The evils of unvented combustion appliances

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No good shall come of this Miss Scarlet!

Tom,
Sorry, No, I am not following the nuances of your post.

The only place in NYC that I am aware of with a series of tiny natural-gas flames are track de-icers on the curves and track-switches of the Jamaica station of the Long Island Rail Road.

~In Scarlet's grand Victorian home, there was a huge gasolier in the front hall by those steps, IIRC.
If anyone would kindly oblige by posting a picture, I'd be most greatful!



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_lighting
 
Eliminating gas lighting *may* have helped indoor air quality, but switching to gas or oil fuel in place of coal did much more. Lights were only on for several hours per day, if that whereas coal heating was on 24/7 in colder months, and every day for ranges using coal. Add to this the coal dust wafting up from coal cellars, and homes were cloaked with coal dust, much to the worry of housewives and mothers.

One also must remember homes were not very air tight until rather recently. This is one of the reasons for those huge boilers/furnaces found in older homes. Installers sized the system much larger than required to take into account the "ventilation" caused by drafty windows and doors.

The other factor affecting "ventilation" was the great flu pandemic of 1914. Health authorites then advised people, especially housewives to keep windows slightly open, even in the dead of winter to keep buildings full of fresh air. This fresh air was supposed to flush germs, including those causing the flu out of the home. This trend persisted right up to almost the first energy crisis, which caused attention to become focused on how much heat was going out the window, thus prompting homeowners to better insulate their homes, and seal around windows and doors.

As for gas lighting giving off fumes, causing bad air quality, gas had to be much better than the candles or petrol lamps it replaced.

L.
 
~Eliminating gas lighting *may* have helped indoor air quality.
Yes it definitely did; it was 100% unvented.
Skylights in the central common hallways of much older buildings were vented to exhaust the bad air produced from burning gas-lights in hallways that were windowless.

~switching to gas or oil fuel in place of coal did much more.
Coal dust generated form moving unburnt coal (or the ashes when consumed) is another issue but almost all of the by-products of combustion (read: poisons)went up the chimney from all types of boilers and furnaces, regadless of fuel.

~gas had to be much better than the candles or petrol lamps it replaced.
Gas for light emits black sooty carbon as do candles or petroleum and its derivatives. (Beeswax candles are less unhealthy than parafin candles.) Of course the poisons of carbon-dioxide and carbon-monoxide are harmful regardless of source.

Older homes have 9 or 10 foot ceilings (say 3+/- meters) with a molding about one foot (30cm) down to facilitate painting the ceiling without paintining the whole room. Paints were oil-based and extremly expensive in the early days. Medallions were placed around ceiling-mounted (combustion) lighting fixtures, again to be able to wash the area as needed and paint over the soot without painting the whole ceiling. Wooden items such as furniture and paneling/ banisters, etc. tended to be dark in color to show less of the accumulating soot. [No folks, lighter colors don't get dirty faster, they simply show the dirt more! *WINK*]

http://laa.co.montgomery.oh.us/publications/NewsReleases/HomeHeating NR 122204.pdf
 
Careful this one has sound/music.

Fomr the linkie:

"Incomplete fuel combustion and a vent system that does not adequately remove the exhaust are the two basic failures to all combustion appliance Carbon Monoxide problems and very often these two failures are interrelated."

Newsflash: Unvented combustion appliances have a "vent system" that does not adequetly remove the exhaust!

http://www.expertinspector.com/CarbonMonoxide.html
 

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