Friday, November 02, 2012
Airing closets
BBC website mentions a bit of research that sounds at first like the usual Green claptrap, but actually makes sense.
Note that all those windows are under the wide roof overhang, thus pretty nearly rainproof.
And here's a very similar house in my neighborhood, built in 1910. Shows that the Westly was echoing popular features, not inventing something new:
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Drying laundry in the home poses a health risk to those prone to asthma, hay fever and other allergies, according to new research. A study carried out by the Mackintosh School of Architecture found that many homes had too much moisture indoors. Up to a third of this moisture was attributed to drying laundry. The researchers have called on housebuilders to build dedicated drying areas into new housing to address the health concerns. A study of 100 homes by the Mackintosh Environmental Architecture Research Unit in Glasgow found 87% dried their washing indoors in colder weather. Researcher Rosalie Menon said people were not aware how much moisture this added to the air. "Going into people's homes, we found they were drying washing in their living rooms, in their bedrooms. "These spaces should be independently heated and ventilated. It's very much going back to the airing cupboards we saw in more historical types of housing."Of course you could put a modern dryer in the house, like most American houses of every class, but apparently that's not culturally feasible in Scotland. The airing closet is an excellent idea, and was common in the bungalow era. Here's a larger house from the 1926 Sears kithouse catalog, with every closet ventilated:
Note that all those windows are under the wide roof overhang, thus pretty nearly rainproof.
And here's a very similar house in my neighborhood, built in 1910. Shows that the Westly was echoing popular features, not inventing something new:
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