HEATING THE HOME 5 



cellar and heating the entire house by means of this. 

 The first furnaces were used only about one hundred years 

 ago. 



Modern heating. The modern fireplace. Fireplaces are 

 still frequently built into houses, both because they are 

 ornamental and because the open fire is attractive. Dur- 

 ing the late spring and early fall, when it is not cold enough 

 to start the furnace, these fireplaces serve a useful purpose 

 in taking off the chill during the evening ; but as a means 

 of heating, the fireplace is ineffective and expensive. It is 

 ineffective because it raises the air near it to an extremely 

 high temperature, while the air in distant parts of the room 

 is heated only slightly ; it is expensive because so much 

 heat is wasted in the heated air that passes up the chimney, 

 and a large amount of fuel is required to keep the fire going. 

 It is not adapted to cold climates. 



The modern stove. The stove is a great improvement on 

 the fireplace in that it warms the room more satisfactorily 

 and requires less fuel. The stove heats the room by a 

 process called convection. The heated air over the stove 

 rises and circulates to other parts of the room, while the 

 colder air rushes in over the stove and is heated. By this 

 means a larger part of the air of a room is heated than 

 would be possible by a fireplace. While in the fireplace the 

 fuel is burned in the open, frequently filling the room with 

 smoke, in the stove the fuel is burned in a closed firebox 

 with a special pipe for carrying off the smoke. The stove 

 has the further advantage that it is provided with dampers 

 by means of which the fire may be controlled. When 

 coal is first put into the stove, the back damper should 

 be opened to allow the escape of poisonous gases that form, 

 as otherwise these may be forced back into the room. Cook 

 stoves are so built that the heated gases may be forced to 

 pass around the oven, thus heating it before passing up 

 through the pipe and chimney. 



