Popular Science Monthly 



Hints on Running the Home Furnace 



TO get the best heat at the lowest 

 cost and with the least expenditure 

 of time and labor, a number of valuable 

 suggestions have been prepared and is- 

 sued by the United States Department 

 of Bureau of Mines. Here are some : 



Attend to the fire regu- 

 larly, and do not wait until 

 it has burned low and heat 

 is needed throughout the 

 house. 



Let the size of the coal 

 fired be as nearly uniform 

 as possible. Using a coal 

 of uneven size prevents an 

 even flow of air through 

 the fuel bed and increases 

 the tendency of the fire to 

 burn through in spots. Try 

 to keep the fuel bed free 

 from air spots. 



Avoid excessive shaking 

 of the grates and thus re- 

 duce the amount of coal 

 lost by falling into the ash 

 pit. Ordinarily the shaking 

 of the grates should be 

 stopped as soon as bright particles begin 

 to drop through. 



In mild weather it is well to leave on 

 the grates a layer of ashes under the 

 active fuel bed. This layer will increase 

 the resistance to the flow of air through 

 the fuel bed and will facilitate the main- 

 tenance of the low rate of combustion 

 required in such weather. It will also 

 cut off some of the grate surface. 



Clinkers should be worked out of the 

 fuel bed, for they obstruct the flow of 

 air, clog the grates, and may break the 

 parts of the shaking 

 grates. 



Keep heating surfaces 

 and flues swept clean so 

 they will readily absorb 

 heat. Do not let ashes pile 

 up under the grates in the 

 ash pit, for they will seal 

 off the air from part of 

 the grate surface and may 

 cause the grate bars to be- 

 come burned and warped. 



Ascertain by experiment what operat 

 ing conditions produce the best results 



Round fire pot fired 

 by coking method 



Square fire pot fired by 

 coking method 



121 



them as rigidly as possible. 



Insufficient draft is often responsible 

 for failures of heating systems to meet 

 requirements. The chimney or smoke 

 pipe may be too small, or may be ob- 

 structed, or may have leaky joints. 

 The importance of providing an inlet 

 for the air that must enter 

 the furnace room is fre- 

 quently overlooked. Rough- 

 ly 150 to 300 cubic feet of 

 air are required for each 

 pound of coal burned, and 

 to prevent trouble from in- 

 sufficient draft, some means 

 for admitting this air into 

 the furnace room must be 

 provided. Usually enough 

 air leaks into the furnace 

 room through cracks and 

 poorly fitted windows, but 

 the tighter the construc- 

 tion of the room the great- 

 er the need for an outlet. 

 The person most likely 

 to be interested in proper 

 methods of operation is 

 the one who pays the fuel 

 bills, and as a rule it is to be expected 

 that better results will be obtained if 

 the firing is done by the household 

 rather than some one hired to tend the 

 fires. However, something more than 

 an interest in keeping down the coal bills 

 is necessary ; some knowledge of the 

 characteristics of the fuel and the func- 

 tions of the different parts of the heater 

 is required to save fuel and trouble. 

 Use the coking method of firing as 

 the illustrations; that is, 

 partly Inirned coal, from 

 which the gas has been 

 dri\cn, to one part of the 

 fire and throw the fresh 

 coal on the remaining por- 

 tion. The fresh fuel then 

 ignites slowly, the com- 

 bustible gas is driven oft" 

 gradually, and the live 

 coals that are exposed on 

 one side of the fire heat 

 this gas, so that it is burned 

 before it leaves the fire pot. 

 If fresh coal is spread uniformly over 

 the fire surface, much of the gas driven 



shown in 

 work the 



in your particular heater and adhere to off is not ignited and escapes unburncd. 



