8. Temperature Gradient – Long Horizontal Runs

Now look what happens in a typical UK home where the norm is to have several rooms closed off from each other by doors. Unfortunately leaving the doors open between adjacent areas is not the same thing as having open-plan achitecture. Here, the 'cartwheel' never develops properly because it keeps meeting a vertical wall above each door. The hottest air therefore gets trapped close to the ceiling directly above the stove and only a small amount bleeds across to adjacent areas. By the time we get to the third room at the right, very little heat is being transferred, so that rotation is slow and spasmodic and the air that does flow back towards the stove at floor level moves sluggishly and remains cold enough to cause considerable discomfort. Indeed, circulation is so poor in this situation that it may never be possible to achieve comfort anywhere other than by closing the door at lintel 1. and reducing the heat output from the stove.