regularity of heating, and that there are usually no reasons why it
cannot be utilized in country houses. A hot-water installation is
likely to cost twice as much as a furnace, but if we are to live in the
house it is better to make our estimates cover ten or twenty years
rather than to bear too strongly on first costs.

The following table, while it must not be taken as fully conclusive,
gives at least a basis of consideration:


HOT AIR. STEAM. HOT WATER.
First cost.................. Small. Higher. Highest.
Comparative coal
consumption ............ 18 1/2 tons. 13 1/2 tons. 10 tons.
Average durability.......... 12 years. 35 years. *Indestructible
Heat distribution........... Uneven. Regular. Even.
Temperature................. Variable. Fair. Regular.
Ventilation................. Good, if Good, with Good, with
properly indirect indirect
managed. system. system.
Quality of heated air....... Ditto. Ditto. Ditto.
Dust and dirt............... Much. Little. None.
Danger of fire.............. Moderate. None. None.
Danger of explosion......... Slight. None. None.
Noise....................... None. Occasional. Almost none.
Management.................. *Delightful. *Pleasure. *Joy.
Relative cost of apparatus.. 9 13 15
Ditto, plus repairs and
fuel for five years..... 29 1/2 29 2/3 27
Ditto, plus repairs and