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Show Sun Heats Home Through Thermopane During: Daylight Hours; Fuel Bills Cut CHICAGO. Architects and engineers engi-neers concerned with the construction construc-tion of America's homes, have just learned something that the chicken-raiser chicken-raiser has used to advantage for years that rays of the sun can keep a building warm even in the dead of winter if there are enough windows win-dows to let them in. A year's test of a 'solar house" so called because the sun's rays are actually brought into the home through use of wide expanses of glass completed here by technical experts of Illinois Institute of Technology Tech-nology has proved that the sun's rays not only serve as an auxiliary heating unit in the house, but likewise, like-wise, the rays eliminate necessity of artificial light during daylight hours. In addition, although not checked by scientific instruments, occupants reported improved health. Basic features of the new architectural archi-tectural trend, viewed with interest by builders as an important postwar post-war possibility, are overhanging eaves and the proper orientation of windows. These eaves shade the occupants from the direct rays of the sun during the warm months when Old Sol is directly overhead, but permit the low-hanging winter sun's rays to enter the farthest corner cor-ner of the room. The sun's rays, the institute report re-port brought out, filtering through multiple - glazed windows which sandwich a sealed-in, dehydrated air space between panes to form a type of glass known to engineers as thermopane ther-mopane supplied enough heat, even in sub-zero temperatures, to make it unnecessary to use the regular heating plant during daylight hours. As a result of this use of the sun's rays, the fuel bills in the "solar house" studied were pared approximately approxi-mately one-third. The actual bills for the year totaled $120.55, whereas the fuel supplier's engineers had estimated es-timated that the cost of heating the house for the year would be at least $180. As an example of how warm the house's occupants found "solar heating," heat-ing," the report cited a report of the temperature on the coldest day of the year, when outside readings ranged from 5 to 17 degrees below be-low zero. Sun entering the living room automatically shut off the furnace fur-nace at 8:30 a. m. An inside temperature tem-perature of above 85 degrees made it necessary to open windows at intervals. in-tervals. Yet the furnace was off from 8:30 a. m. to 8:30 p. m. Institute experts, who conducted the research in co-operation with Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass company, checked a varied group of instruments instru-ments daily during the 365-day period, pe-riod, in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Duncan, of Homewood, 111. This house, one of several similar homes designed by Architect George Fred Keck, a pioneer in modern solar so-lar design, was selected because it represents the "popular price" bracket of $10,000 or less. In addition to the warmth brought into the Duncan home through the wide windows, increased light was also recorded. mimim - - - , r'w&mwm ill' r ' i i if ' f " 1 vX ' t'i t-? - ''''"' 1 I- I 1' . JiVS'C 1 v - ,1 , i f,r A I - I 1 It' i Lth i'i" r j A'f It' v.J i $ j i$ j i f ' ' tt ' i " f ' ' 1 L ft i iri v : - 1 r - , M 1 z. ' . , J Sun rays pour through multiple-glazed windows, heating room despite cold weather outside. |