Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 90.djvu/20

 Putting the Sun at Work in the House

All that is necessary is to expose the pipes to that the genial rays can reach them. There is no charge for service

CIRCULATING PIPE

HOT WATER SUPPLY PIPE

AIR TIGHT BOX

HOT WATER STORAGE BOILER

SUN COIL

DRAIN

GAS WATER HEATER

PIPE TO STORAGE BOILER

COLD WATER SUPPLY

PIPE FROM FURNACE

The usual location for the heater is on the roof of the house; but it is sometimes over a driveway pergola or above a window. At right: The sun-coil

THE people of Southern California are letting the sun provide the warmth whereby the water they use is heated.

The device by which it is done is known as the "solar heater." It consists of a shallow box about four inches in depth, within which is a coil of galvanized water pipe. The box is covered with glass and is practically air-tight. A sheet of copper is placed behind and attached to the water pipes for the purpose of concentrating all of the sun-heat falling upon an area several times larger than that offered by the pipes themselves, thereby making the water correspondingly hotter.

The pipes of this heater are arranged with a certain upward pitch so that the heated water gradually passes from the coil to the storage-boiler. As the hot water leaves the coil its place is taken by the

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��The storage-boiler is encased in an insulated wooden box

��coldest water from the storage-boiler. Dur- ing warm, sunny weather the water that was first heated and sent to the storage- boiler will return to the sun -coil to be heated to a still higher temperature. This storage-boiler is encased within a wooden box and the space between the boiler and the sides of the box is filled with a heat-retaining packing. The loss of heat by radia- tion is very slight. Assum- ing that no water is drawn, the loss of heat due to radia- tion during the night will vary from four to ten degrees. Hence, hot water can be drawn in the early morning as well as at the close of a sunny day. From this tank the heated water passes to the various fixtures of the home.

When the sun fails to shine a gas-heater is used.

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