ELECTRIC HESTERS

Evening Star, Issue 19639, 19 August 1927, Page 2

ELECTRIC HESTERS

FOR ALL PURPOSES MANY TYPES AVAILABLE One of flic minor tragedies of domestic file is to come home one cold winter’s evening and find the fire out. Not only is there all the trouble of cleaning out the grate, relaying the fire, and fighting it, hut in addition a coal fire requires an appreciable time before it radiates much heat into tlio room. The unexpected visitor, too, often presents a problem. Eor various reasons it may bo necessary to receive him in a room which, through not having been in use that day, lias no fire: and one is loft with the alternatives of freezing and appearing inhospitable, or lighting a fire which will probably only begin to burn through as your visitor is leaving.

For occasional heating electricity is supreme. Tlio two instances cited above arc probably exceptional. But there is daily in the house a number of occasions when sumo temporary heating would be desirable—or even essential in Koino cases—and is not provided owing to the unsuitability of iho ordinary methods to the object in view. The healing of bedrooms night and morning, of nurseries when baby is being dressed and undressed, of bathrooms, dressing rooms, ami garages, comes within this category. Usually an electric radiator of finite small size is sufficient for the purpose, since, besides being required temporarily, the boat is generally only wanted locally, and it is not necessary to warm the whole room. As a consequence the radiator is, first of all, cheap to run, and, .secondly, easily portable. _ The bowl (ire typo of heater is eminently suitable for all such occasional uses, or if something somewhat larger should be required, one of the many I Jew. types could bo employed. Special heaters of low loading can he obtained to keep tho temperature of the water in motor car radiators above freezingpoint. The ease with which such appliances can bo put into use, and the rapidity with which heat can bo obtained, completely solves the problem of occasional heating; while the running costs are so extremely low as to be negligible when compared with tho immense advantages to be derived from their use. Electric heating, besides its more obvious one of freedom from dirt and trouble, has several other advantages not so immediately apparent. A point that is not usually appreciated by the average householder is that, in the case of an electric heater, there is no combustion place. There is consequently no vitiation of tho atmosphere as there is in tho case of coal, gas, or oil heating. Furthermore, as nothing is being burnt, there is_ no ash nor dust produced to be deposited upon everything else in the room;;This point is of great importance, as will be seen when the question of the cost of electric heating is discussed. Another consequence of tho fact that no combustion takes place is that no flues are required. In a house in course of construction the saving on flues and chimney breasts which need not he built is usually sufficient to pay most, if not all, of the costs of tho electrical equipment, and in addition the absence of these structures adds considerably to the available space in the rooms. In this case, however, some lona of ventilating ducts have to he provided. From the point of view of fbo substitution of electric beaters for coal fires in an old bouse, chief interest of this point lies in tho, fact that all the heat produced is radiated into the room, 'and does not, as is the case with a large proportion of the heat from, a coal fire, pass uselessly up the chimney. In addition to tho in most people’s minds as to what it would cost them to use electricity for heating their homes, there is usually a reluctance to abandon the cheerful, if at times aggravating, coal fire. This reluctance is one that will in time, and through careful educating, he removed, but that its existence to-day is very real is proved by the many makes of imitation coal (ires on the market. These do, to some extent, meet the situation, hut it is, nevertheless, still impossible to “poke an electric fire.” Up to the present tlio extent to which use has been made of electricity for general domestic healing has been governed largely by tlio relative cheapness of the supply available. Direct comparisons between tho expenditure on coal with that on electricity necessary to accomplish the same heating may prove very misleading. Raw fuels have until very recently boon low in price, ' hut they arc not cheap as used in the I homo on account of tho attendant costs i of labor connected with their use, and duo to tho cost of making good damage done to the property and furnishings by the use of the, fire. Electricity has none of these disadvantages, and by its use a direct attack can bo made unon these items of household expenditure. In many cases tho wages of a maid can be saved by the provision of electric heaters, and in all cases their use will practically halve the costs of redecorating, reduce the wear apd tear of fabrics and furniture, and lessen the expenditure on cleaning materials. Before the cost of the electricity used is reckoned there is a very considerable amount to bo nlaced to the credit side of electric heating. The size of radiator required to heat a room depends,_ of course, upon such factors as the size of the room, tho number, size, and positions of windows and doors, the number of outside walls, and need not he, discussed beyond emphasising tho point that a, heater larger than the size required should bo provided rather than one the bare size. By this means the room can he brought up to the required temperature more quickly and more economically.