HOW A ROOM IS WARMED 



191 



which comes from coal, to escape up the chimney. The 

 hottest fire is obtained when the damper and draft are 

 both open and the check draft closed, as this allows a 

 free passage of air through the burning coal. By open- 

 ing the check draft, closing the draft, and partially closing 

 the damper, the fire will burn slowly. By closing the 

 damper completely, the air current is checked and burning 

 almost stops. If the room is overheated, close the draft, 

 open the damper and the upper door of the stove. The 

 air from the room will then rush in over the coal and pass 

 up the chimney, thus cooling the stove without helping 

 the materials to burn. In checking the fire, always close 

 the draft. If the draft is left open and the damper 

 closed, the poisonous gas, carbon monoxide, may escape 

 into the room. A very small percentage of this gas in the 

 air is fatal. Carbon monoxide has no odor to warn of 

 its presence and people have been suffocated while sleep- 

 ing in a room with a 

 stove in which the 

 fire was checked in- 

 correctly. 



How a room is 

 warmed. In the 

 case of the old- 

 fashioned fireplace, 

 although it is still 

 used because of its 

 coziness and good 

 cheer, very little 

 heat is given to distant parts of the room, most of the heat 

 going up the chimney. The stove transfers to the room by 

 convection and radiation about seventy to eighty per cent 



Convection currents caused by a hot stove. 



