Corbett's Hot-Water Apparatus

Corbett's Hot Water Apparatus

Article from The Gardener's Chronicle Jan 30 1841

ON CORBETT’S HOT WATER APPARATUS

In the first Number of the Gardeners' Chronicle I find a reference to Corbett’s Patent Apparatus, or open-trough system for supplying artificial heat to hothouses, etc. Having had an apparatus on the same principle erected at Cowley in August last, which I find to exceed my most sanguine expectations, I have sent the following remarks upon it.
The open trough, or gutter, may be applied to a boiler of any construction, but the one to which it is connected here is what is technically called a D boiler, manufactured by Messrs. Garton and Jarvis of Exeter; the fireplace and ashpit are in the centre of the boiler; the heat and flames escape at the front and back, passing over the top, on each side, and underneath, before they are lost in the chimney, so that very little heat is wasted. The water flows from the top of the boiler, through a four-inch pipe, into troughs made of cast-iron, of the following dimensions, inside measure:— Six inches wide at the top, three inches and a half at the bottom, and seven inches deep; the trough is constructed in lengths three feet long, neatly fitted together by a rivet in the bottom, and one on each side near the top. The water returns in a cast iron pipe, three inches in diameter. There are thin iron lids, or covers, of the same length as each portion of the trough, to fit upon the whole length of the apparatus, so that the degree of humidity may be regulated by taking up some portion of the covers, without disturbing the others. The troughs, or gutters, might be made of various materials, but I prefer iron. The heat is diffused from the surface of the trough, or pipes, nearly as quickly as it would be from copper or zinc, and retains the heat much longer. The width and depth of the troughs should be varied according to the plants intended to be grown in the house; an Orchidaceous house requires a wider surface on the top that those intended for the growth of Ericas and green-house plants generally.
Of all the different systems for producing artificial heat, I consider Corbett's open-trough system the most simple and efficacious. To al lovers of Orchidaceae I would particularly recommend it, for a moist and humid atmosphere may easily be obtained by taking off any number of the lids from the trough, as may seem advisable. It dispenses with the perforated pipe and the inconvenience of throwing water on the floor of the house, which often makes it disagreeable to walk on. Another advantage, of more importance, is the nature of the steam arising direct from the water, which is far more genial and adapted to vegetation than that which is raised by pouring water on a hot pipe. During the resting season of Orchidaceous plants, the atmosphere of the house is easily kept less humid, by not removing the whole or any part of the lids. For Vineries and Peach-houses it would answer exceedingly well, and entirely eradicates the red spider; for the trough can be covered when the tress are in flower, and when the fruit is approaching towards maturity. On the other hand, during the growing season, you may maintain a regularly humid atmosphere with less trouble than by any other means. In a Pine-store, 40 feet long, with a walk between the back wall and bark-bed, the trough being two feet from the level of the walk, I can command any degree of heat with much less attention than is required in some houses with a boiler of the same description and equal power as regards pipe. During the last week the weather has been unusually severe for this part of the country, the thermometer on the 8th instant being as low as six degrees Fahrenheit, at eight o'clock in the morning. At that time the thermometer in the pine-store was from 65 to 70 degrees; and in a moderate frost it may be raised to 100 degrees. Persons accustomed to horticultural buildings, on entering a house heated on this system, cannot fail to observe the mild and genial nature of the atmosphere; and the appearance of the plants is a sufficient guarantee that the air, as regulated by this apparatus is beneficial to their growth. - J. Griffin, Gardener to Mrs Wells, Cowley, near Exeter.

Reproduced from The Gardeners' Chronicle, January 30th, 1841 - the author refers to the very first issue, January 2nd 1841.

February 2025
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