Dalen, Nils Gustav

SUBJECT AREA: Domestic appliances and interiors, Electricity, Ports and shipping

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b. 30 November 1869 Stenstorp, Sweden

d. 9 December 1937 Stockholm, Sweden

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Swedish physicist and engineer who was awarded the Nobel Prize for his "sun valve".

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Nils Gustav Dalen is probably best known as the inventor of the solid-fuel Aga Cooker. He was confined at home for some time in the 1920s, having been blinded as the result of an accident, and found the time to consider the need for an efficient, clean, attractive-looking cooker that would be economical in fuel consumption. The resultant cooking range of 1924 was based on sound scientific principles, was simple to manage and needed a minimum of attention.

The first Aga contained a cast-iron firebox enclosed in an insulated jacket of kieselguhr. The firebox was connected to cast-iron hotplates and ovens, all designed so that the heat was conducted to the various parts at precisely the correct temperatures for all types of cooking: simmering, boiling, roasting, baking and grilling. The hotplate heat was maintained at the desired temperature by way of insulated hinged covers that were lifted only when the hotplate was in use. The Aga was made in Sweden and was introduced into Britain in 1929. It was noted for being costly to purchase but inexpensive to run as no energy was wasted.

Dalen is also known for his invention of the "sun valve", a device which, as required, automatically lighted or extinguished light beacons and buoys; this invention brought him the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1912.

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