact, 
it would probably be actually reversing 
its normal purpose, and drawing outside 
air down and into the house, instead of 
moving inside air out. At any rate, the 
result is the same, you might think! Only, 
unfortunately, it is not,—for such a re¬ 
versal of the process draws back along 
with the air much dirt and dust, with 
many germs that have found a home and 
prospered in the dark recesses and intri- 
(Continued on page 64) 
