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 Trends in Heating Development was also part of that collection, and Mr. Strock's handwriting is on the cover. There's also a handwritten note in the margin of page 27, from Coal-Heat magazine's K. C. Richmond to Mr. Strock. He penned it next to an opinion written by R. C. Cross, who was in the Engineering Department of Sears, Roebuck and Co. The note reads, "Cliff, you should visit Cross. Did a $70,000,000 plbg & htg business in 1941 – 23,000 stokers. Have probably the country's best equipped testing lab. Htg industries (sic) post-war competition will come from new concerns – large corporation. New methods of distribution. Middleman and former outlets may be bi-passed (sic)."Prescient, isn't it? What an amazing business Sears did just before the war began, and Mr. Richmond's prediction have come true to a certain extent. Mr. Strock had a section in Trends in Heating Development, and here's what he had to say. The title of his essay is, "Developments of Great Interest and Value." He mentions Dr. Abbot's sun-heat boiler in the third paragraph. That alone is worth a Google search. (This business is so fascinating.) "It is quite possible that many of the changes in design of heating equipment which will come about in the next three to five years may be those due to a changed fuel situation. The present oil shortage is giving both anthracite and bituminous coal at least a short-term advantage. Oil is temporarily in a tough spot and it is not too improbable that if aviation sharply expands after the war and if refining methods are somewhat altered it may prove unprofitable to burn petroleum products as a heating fuel. "If some of the legislative questions bothering the utilities are ever cleared up definitely one way or another, perhaps the time will not be too far distant when such organizations will still more actively promote (1) district heating, (2) gas heating, and (3) begin real work on off-peak storage of electrical energy for buildings.
"Fuel conservation agitation of which we may see more this winter than ever before may possibly have a profound effect in bringing about further adoption of insulation, storm windows and weather-stripping, and this in turn is bound to affect heating design.
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"Perhaps, too, Dr. Abbot's sun-heat boiler or some similar device may be available for certain uses. Local developments, such as a spread of sawdust burners in wood-producing areas and even alcohol burning in corn-producing areas, may take place.| Dan Holohan - [Intro] | [Email] | [Website] |
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