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Science project idea on how houses are heated.
Heated Houses- Science Project Idea
How houses are heated. Houses may be heated by stoves or fireplaces which are located in all or several rooms. Most modern houses, however, are heated by furnaces, located in the basement. What are the advantages of this? Are there any disadvantages? The heat produced by oxidation of fuel in the furnace is distributed to the various parts of the house by hot air pipes or by pipes carrying steam or hot water. Electrical companies are now producing heaters in which electrical energy is changed into heat energy. These are especially valuable when only a small amount of heat is needed as in spring and fall. How are trolley cars heated? Science Project Idea I How houses are heated by hot air. A hot air furnace is essentially a large stove around which is a metal jacket through which the air passes to be heated. What causes the air to pass through the pipes into the rooms above? What should be the size of the intake pipes as compared with the size of the pipes carrying air from the furnace? In order that a fresh supply of air may enter a room, there must be an opportunity for the air already there to escape. How may this be provided for? Hot air furnaces sometimes fail to heat satisfactorily the rooms of a house on the side against which a strong wind is blowing. What is the explanation of this fact?
Some hot air furnaces not only have an intake pipe which receives air directly from outside, but also a pipe which carries air from the first floor back to be heated again. Do you think such an arrangement is good or bad? Explain your answer. Do you think that hot air heating would be a good method of heating large apartment houses? Why? The extreme heat of the firebox may cause a warping and cracking of the iron plates of its walls. Explain why gas from the burning coal some- times comes up through the hot air pipes. This is not usually the case when the damper in the flue is so ar- ranged that the draft is not interfered with. Explain. Science Project Idea II How houses are heated by hot water. What causes the water to rise? (Water expands when heated.) Why is it necessary to have the tank in the attic? Must the pipes be full of water? Why? What precautions must be taken if the house is left unoccupied in the winter? The radiator, just as a stove, heats a room in two ways; by radiation, the giving out of heat directly, and by setting up air currents as was discussed in the study of ventilation. Science Project Idea III How houses are heated by steam. In a steam heating plant, steam instead of water passes through the pipe into the radiator. This steam in the radiator condenses into water. How does this fact affect the heating of the room? Should the boiler of a steam heating plant be filled with water? Why? Explain the need for the safety valve of the boiler. Explain why on days when only a small amount of heat is needed in the house, steam heat is not so satisfactory as either hot air or hot water heat. Explain why rooms heated by steam cool off much more rapidly after the fire is shut down at night than rooms heated by hot water. Explain why in all furnaces the opening of the door below the firebox makes the fire burn better, and why the opening of the coal door checks the fire.
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