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Electric Drive in Garage and Workshop.

15th February 1917
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Page 5, 15th February 1917 — Electric Drive in Garage and Workshop.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

IV.—Electric Ventilation and Heating.

One of the most popular forms of the multitudinous applications of electricity is that of electric ventilation. This subject, with which the present article deals, together with the question of electric heating, concerns garage proprietors equally as much as it concerns proprietors of other workshops and factories. Wherever human beings congregate, be it for amusement or work, the problems of ventilation and heating are present. Electricity as applied through fans and heating devices is, when such devices are properly selected and installed, an efficient means of procuring an agreeable and comfortable atmosphere within enclosed spaces, be they large or small. Without a properly arranged system of ventilation and heating the work of the garage cannot be performed with the utmost efficiency. Discomfort in this connection means that less work will be done than if pleasant. working conditions were the order of the day. Vitiated air is bad for the community ; intense cold or, to the contrary, an overheated room, is likewise unhealthy.

The Electric Fan.

The electric fan has-come to stay; it has proved itself to be an essential device for the renovating of a polluted atmosphere. The modern garage or workshop must for many reasons be kept as clean as possible. If for no other reason than the carrying away of exhaust gases, the fan becomes essential, The most efficient fan, where a supply of electricity exists, is the electric fan, which, while running, consumes only the correct amount of current necessary to run it efficiently—no more, no less. It may be switched on or off at will, and the various types on the market permit of either the blowing in or taking out of air, or simply the agitation of the air around the particular locality in which the fan is working. As remarked in a previous article of this series, electric energy for power purposes in particular is uniformly cheap nowadays in all large, and many of the smaller cities and towns throughout the country. Briefly, comfortable working conditions may be had for a cost of less than 'a farthing an hour, the initial cost of the fan being codiparatively small when compared with the lasting comfort provided by its means. But it must ho reinerabered that with the electric fan, as with all electric machinery, quality is a prime factor. The so-called cheap electric fan is not always

really economical, inasmuch as it may consume current at double the rate of a first-class fan, while furthermore, owing to faulty construction, it may only last for a few months. The well-made and efficientlydesigned fan, on the other hand, will last for years.

The Exhaust Fan.

Fig. I. depicts a typical box-blade exhaust electric fan designed so as to be fitted into a wall, window or ceiling. This type of fan, which is capable of handling large volumes of air, can take current from an ordinary lighting circuit, and may be controlled by an ordinary snap switch. It is a type of fan very suitable for installation near the ceiling of a garage or workshop for the purpose of extracting vitiated air, consisting either of an ordinary polluted atmosphere or the noxious gases of internal-combustion engines. Sometimes, two openings for such a fan are arranged, one high up in the workshop and one near the floor. The fan is mounted in. the opening near the floor in the winter months, with the purpose of removing heavy odours without removing the heated air and thus overtaking the heating equipment. In summer the fan would be mounted near the ceiling, to extract the stuffy air which is apt to collect in the upper atmosphere of a. workshop during hot weather.

The Agitator Fan. This is, perhaps, the most common type of fan, and a typical one is shown in Fig. 2. Such a type is capable of being used either fixed to a wall or placed. iipon a desk or shelf, the special joint arrangement which is included permitting of either adaptation. The driving motor can be seen behind the fan blades. Usually the frames of such fans are built of lightdrawn steel, and a blade guard is included for safety. This type can be obtained to permit of oscillation ; thus, it can be used in places where a direct fan draught would be objectionable. Many persons, for example, would be perfectly content to have an. occasional breeze blown directly on to them, whereas a steady blowing of air would be strongly discountenanced.

Through the medium of agitator fans the physical discomfort wnich is sometimes experienced through breathing partly-vitiated air can be overcome, as, if the air is stirred up by agitator fans, no ill effects from breathing it are felt. Dr. Leonard Hill, of London, has disproved the belief that vitiated air acts directly on the lungs ; he has shown that the effect is transmitted through the akin. An agitator fan of this description is equally of use in the office during the hot summer months.

Motor-driven Blowers.

There are many variations of the two classes of fans described, but those considered to be of most use in an ordinary everyday workshop or garage have been selected for discussion and illustration. For the very large automobile-storage organizations more elaborate arrangements may very well be deemed necessary. One or more motor-driven blowers, as distinguished from fans, might with advantage be installed. There is no doubt whatever that it is most advantageous to have a stated standard condition of the air supplied to, and extracted from, closed-in spaces ; by means of electrically-driven contrivances in the shape of fans and blowers such -a system could be closely worked. It might here be added that, with well-designed fans speed regulators, permitting of varied speeds of the individual fans, are included,

The volume of air delivered by ventilating units increases with the increase of operating speed. Consequently, for the sake of economy, the higher operating speeds are chosen. The limiting factor is usually, however, that of quiet operation. The higher-speed fans are much more noisy than lower-speed fans.

Electric Heating.

In the garage the possibility of fire is a very serious consideration. Where a supply of electricity is at hand, in those garages which are, perhaps, too small for the economical installation of a hot-water or steam-heating system, the adaptable electric radiator is probably the best means of heating. Being movable and most easily attached to an ordinary lighting circuit, it is very handy. An important feature, particularly as regards the garage, is the perfect cleanliness of this system of heating. The electric radiator causes no dust cc smoke, neither does it consume any oxygen, while the only attention required is that of turning the switch which controls the supply of current. Furthermore, like practically all the applications of electricity, only the necessary energy is Consumed—no wastage occurs.

The Most CoMmon Types of Heater.

Those of the most common types of electric heaters are : (1) The hot-bar fire, which gives out intense. radiation of heat.

(2) The convector, which heats the air as it enters at the bottom of the heater and passes through the heating elements, thus uniformly heating the atmosphere. (3) The lamp radiator, which is very popular for heating the human body, and which is, perhaps, the most successful type where temporary heat is required.

Cost of Heating by Electricity.

The cost of heating by electricity is reasonable in most districts, the general charge for current being 1d. per Board of Trade unit, or 1000 watts. A 1000watt heater required, say, to run for six consecutive hours, if properly regulated by means of the switches, which would be arranged to give "full," "twothirds," "half," or "one-third "heat, would cost id. for the first hour if run at full heat and d. per hour for the next five hours if run at half heat, which generally would be considered sufficient. •

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People: Leonard Hill
Locations: London

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