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Reply To: | BP - Dwell time 5 minutes. |
Date: | Wed, 4 Nov 1998 13:07:19 -0500 |
Content-Type: | text/plain |
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Dan Becker wrote:
"Shutters or blinds were one element of a total package of
environmental control that was active and passive, as opposed to the
mechanical systems employed today (HVAC). People actively operated
them as needed for the circumstance. They helped to moderate the
extremes of weather by providing protection to the sash during
inclement weather (big storms, heavy winds, etc.). They could also be
closed to keep hot sun out of the interior to keep the structure
cooler: with louvered blinds, as opposed to solid shutters, you could
then open the sash and still get air movement (passive ventilation,
thermal chimneys, etc.), while keeping out the heat gain from the
sun's rays."
It seems to me that I heard that lots of the shutters that people
think of as typical of "Colonial" houses were actually 19th century
additions. Does anyone know anything about that?
Also, many first floor shutters were not louvered but solid, even if
the ones on the upper floors were louvered. I think that was at least
in part for the same reason that people nowadays put bars on their
first floor windows--security. Somehow I find it comforting that
people were just as afraid of break-ins in the "good old days" as they
are today. If my facts are wrong, I'm not sure I want to be
corrected!
Marilyn Harper
National Register of Historic Places
(which is in no way responsible for the content of this message!)
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