Levittown radiant - Dan H.

DanHolohan

of a radiant system going into a Levittown house. Note how they nailed the tubing to the the 2X4s before pouring the concrete.

This is from one of the brouchures that I'm adding to the Library.

How do you like the Library so far? I'd love to hear your comments. Thanks.

Mike T., Swampeast MO

Sarcotherm & Outdoor Reset

Outdoor Reset the ORIGINAL and RIGHT way!

(Looks like link doesn't work from here or I did this wrong. It's under Older Hot Water Systems in the Library.)

ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!!!!!

Fully modulating!

Base and slope adjustable!

INDOOR FEEDBACK!!!!!

And guess how it worked...

Either:

1) A traditional thermostat to stop the circulator

OR


2) A little resistive heater on the outdoor sensing bulb giving a "warmer-cooler" type adjustment!!!! NO TRADITIONAL WALL THERMOSTAT REQUIRED!!!!

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I thought I was reading my own writing about why this was desirable both for comfort and economy!!!

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Did hydronics enter the "Dark Ages" or something? Reminds me of the loss for the Roman formula for good cement for a couple thousand years. Incredible buildings were still constructed--using ashlar & timbers--but it took them a while to figure out how to make them big without crumbling of their own inability to hold themselves together.

DanHolohan

Much more

to follow.

paul lessard_3

you should sell

Ink for printers!!!!!!!!!! keep it up

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jerry scharf

looks like the pdfs do work with 5.06

Dan,

I was working under strange network conditions when I posted the problem. It turns out that 5.06 pops up the pessage and then happily displays the content. No need to do anything else on my account.

Now I've had some time to go through it and I really do love it. Part of the fun is seeing what a wide scope of material you've collected.

thanks,
jerry

Ken_8

I hate that damn Library thingy!

I have wasted almost two days reading, printing, fondling, devouring, studying, and re-reading old stuff that I knew didn't exist anywhere, in any form on planet earth - only to find I was wrong. It DOES all exist, and you have been hording it all - only to turn around and give it all to us!

Don't know whether to **** or go blind.

Wait. Wait. If I go blind - I won't be able to waste all of tomorrow reading more.

Guess I'll head off to the bathroom, and read some more...



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hr

Nice work, Dan

it will take me some time to get through all that material. I like how they explained things in the older articles.

They spoke better english back then, perhaps

hot rod

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Ken D.

Levittown Radiant

Dan, It amazes me every time I see a photo from the Levitt construction days. I spoke to a number of the old Levitt employees over the years and some are still around.Most were from New York area. It always reminds me of the innovation that made America great. I grew up in Levittown Pa. Our house was built in 1952.Move in was Jan. '53. I still remember all those wintery Saturday afternoons laying on a warm living room floor watching cartoons and the Three Stooges on our black and white Sylvania television with the round 10 or 12 inch screen,and glancing out of the living room picture window at the snow or cold grey weather while we were warm and comfortable inside. Life was good. I also remember when I first got into this business our company did a lot of work outside of Levittown and I always thought how difficult those people had it with the drafty, uncomfortable scorched air systems. It did give me a feeling of superiority. Poor schlups. My sister still owns our house with the radiant and York-Shipley boiler still intact. I fixed a few leaks over the years and tell my sis ter to upgrade, as my Mom before, but it still works good. The combustion efficiency is 78%. Probably when it leaks over the kitchen floor, we'll replace. Funny someone should mention The Romans, thats where Alfred Levitt (the architect of the family) got the idea for the radiant systems. He was a student of Frank Lloyd Wright and studied how the Romans heated buildings with hot water. Even though radiant was around for a long time, I think Levittown is probably the first application on a large scale. The materials and controls differ, the basic concept is still the same. Thanks to Levitt and Sons. Keep up the good work Dan. Ken D.

Larry Weingarten

Romans/ hot water?

You got my curiosity going. What can you tell me about the Romans heating with hot water? Where do I go to learn more? I knew about hypocausts, where slaves, acting as thermostats, got to tend fires. But Romans using piped hot water?!

DanHolohan

Nice memories, Ken.

Thanks for sharing.

From what I've read, the Romans heated the water for the baths but used the hypocaust for the floor heating.

I just finished a terrific novel titled, "Pompeii." The main character is the Aquarius and there's a world of well-researched info in there about the Roman aqueduct systems and the baths. It's on Dan's Reading List.

Mad Dog

Let me tell you..................................

I still see quite a few of the original systems still working. It all depends on who put it in......Mad Dog

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Unknown

We see it also

There's alot of Levitt homes still using the original radiant .

In the homes where we convert to baseboard , when we chop the floor we see the piping . Most of it is laying on top of the sand below the cement . No insulation below , no edge insulation , and these homes on the average use less oil with the old radiant than with new baseboard .

Ken D.

Levitttown radiant and the Romans

Dan, Levittown,Pa. had It's 50th anniversary in 2001. In the myriad of news items in the local paper over the course of the year-long commemoration, I had read an interview with Alfred Levitt. The story mentioned hot water heating in Roman buildings. They had a copy of an engraving showing hot water under the floor of a room, heating same. The "pipe" was depicted as an arched cistern type with the water level at about 1/3 to 3/4 full. I will attempt to research the article and foward it to you. The paper's sources are unknown to me at this time, but I will try to find out. If you never heard of it,then it's probably suburban legend. Ken D.

Kal Row

forget the romans

king Solomon had it in his temple - to keep the barefoot priests from catching the death of a cold - only some of these pluming innovations made it to herod's temple from where the Romans got it - need to study the ancient order of the operative masons – most of Solomon’s technology was lost though – don’t ask how I know this stuff – I’m not telling

DanHolohan

Thanks, Ken

Learning every day! ;-)