Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 88.djvu/346

 A Combined Ice House and Cold

Storage Room

��AN arrangement of a cold storage room for keeping milk, butter, eggs, fresh meats and small fruits in combination with an ice-house seems to meet the requirements of many country houses. Where perishable ar- ticles are purchased or obtained else- where in quantities, there is felt a need for some cold storage place other than the ordinary ice-box, which after all, is intended chiefly for articles in use from day to day and is rarely of sufifl- cient size to accommodate large quanti- ties of food.

The ice-house must necessarily be filled in winter, and the trick of using the chilled air from the ice-chamber to keep a storage-room below cool through the summer is an economical one, for there is no great waste of ice. Ice is a cheap commodity in winter, but rather an expensive luxury in sum- mer. Its waste in hot weather in tak- ing it from the ice-house to the kitchen almost daily represents about thirty per cent of the whole harvest. The daily opening of the ice-house, which admits warm air, causes a rapid shrink- age of the supply.

The combination ice-house and cold- storage room eliminates, to a certain extent, this daily waste. Most of the articles kept in the kitchen ice-box can be retained in the cold-storage room until actually needed. Consequently, there is less transportation of ice to the house than by the old method.

So far as possible this combination house should be located as near the back of the kitchen as conditions will permit, for if made easy of access, it will be utilized to its full extent both summer and winter. As the storage- house is a few feet underground, easy steps must be built to reach it, and not steep, narrow or awkward steps. The ice compartment of the house is filled at the back so that as little muss as possible is created either in putting in or taking out ice.

The cost of building a combination

��ice-house and cold-storage room is one- third to one-half greater than that for a simple, old-fashioned ice-house, but in the end the extra investment is well paid for both in the convenience and greater saving of ice. There is another saving that is even more important. Many people living in country houses could reduce the cost of living by buy- ing perishable articles in wholesale quantities, but through lack of proper storage facilities they cannot do so. Butter purchased by the tub or firkin in the season when prices are the low- est would alone represent a big saving. Meats can also be made a big item of saving by buying in quantities, not to speak of small fruits in their season.

With an ample cold-storage room, such as that illustrated, one could buy nearly all perishable articles by the wholesale and be sure not to waste any through deterioration. The saving in this way alone would more than pay for the extra cost in one year.

The foundation of the combination house may be built of rough stones up to the ground level, cemented firmly together, and lined on the inside with a coating of good concrete. All parts of the house below the grade should be waterproofed in order to keep the moisture out. This is very important, for it is quite essential that the storage room should be dry as well as cold.

In the center of the cold-storage room there should be an iron or wood- en pillar to support the load of ice overhead. Likewise, the floor girders above should be extra heavy to sup- port the tons of ice. The outside walls of the ice-house can be built of brick or stone, or even of wood, according to the style of the house with which it is connected. If wood is used the upright supporting-beams must be ex- tra heavy — four by six at least — so that they will be strong enough to carry the load of ice. Ordinarily, the ice is carried on the ground, and the con- struction of the ice-house may be made

��318

�� �