LOWER COST HOUSING
Sir-I listened with interest and :attention to a discussion of lower cost housing broadcast on July 13. It was interesting and informative, but I strongly disagreed with the negative approach of the builder. He suggested that young couples should do without desirable (?) things and cited wash-houses and chimnefs, They could come later on. We have been married 15 years and have four children. Of late we have enjoyed a moderate degree of affluence and have been able to spend some money on our house. The first thing we " did was to get a spin dry washing machine-an English model which also washes dishes. It was placed at the end of the sink bench-an eminently suitable and convenient position. Our washhouse has degenerated into a dumping ground for family rubbish which, for all practical purposes, would be far better burnt. The price of the washing machine is half the price of a wash-house, and has reduced my work by a great deal more than half. : The next thing we did (from affluence, you understand-not because of poverty) was to have the chimney. in the living room taken out. We now have a great deal more space. In place of the open fire we put a slow combustion stove (I don’t like the word stove-it sounds ugly-ours is porcelain, streamlined and elegant). This requires only a flue. The living room is adjacent to the kitchen-, ette. The flue goes through the wall and up through the kitchenette ceiling. Round this flue .I have a marvellous hot cupboard which airs and even dries clothes better than anything we had before. Our stove has also a pipe which connects with the electric hot water system, We use an enormous amount of hot water-and it’s always hot! Our room is beautifully warm-no draughts in the back of the neck. It is much easier to keep clean; there is no dirty. grate to clean in the morning, and we use about one-third or one-quarter of the fuel we used to. If we feel like an open fire we open the stove doors; but that happens very rarely. We are quite content to see the flames through the’ mica doors. I consider our set-up is much cheaper to have than a conventional wash-house and chimney, and is also infinitely easier and pleasanter to live with. It is not a question of "doing without," which implies deprivation, but a question of doing better,
TRIED BOTH
(Palmerston North).
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 29, Issue 733, 31 July 1953, Page 5
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412LOWER COST HOUSING New Zealand Listener, Volume 29, Issue 733, 31 July 1953, Page 5
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