INSUFFICIENT HEATING

Taranaki Daily News, 19 April 1934, Page 15

INSUFFICIENT HEATING

OPUNAKE SCHOOL COMPLAINT DEPUTATION TO EDUCATION BOARD Complaints that the heating facilities at the Opunake District High School were unsatisfactory and that the pupils suffered greatly from cold during the winter months were made before the Taranaki Education Board yesterday by a deputation from the school committee, Messrs. Boyd and Sharrock. Mr. Boyd asked that the present method o fheating by electric hot water supply be changed to heating by fuel stoves, and stated that the cost of the present heater was £ll a month for five months of the year. The water in the boiler never rose above 160 degrees, a heat insufficient to make the rooms really warm. If the elements in the electric system were increased, then there would be a proportionate rise in the cost and the committee would be unable to bear the expense. Mr. Sharrock concurred with Mr. Boyd and said that when southerly winds were blowing the children frequently complained of the bitter cold. Mr. C. H. Moore, the board’s architect, suggested that the erection of a lattice work outside the doors and partitions would keep cold blasts of the wind out of the rooms. It was the ease with which the wind at present got into the

room, he said, that made the effective use of the present hot water system an impossibility. After some discussion, the matter of obtaining better heating facilities than at present provided at, the school was left in the hands of the architect with power to act. Members suggested, however, that Mr. Moore might give the installation of the proper system some thought and that, whether the water system or not was retained, he should “turn on the heat.”