Swing (Jan-Dec 1945)

Record Details:

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22 December, 194} Wood's Metal, which can store more heat than water can. Within the storage tank in the attic are a number of small sheet iron containers filled with this strange substance. Wood's metal is solid at normal temperature. It looks much like ordinary lead. But at a temperature of 130 F, it melts. And in changing from a sohd to a liquid, it is able to absorb and retain much more heat than the water within the tank that surrounds it. So, at night when the sun's rays cease to warm the water in the roof coils, the Wood's metal in the storage tank gives off its heat and keeps the water hot. This water circulates through the radiators in the rooms downstairs, and the house is kept snug and warm while you sleep. Your fuel bill? Well, you just don't have any. ***** The process is reversed for cooling your home in the summer time. The sun's rays, of course, are not brought into play, but the idea of radiation is still there. Actually, the heat is radiated out of your home by the same principle. During the daytime, the roof coils arc closed off so no water circulates through them. But at night, when the air is cool, the water is pumped through the coils to give off its heat. Before morning the storage tanks are filled with cold water which may be used to cool the house during the day. In this case another substance — acetic acid — (which might be termed highoctane vinegar) is employed to keep the water cold in the daytime, the same as Wood's metal is used to keep the water hot. Acetic acid freezes solid at 50 degrees F., and acts much in the same way that a block of ice would in the tank. It lowers the temperature of the water around it, and helps maintain a low temperature for a much longer time. Thus, the house has a tank of ice cold water all day long for purposes of air conditioning. Now this process may also appear a bit strange to the layman. Some might ask: How can you keep your house cool all day long just by exposing the water in the roof coils to the night air? First we must remember that radiation works two ways. All day the sun radiates heat, and the earth absorbs it. At night, when the sun is gone, and a ghostly moon takes its place, the earth radiates, or gives off heat. But since air itself is a poor conductor, the earth soon loses its heat, and the temperature drops rapidly. Surrounding the earth is an envelope of air about five miles thick. This is called the atmosphere. Beyond is the stratosphere which has almost no air, then the troposphere, which is vacuum. Way out there in the vast celestial spaces, there is no heat at all — a temperature which is — 460 degrees F., or absolute zero — the coldest temperature science has yet recorded. During the night, when the sun is not charging the air with heat, the earth is radiating its heat toward this deathly cold region of the sky. Up in Maine, when the farmers want ice in summer, they simply dig a shallow basin in the ground about a foot deep and perhaps fifty feet square. They lino the bottom with straw — thereby insulating it from the earth's saved-up warmth, add a layer of clay to seal the basin off, and fill the remainder with water. A mound of dirt is heaped up along the sides of the little lake to prevent warm air from coming in contact with the water and warming it. During the night the water gives off its heat by radiating directly