Alan, I'm reminded of the stoves one reads of being used in eastern Europe,that are so large they have sleeping shelves built along the sides. Seems to me Russian stoves were also tiled. Not sure they worked as well as the German one Twain describes. Haven't read enough Nineteenth Century Russian literature to have formed a clear impression of the efficiency or otherwise of their heating arrangements.
Yep, them's the ones. Can take days to heat up, then just need a burst of heating once in a while. They look really impressive too! Come to think of it, I recall the heating system in the Engineering building at the Junior College I attended. It was built into the concrete floor, so gave a very even, steady heat. The only drawback was that if the weather suddenly turned hot we had to open all the doors and windows for two or three days. We once had a house with a circulating hot water system, intended to provide instantaneous hot water even at the far side of the house from the water heater; it also warmed the foundation perceptibly.
Our house is heated by circulating hot water (circulating through radiators). May be part of the reason why, even in summer, a change in the weather may take most of a day to really alter the interior temperature.
And the heat from my in-laws furnace was piped through their concrete floor. But they had a wood-burning stove as a supplement for really cold weather.
Dean, the most Howardly, is first!
ReplyDeleteAccidentally left a comment on the last thread.
Alan, I'm reminded of the stoves one reads of being used in eastern Europe,that are so large they have sleeping shelves built along the sides. Seems to me Russian stoves were also tiled. Not sure they worked as well as the German one Twain describes. Haven't read enough Nineteenth Century Russian literature to have formed a clear impression of the efficiency or otherwise of their heating arrangements.
Yep, them's the ones. Can take days to heat up, then just need a burst of heating once in a while. They look really impressive too! Come to think of it, I recall the heating system in the Engineering building at the Junior College I attended. It was built into the concrete floor, so gave a very even, steady heat. The only drawback was that if the weather suddenly turned hot we had to open all the doors and windows for two or three days. We once had a house with a circulating hot water system, intended to provide instantaneous hot water even at the far side of the house from the water heater; it also warmed the foundation perceptibly.
ReplyDelete--Alan
Our house is heated by circulating hot water (circulating through radiators). May be part of the reason why, even in summer, a change in the weather may take most of a day to really alter the interior temperature.
DeleteAnd the heat from my in-laws furnace was piped through their concrete floor. But they had a wood-burning stove as a supplement for really cold weather.