Heating and Ventilating the House 
A STATEMENT OF THE PRINCIPLES GOVERNING THOSE TWO ESSENTIAL FACTORS—WHAT TO EXPECT 
IN THE VARIOUS HEATING SYSTEMS 
Charles j. 
F EW people would care to take daily into their systems a small 
dose of poison, however small the dose, but think of the 
vast army daily breathing air from rooms which, while not stifling, 
and while it does not come under the head of virulent poison, 
still is silently doing its work, causing disease and debility that 
could easily be avoided! Think that while you are reading this 
article you are probably breathing air unfit for humans. The 
probability that you are breathing impure air is great, for it is 
not an exaggeration to say that nine-tenths of all the people live 
in poorly ventilated houses. As any physician will testify: one 
of the chief reasons why so many human beings succumb to 
disease, and especially diseases which involve the lungs, is be¬ 
cause they live in houses in which the air supply is imperfect. 
Should we not take cognizance of a statement of this sort and 
investigate a trifle? 
Our bodies may be likened to a power plant. We are radiating 
at nearly all times a certain amount of heat. As in a boiler, heat 
is generated by the oxidation of coal, so must our body heat be 
generated by the oxidation of food. As in a steam engine, work 
is supplied by the oxidation of some sort of fuel under the boiler, 
so is the energy we develop, in the form of walking and other 
blow, M. E. 
bodily exercise, supplied by our food. Now we all know that to 
burn fuel requires air, or, more properly, the oxygen in the air. 
Did you ever stop to notice how the fires are checked in your 
airtight heater when you shut off the air? Would it not be reason¬ 
able to expect our own fires to be checked in the same way and 
thereby stop the generation of energy with an insufficiency of air? 
If from the above analogy the point is gained that a liberal 
supply of air is necessary, the quality of air will not be lacking: 
but when we consider our bodily comfort, we find it necessary, 
during the colder weather, to heat this incoming air and still not 
make the cost of fuel unduly high. For this reason it is impossible 
to separate the system of heating from the system of ventilation. 
Better an excessive fuel cost than to be condemned to live in a 
stuffy, poorly ventilated house and then pay the savings from 
fuel for cough syrups, cold tablets, doctor bills and whatnots. 
It was at one time believed that a comparatively large content 
of carbon dioxide was the most undesirable constituent of the 
air we breathed, but now it is understood that the poisonous part 
of the air we breathe is due to organic impurities exhaled from 
our lungs and that carbon dioxide may be likened to water in 
which a man may drown but not be injured on account of its 
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There is no reason why the radiator should be exposed when it can be hidden under a window seat, as here, and covered with grills that are at once serviceable and 
decorative 
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