Energy Conservation in the Home in the 1920s

Reducing building energy use is an important goal of todays Green building efforts. We often think that the beginning of energy conservation began with the oil price increases and oil embargos of the mid 1970s. However, this clip is from a film from the 1920s promoting energy conservation. In the closing days of the nineteenth century, steam power overtook the nation in much the same way that electricity would 40 years later. Coal was the most abundant fuel usednot only for heating but for powering most industrial processes. The invention of low cost cast iron radiators brought central heating to Americas homes with a coal fired boiler in the basement delivering hot water or steam to radiators in every room. At about the same time, in 1885, Dave Lennox built and marketing the industrys first riveted-steel coal furnace. Without electricity and fans to move air, these early furnaces transported heat by natural convection (warm heated air rising) through ducts from the basement furnace to the rooms above. These two methods would dominate home central heating until 1935, when the introduction of the first forced air furnace using coal as a heat source used the power of an electric fan to distribute the heated air through ductwork within the home. Properly insulating air ducts located in unconditioned spaces such as attics, crawl spaces, garages, or unfinished basements can help improve your home's energy efficiency. Air ducts supply conditioned air from your space heating to your living spaces. They also return an equal volume of air back to the equipment to be conditioned again. Ducts are typically made out of thin metal materials that easily conduct heat. Therefore, uninsulated or poorly insulated ducts in unconditioned spaces can lose through conduction 10%30% of the energy used to heat and cool your home. The heating and cooling equipment then has to compensate for the heat loss and gain by conditioning additional air. This added conditioning raises a homeowner's energy bills. For more on building insulation, go to http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/insulation_airsealing/index.cfm/mytopic... and http://www.ornl.gov/sci/roofs+walls/insulation/ins_01.html . This is clipped from the 1920s film Saving Coal At Home from the US Bureau of Mines with cooperation from the Peabody Coal Company. The film emphasizes the advantages and money-saving possibilities of insulating house heating and certain industrial pipes. Most likely the insulation being installed at the end of this film contained asbestos. The entire film is available at the US National Archives

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[ShipshewanaIndiana]

@onoahimahi We built a house last year and built it around a coal stove. Its a great heat source and far cheaper than running a propane furnace. Anthracite also burns as clean as natural gas so It's not bad for the enviroment either. nepacrossroads dotcom is a great forum for coal burners. You can find alot of info there, should you ever be interested in going back in time.

[onoahimahi]

So this is why my basement is full of asbestos pipe insulation. We hear how we have a 200 year reserve of coal in the US. Do you think we will ever get back to the point of burning coal in our basement furnices..?