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Otd So! Will Heat Your Home
. . . And at an annual cost of nothing!
Yes, that's what the man said. by JOHN BROBERG
THE annual fuel bill, that most unwelcome item on the homeowner's budget, will soon be a thing of the past, it says here. In the post-war era — that marvelous world of the not-too-distant future — houses will be heated by the sun's rays at an annual cost of nothing.
There have been many theories on this subject. But perhaps the most feasible method of harnessing solar radiation has been dreamed up and recently patented by Dr. Alwin B. Newton, former chief of refrigeration research at MinneapolisHoneywell Regulator Company — world's largest manufacturer of heat control units. The reason : Newton's idea not only heats houses in the winter, but cools them in the summer. During the warm months, the system is reversed, and the house is cooled — but the sun's rays still do the job.
As with most scientific men, Newton had pondered over the problem for a long time before the answer came to him. Inventions usually come that way. Suddenly something clicks, and there you have it. Invariably a long, secret thought-process has gone before.
Once when he was making a tour of the South, Newton noticed that in many places people heated hot water for their homes by piping it through metal coils on their roofs. Sometimes the water got so hot that steam would actually sissle from the faucets.
Then, another time, when he was up in Maine, he saw farmers making ice in the middle of summer by using a very elementary principle of physics.
Newton's idea for heating and cooling houses, which has won nationwide ac
claim, uses both of these principles. And like most successful inventions, it is very simple.
So, when we get back to peacetime production again, here's how you may be heating your home in the winter, and cooling it in the summer: There won't be any furnace to mess with, or any type of fuel to buy. It will all be done with heat radiation — a principle as old as the earth itself.
First of all, there'll be a coil of pipes on the roof of your house. In the attic will be a storage tank filled with water. On cold days the sun's rays will heat the the water in the roof coils by solar radiation. This water will be stored in the tanks to heat the house during the night. A battery of thermostats will regulate the water temperature in the same way they now control the temperature of the air within your home.
Now it may seem a bit strange to most of us that a whole house can thus be heated comfortably in winter — say when the temperature hovers near the 30-degree below zero mark. Nevertheless, it can. Anyone who lives in the northern U. S. has seen snow melting on rooftops even though the temperature is far below freezing. And all of us have seen pictures of skiers standing atop snow-clad mountains in perfect comfort, clad only in bathing suits. If it weren't for solar radiation, none of these things could be possible.
Another question might be this: Granted that the sun will heat the water in the daytime. But how are you going to keep it hot all night without having a whole attic full of water tanks?
The answer is a substance known as