EXTRACT VENTILATION SYSTEM |
The Chapel was built in 1830 and designed by Mr Sambell the Architect who remarkably was deaf and dumb. In its early years it was heated by a warm air stove installation. During the recent refurbishment works the underfloor builders work ducts which led from the warm air heating stove were discovered whilst the flooring was being removed. A later restoration in 1885 was by Sylvanus Trevail a local Architect who left a legacy of many fine buildings in Cornwall. These alteration works appear to have included the installation of gas lighting, raising the roof and the erection of a new ceiling. As the congregation at this time was in the region of 2000 this must have led to the need for a ventilation system to be installed. |
For the Chapel a new innovative type of ventilation system was installed which used the venturi effect to assist in extracting air. This passive ventilation system was installed within the roof space, and used centrally sited rising air ducts to induce air from the perimeter extract ducts. Circular grilles in the ceiling sited along the centre line of the Chapel allowed the warm air rising from the congregation and from the gas lighting to pass through and be collected by the circular hoods in the roof space sited above the ceiling grilles.
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This
extracted air is then accelerated by the effect of
a venturi whereby the ducting is decreased in
cross-sectional area to increase the velocity of
the air. This air increased velocity was then used
to induce and draw in extracted air from the
perimeter ducting in the roof space. The perimeter
ducting is continuous and its air inlet is
connected to the decorative mouldings at the
cornice edge of the building.
Fixed
lengths of rectangular perimeter ducting in the
roof space are each connected by circular ducting
which then connects into the main riser ducts
above the venturi reductions. The vitiated
air then escapes to atmosphere through circular
turret vents sited along the ridge line of the
roof.
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During large congregations the high internal height of the Chapel helps to increase the stack effect within the building, and thus increase the quantity of air drawn into the roof ducting. |
To compensate for and balance the amount of extracted air, fresh air inlet boxes (each complete with a flap control damper) are installed in the majority of the window recesses at both floor levels. Additional boxes are fitted flush within the thickness of the external walls where access is restricted. These air inlet boxes are similar to the Tobin Tubes as illustrated in the Walter Jones book ‘Heating by Hot Water’ third edition published in 1904. |
Architects
The Jerry Kent
Consultancy of Barnstaple during
their refurbishment works carried out in the year
2000 changed the type and method of lighting in the
Chapel which then enabled the central ceiling
ventilation grilles to be reinstated and reused for
their original purpose. This then allowed the
extract ventilation system to be brought back fully
into use.
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Early
indications of the effectiveness of this passive
ventilation system, when the Chapel has held around
a capacity of 1000 people, have showed the
performance of the system to be acceptable. Prior to
the reinstatement of the system the internal
atmosphere was oppressive with surface condensation
occurring on external walls indicating minimal air
movement which produced a stagnant internal
environment.
Our
ancestral Victorian engineers without the benefit
of electricity devised and installed an effective
extract ventilation system for the Chapel which
after a brief period of disuse has now been
brought back again into operation 115 years after
its initial installation.
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CIBSE HERITAGE GROUP
APRIL
2002