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“Heat may be conveyed from the central station to the buildings of this group either as steam or as water. Low-pressure,  live steam for the transmission of heat is not economical because of the larger cost of piping material, of trenches and of insulation. High-pressure steam is superior because of the lower first cost of the pipe, but steam, however carried, cannot utilize the exhaust from engines in a distributing system of the large proportions and distances of that under consideration. Accordingly, hot water, which may be driven through he pipes by centrifugal pumps at a negligible cost, seems best suited, and that is recommended in this report. Several of the important buildings are already equipped with hot water piping, which would invite the extension of this system.”
They went with steam, of course. I can imagine the debates that must have taken place before they made that decision. The thought that Central-D.C. might have had a district hot water system in 1905 makes me swoon. Time-traveling through this business is always a hoot, isn’t it? Imagine 200 people shoveling 30,000 tons of coal into 85 boilers right there on the Washington D. C. Mall. Dead Men tax dollars at work. The more things change, the more they remain the same. Dan Holohan
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In the days before primary/secondary pumping, how large do you suppose those centrifugal pumps would have been?
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