JUNE 2S, 1900. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



J 33 



plants when bench room is needed in 

 early spring, and many plants will do 

 better in the hotbeds than in a house. 

 We shall be pleased to have the opin- 

 ions of our readers in the matter. 



Next Week. 



We have a number of "warm ones" 

 in hand for next week. A large buyer 

 of small plants relates some very in- 

 teresting experiences and gives credit 

 where credit is due. If his suggestions 

 are followed, those who ship out poor 

 stock will be forced to reform or quit 

 the shipping business. 



But we have room for more. Send 

 in your "troubles" and your views on 

 the problems already presented. 



HEATING PROBLEMS. 



In order that I may make my replies 

 to correspondents complete and detlnite, 

 I would ask that, with their letters of in- 

 quiry, they also submit a diagram show- 

 ing the heights and shapes of the houses 

 to be heated, stating what parts are glass, 

 also show location and depth of boiler 

 cellar, arrangement of benches and 

 grades of floor lines, also state tlie low- 

 est night temperature desired. Such dia- 

 grams need not be to scale nor very 

 elaborate, and would enable me to make 

 my replies more definite and of vastly 

 more value to corres[:)ondents. 



HENRY W. GIBBONS. 

 Heating Engineer. 



I have a 20 horse-power steam boiler 

 that, on account of water seeping into 

 the cellar, I must convert into a hot 

 water heater. This boiler has heated 

 with steam two houses 20x12.5. 1 only 

 care to heat one of these houses with 

 hot water from the boiler mentioned. 

 Temperature here has gone to 18 de- 

 grees below zero. The house has five 

 runs of 11/4-inch pipe which one 3-inch 

 flow pipe fed with steam successfully. 

 Will two 3-inch flow pipes be suffi- 

 cient with \vater? The five runs of 

 1%-inch pipe run all around the houss 

 under benches. I want to use all of 

 these as returns. How many and what 

 size of pipes will it take to feed them? 



GEO. S. 



Assuming that the one house 125 

 feet by 20 feet to' be heated by water 

 has about twenty-four feet of glass on 

 the roof, and that the sides are solid 

 board walls, and that a night tempera- 

 ture of 55 degrees is desired, it will be 

 necessary to add seven lines of 2-inch 

 pipes to the ten lines of 1%-inch pipes 

 now in the house. If desired, the pres- 

 ent pipes can remain as placed, and 

 the one 3-inch main will be ample to 

 feed them, with a return main of simi- 

 lar capacity; the extra 2-inch pipes 

 will also require a 3-inch flow and re- 

 turn main to care for them. 



As your correspondent does not send 

 any diagram showing the present pipe 

 arrangement, location and depth of 

 boiler cellar and height of present 

 boiler, nor grade of house, it is not 

 possible for me to describe nor sketch 

 the exact arrangement of pipes and 



connections, which I otherwise wou'.d 

 have been pleased to have done. 



HENRY W. G13B0NS. 

 New York. 



COAL GAS FOR FUEL. 



Editor Review: Kindly let me know 

 through your valued paper if it is pos- 

 sible to heat a steam boiler by coal 

 gas instead of burning coal, as gas is 

 much cheaper in proportion to coal in 

 this part. 



Outside temperature goes 10 below 

 zero at times. Inside temperature re- 

 quired, CO degrees at night. The boiler 

 is an upright tubular. Should be glad 

 to know if any of your readers have 

 tried this way of heating, and if so. 

 what is the best way of going about it. 

 Gas main runs ten feet from my boiler 

 house. PROGRESS. 



(It is no doubt possible to heat with 

 coal gas as fuel and we believe the 

 only question to consider would be that 

 of cost. It seems unlikely, though, that 

 coal gas could be manufactured and 

 sold at a price that would make it as 

 economical to use as coal. Has any 

 reader made use of coal gas as fuel? 

 If so, we shall be pleased to hear from 

 him.— Ed.) 



COIL BOILERS. 



Their Duration, Etc 



Some complaints have been made 

 lately about the use of coil boilers in 

 heating. As we were the first to in- 

 troduce them, and have used them for 

 the past eighteen years, it devolves 

 upon us, I think, to explain in regard 

 to them. 



As to duration, the 1-inch size we do 

 not recommend, with the kind of pipe 

 manufactured nowadays. For the next 

 size (11,4 -inch) we use double thick 

 pipe only. We took one out about a 

 year ago that we had had in use for 

 fifteen years, and it was sound yet, but 

 not to be trusted any longer. Our 

 favorite size, however, is the li/^-inch, 

 which will last from 8 to 10 years, fully 

 as long as any tubular steam boiler. 

 The 2-inch size, which we use some- 

 times when no pressure can be used, 

 will last from 12 to 15 years. 



As to the working of these coils, we 

 claim a saving of one-third in fuel, and 

 one-third more power than either cast- 

 iron or steam boilers of the same size, 

 the most tangible proof being that they 

 will heat the houses in one-half the 

 time that the cast iron boiler will, as 

 it is impossible to construct a cast iron 

 one of the same dimensions that will 

 give the same amount of heating sur 

 face. 



We are now heating, under one sys- 

 tem, about 30,000 feet of glass, divided 

 in three ranges of houses 300 feet each, 

 the largest 35 feet wide and 15 feet 

 high and the other ranges from 12 to 

 20 feet wide, and we are using two 



large coils of 700 feet of li/2-inch pipes 

 each (we do not dare to state the cost), 

 but they were made before the pipe 

 trust was in operation. They are each 

 7 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 3 feet high. 

 One coil alone will heat the whole 

 range 'till hard weather or December, 

 or from March en, while in the coldest 

 months we use coil boilers and have an 

 easy time of it. In addition to this we 

 have a reserve of two smaller coils, in 

 case of accident. All are connected to- 

 gether with valves on coil flows and 

 returns of each to cut them off from 

 the others in case of a leak, and are 

 glad to say that for the past 18 years 

 we have never been left on heating. 



On one of the coldest nights of the 

 past winter, with 14 below and a high 

 wind blowing, more draft was left on 

 than usual. In making our customary 

 round in the houses, before retiring, 

 we found the whole range at 70 degrees 

 and the man in charge off somewhere. 

 Closing dampers and a few shovels of 

 ashes thrown on the fire soon regu- 

 lated the temperature. While vexed at 

 such an extreme, still we were pleased 

 at such a proof of the efliciency of coil 

 boilers under pressure. No cast iron, 

 nor even a steam, boiler of the same 

 dimensions would have given such a 

 result. Battling to keep the frost out, 

 I suppose, as our houses are not heav- 

 ily piped, having only 16 runs of 2-inch 

 piping in the largest houses, with the 

 other ranges in the same proportion. 



Our coils are well made, however, 

 though we do not call ourselves ex- 

 perts, and each one, before using, is 

 fully tested at 125 lbs. pressure. In 

 making them we give each coil a grad- 

 ual ascent toward the flow, and if the 

 hot water in the pipes of each single 

 coil (ten of them) has to travel 70 feet 

 before reaching the flow, the circula- 

 tion is perfect, owing to the pressure 

 on the returns (a most important 

 point), and naturally very rapid, heat- 

 ing quickly. 



We would no more give up coil btfil- 

 ers under pressure for heating than the 

 millions at large would' give up the 

 quick transit electrics of today to re- 

 turn to the old horse-car system of 

 some years ago. Of course, we got 

 there, but it took a long while. 



We use a low grade of anthracite 

 free burning coal with low draft and 

 avoid, therefore, the clinkers as well 

 as the warping of grates and doors. 

 The coils are easily cleaned from large 

 doors on the sides, even with the fire 

 on, or else with the hose if the fire is 

 out. 



A great deal depends also on the 

 way the piping is done in the houses, 

 and we divide it so as to have fully as 

 many flows and returns, especially on 

 a long circulation, and if any more pip- 

 ing is needed we would rather have it 

 on the flows than the returns. It may 

 seem unorthodox with some writers, 

 but practically it is true. 



DENYS ZIRNGIEBEL. 



Needham, Mass. 



