Mechanics of the Household. E. S. Keene
it cannot be transmitted to the rooms unless there is sufficient radiating surface. A plant might prove unsatisfactory either because of a furnace too small to furnish the necessary heat or from an insufficient amount of radiating surface. Yet another factor in the design of a plant is that of the conducting pipes. Both the boiler and the radiators might be in the right proportion to produce a good plant, but if the distributing pipes are too small to carry the water required, or the circulation is retarded by many turns and long runs, the plant may fail to give satisfaction.
Fig. 33 shows a complete hot-water plant adapted to a dwelling. It is just such a plant as is commonly installed in the average-sized house but without any of the appliances used for automatic control of temperature. The regulation of the temperature is made entirely by hand, in so governing the fire as to provide the required amount of heat. In the drawing the supply and return pipes may be traced to the radiators as in the case of the simple plant. The supply pipe from the top of the boiler branches into two circuits to provide the water for the two groups of radiators at the right and left side of the house. To provide any radiator with hot water, a pipe is taken from the main supply pipe and passing through the radiator it is brought back and connected with the return pipe which conducts the water back to the boiler.
Fig. 33.—The low-pressure hot-water heating system applied to a small dwelling.
The expansion tank is located in the bathroom near the ceiling. It is connected with the circulating system by a single pipe which joins the supply pipe as it enters the radiator located in the kitchen. Like the expansion tank in Fig. 31 the water it contains is always cold. It is provided with a gage-glass which shows the level of the water in the tank and an overflow pipe which discharges into the bathtub, in case of an overflow. An overflow pipe must always be provided to take care of the surplus when the water in the system becomes overheated. This does not often occur but the provision must be made for the emergency. The overflow pipe is frequently connected directly with the sewer or discharged at some convenient place in the basement.
The High-pressure Hot-water System.
—In the hot-water plant described the expansion tank is open to the air and the water in the system is subjected to the pressure of the atmosphere alone. The heat of the furnace may be sufficiently great to bring the entire volume of water of the system to the boiling point and cause it to overflow but the temperature of the water cannot rise much above the boiling point due to the pressure of the atmosphere.
If the expansion tank is closed, the pressure generated by the expanding water and the formation of steam will permit the water to reach a much higher temperature. In the table of temperatures and pressures of water on page 3, it will be seen that should the pressure rise to 10 pounds, that is, 10 pounds above the pressure of the atmosphere, the temperature of the water would be very nearly 240°F. (239.4°F.). The difference in heating effect in hot-water heating plants under the two conditions is very marked. In the low-pressure system the temperature of the radiators cannot be above 212° but the high-pressure system set for 10 pounds pressure will heat the radiators to 240°, and a still higher pressure would give a correspondingly higher temperature. The amount of heat radiated by a hot body is in proportion to the difference in temperature between the body and the surrounding air. If we consider the surrounding air at 60° the difference in amount of heat-radiation capacity of the two radiators would be as 180 is to 132. The advantage of the high-pressure system lies in its ability to heat a given space with less radiating surface than the low-pressure system.
In Fig. 34 is illustrated an application of a simple and efficient valve arrangement that converts a low-pressure hot-water system into a high-pressure system without changing in any way the piping or radiators. The drawing shows the boiler and two radiators connected as for a low-pressure system, but attached to the end of the pipe as it enters the expansion tank is a safety valve B and a check valve A, as indicated in the enlarged figure of the valve. The safety valve is intended to allow the water to escape into the expansion tank when the pressure in the system reaches a certain point for which the valve is set. The check valve A permits the water to reënter the system from the tank whenever the pressure is restored to its normal amount.
Fig. 34.—The high-pressure system of hot-water heating.
Suppose that such a system is working as a low-pressure plant. The hot water from the top of the boiler is flowing to the radiators through the supply pipe and the displaced cooler water is returning to the bottom of the boiler through the return pipe as in the other plants described. It is now found that the radiators are not sufficiently large to heat the rooms to the desired degree except when the furnace is fired very heavily. It is always poor economy to keep a very hot fire in any kind of a heater, because a hot fire sends most of its heat up the chimney. If the radiators could be safely raised in temperature, they would, of course, give out more heat and as a result the rooms would be more quickly heated and kept at the required temperature with less effort by the furnace. The difficulty in this case lies solely in there being insufficient radiator surface to supply heat as fast as required.
The increase in radiator temperature is accomplished by the pressure regulating valve B, attached to the end of the pipe as it enters the expansion tank. The expansion tank with the regulating valve is shown enlarged at the left of the figure. The valve B is kept closed by a weight marked W, that is intended to hold back a pressure of say 10 pounds to the square inch. A pressure of 10 pounds will require a temperature of practically 240°F. (see table on page 3). The check valve A is kept closed by the pressure from the inside of the system. When the pressure of the water goes above 10 pounds—or the amount of the weight is intended to hold back—the valve is lifted and an amount of water escapes through the valve B into the tank, sufficient to relieve the pressure. Should enough water be forced out of the system to fill the tank to the top of the overflow pipe, the overflow water is discharged through this pipe into the sink in the basement.
When the house has become thoroughly warmed, the demand for a high radiator temperature is reduced, the furnace drafts are closed, the water in the system cools and as it shrinks the system will not be completely filled. It is then necessary to take back from the tank the water that has been forced out by excess pressure. It is here that the check valve comes into use. So long as there is pressure on the pipes, this valve is held shut and no water can escape, but as the inside pressure is released by the cooling there will come a point where the water in the tank will flow back through the valve A and fill the system.
This is the type of valve used by the Andrews Heating Co. and designated a regurgitating valve. In practice it gives excellent service. The only danger of excessive pressure in the use of this device is the possibility of the valve becoming stuck to the seat through disuse. Any possible danger from such an occurrence may be eliminated by the occasional lifting of the valve by hand.
Heating-plant Design.
—A heating plant should be designed by a person of experience. No set of rules has yet been devised that will meet every condition. Carpenter’s rules given on page 25 serve for hot water as well as for steam as a means of determining the radiating surface required for an ordinary building, but the rules do not take into account the method of construction of the house and the consequent extra radiation demanded for poorly constructed buildings. In many cases the designer must rely on experience as a guide where the rules will not apply. In the case usually encountered, however, the rules given will meet the conditions.
What was said regarding the size of steam boilers required for definite amounts of heating surfaces, applies with equal force to hot-water boilers, because house-heating boilers are commonly used for either steam or hot-water heating. There are no established rules for determining the heating capacities