COAL SIR,-1 should like to comment on some of the
points raised on domestic heating in Miss Sheila B. Mason's letter in your issue of July 23.
It is, I am afraid, asking too much of all modern solid fuel appliances to expect them both to burn half the amount of fuel required by an open grate, and to provide greater comfort; this is something neither we nor the makers have ever claimed. What we do main- tain, however, is that in the most efficient types of modern appliances, that is to say those which provide convected heat, either fuel consumption can he reduced, or sub-
, stantially greater comfort can be provided with no increase in fuel consumption. Con- vector fires, openable stoves, and the recently introduced free-standing open fires all have these advantages.
Modern solid fuel appliances have indeed, as Miss Mason says, the advantage of ability to remain in overnight, and to burn low grade fuels. What is more, they can be controlled so that the fire is made to burn very slowly and economically when the room is not occupied, and they will burn coke or other smokeless fuels very efficiently. In general, the efficiency with which coke is burnt on a modern appliance is sufficiently greater than the efficiency of burning o( coal to make the use of coke, even at present prices, more economical than that of coal. Householders Who do not live in smokeless zones thus have a choice of fuels, and it should be remembered that supplies of coke are no longer restricted.
The importance of thermal insulation sl4puld by now be appreciated by all housing authorities. Structural material and methods giving a high degree of insulation can now be incorporated at little or no greater cost than the use of traditional and heat-wasting materials. Those who live in older houses, in which the upper floor ceiling is not insulated, can, at relatively small cost, provide their own insulation; my Council has recently collaborated with the gas and electricity industries in producing a leaflet showing how this can be done.
District heating is likely to be economical only where it can be provided in conjunction
ERIC BELLINGHAM Director-General, Coal Utilisation Council 3 Upper Belgrave Street, London, S.W.!
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