Читать книгу The Englishman's House: A Practical Guide for Selecting and Building a House онлайн

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Again, in building a house, or in effecting alterations in an old one, points apparently of minor, but really of great importance, require attention. A badly constructed chimney will make the whole house miserable, independent of the injury done to furniture, decorations, &c., and the destruction of paint and paperhangings. A defective drainage may render that which was intended to be an abode of peace, plenty, and happiness, a living charnel-house, or the door to the grave! A question of vital importance is that of ventilation. These apparently minor questions can therefore scarcely be exaggerated in their value, for neglect of them will render nugatory the best external efforts of the architect. Hence they have hereafter full attention, in their practical details, directed to them.

On the general principles of ventilation the following remarks may be of value to all who propose to erect new dwellings, or alter those already inhabited. In all houses, and in fact every building divided into stories, a ready means of ventilation may be insured, or rather always exists. This is presented in the opening formed by the staircase. Into this general opening communications can be made into, and from, each apartment by apertures placed in some convenient position in each room. The grand law on which ventilation depends is, that hot air, being lighter than cool air, has a universal tendency to rise, whilst cold air takes the lowest part of a house or apartment. It hence follows, that if a supply of cold air be admitted by an opening at the lower part of a house, and it becomes heated within the house, it will have a tendency to rise to the roof; and if a sufficient opening be there provided, it will escape into the open air. Consequently a constant current may thus be obtained in any dwelling, sufficient to give a supply of pure air and to remove that which has been vitiated by breathing, the combustion of fires, and other causes. The heavy atmosphere of this country requires assistance to make this grand law operative; to cause the air of a room to move as readily as it is required, forced ventilation becomes necessary. The English fireplace provides this; and to that it owes, with us, its extreme popularity. A constant current of air from the room is heated and passed up the chimney flue, and this draws in a corresponding supply of cold air, and proper and convenient apertures should be left to permit this to enter. The fireplace forces attention to the necessity; if sufficient fresh air be not provided for it the smoke enters the room and drives the occupants out. Notwithstanding the attention that has been paid to the stove and its flue, we are still sadly behindhand in a proper construction of them. The flues could be so arranged that a building might be enabled, using a figurative expression, to breathe, whenever its principal flue, that of the kitchen fireplace, was in action; a construction to effect this will be illustrated in the text. In conclusion on this point, it may be added that nothing is more essential to the health and comfort of a house than that it should be thoroughly and constantly ventilated, and if any portion is to be particularized, it should be the sleeping apartments.