?«.^l/l( 



HERE'S THE HOW 



OF OIL HEATING 



In attempting to solve the two prohlems of fuel and labor, many green- 

 house men, in various sections of the country, have adopted oil heating for 

 their ranges. Others are thinking of it. These may find helpful suggestions 

 in the experience of one user of it, here carefully set forth. 



HILE to some extent the 

 application of oil heating 

 to greenhouses must bo 

 worked out by each owner 

 for himself, the experience 

 of those who have em- 

 ployed it will have a cer- 

 tain guiding value. For 

 six years I have had oil 

 heating in my range in 

 Wyoming and would not go back to 

 coal so long as I could get oil at a 

 reasonable price. Oil heating requires 

 care and patience, but in general it is 

 a great labor saver. Except when the 

 system is being cleaned out, it allows 

 much greater cleanliness in the boiler 

 room. The matter of expense depends 

 largely on local conditions. 

 Four important questions 

 to be considered are the 

 oil, the burner, the storage 

 of the oil and the regula- 

 tion of the oil and steam to 

 secure proper combustion. 

 I assume that the steam jet 

 method is used to vaporize 

 the oil; that seems to me 

 the only desirable method. 

 The steam jet burner can 

 be used most satisfactorily 

 when the heating system is 

 steam and when the burner 

 takes its steam directly 

 from the boiler it is heat- 

 ing. 



By WILLIAM MOSTELLER. 



too explosive to be used for fuel, but 

 the heavier asphalt base crude oil is 

 reasonably safe and can often be ob- 

 tained at a price and in quantities to 

 justify its use as fuel. 



If Good at All, Then Excellent. 



While of course one needs to give an 

 oil fire constant attention in getting 

 the steam up to the desired pressure 

 and making the proper adjustment of 

 oil and steam for that pressure and load, 

 once the burner is so adjusted it will, 

 barring some irregularity in the oil, 

 maintain that steam pressure indefinite- 

 ly without further attention than keep- 



Kinds of OIL 



THE FUEL THAT FLOWS 



>> o ♦> ♦> 



Commercial fuel oil is the 

 residue of any one of a 

 number of crude oils from 

 which all of the more valu- 

 able oils and gases have 

 been extracted. This oil is 

 safe under any conditions 

 to be found in a boiler 

 room; unless it is quite hot 

 it can hardly be set on fire 

 by any ordinary means. If 

 coaxed into a blaze with a 

 bonfire, it gives off little 

 heat but great quantities of 

 dense, black smoke. 



Any steam jet burner which will 

 burn fuel oil will also burn crude oil, 

 distillate or kerosene. Distillate and 

 kerosene are expensive, but a barrel of 

 either one of them, used in an emer- 

 gency, may cost much less than the 

 value of the crop which would other- 

 wise be lost. These two forms of oil 

 fuel can be used with less pressure than 

 fuel oil requires and, since they will 

 not clog the burner, can be fed in 

 smaller amounts than fuel oil. Paraffin 

 base crude oil is both too expensive and 



It will flow to the storage tank; it will 

 flow to the boiler, and, once the burner 

 is properly adjusted, it will often take 

 care of the fire for days with little 

 further attention than the replenishing 

 of the supply tank. With neither dust 

 nor ashes, there is no outside dirt 

 except when the system is being 

 cleaned out. Oil has many advan- 

 tages which interest the greenhouse 

 owner, particularly at the present time. 



absolutely and, since there is no bed of 

 coals, the boiler cools quickly. 



The essentials for a proper oil heat- 

 ing system are, I believe, as follows: 

 Not less than twenty pounds of steam 

 pressure; a steam jet burner propor- 

 tioned to meet the needs of the boiler 

 under which it is used; the steam to be 

 taken from the boiler being operated j 

 a small supply tank placed eight or ten 

 feet above the burner, and a closed, 

 back-to-the-boiler system of radiation, 

 maintaining a steady pressure in the 

 boiler. 



For ranges covering 20,000 square 

 feet and upwards, I should advise send- 

 ing to some oil well supply house and 

 obtaining two or more standard burners 

 having a round hole in the 

 tip of both the oil and the 

 steam tubes. According to 

 my experience, it would be 

 unwise to get a burner 

 which has slots or other 

 devices from which the oil. 

 is blown into the fijrebox. 

 But, except perhaps for the 

 needle valve, which con- 

 trols the flow of oil, any 

 ingenious person having 

 pipe tools and drills at 

 hand can construct a burn- 

 er as good aa the best and, 

 in addition, have it of the 

 particular size desired. The 

 detailed directions for such 

 construction would occupy 

 more space than is at my 

 disposal here. 



Size of Burners. 



ing oil, without fail, in the supply tank. 

 I have lost more than one night's 

 sleep fooling with dirty or wet oil, but, 

 with clean oil and no water, I have 

 never lost a minute's sleep on account 

 of fire and my oil fire has never yet 

 gone out unless the fuel was turned off. 

 However, it is advisable to connect an 

 electric doorbell with a pair of dry cells 

 and the indicator of the steam gauge in 

 such a way that the bell will ring in 

 case the steam pressure begins to fall. 

 When an oil fire does go out it goes out 



A burner of the smallest 

 practicable size will take 

 care of any boiler up to 

 twenty horsepower. Two 

 of this size, one on each 

 side, with a third made 

 with a %-inch steam tube, 

 instead of a %-inch, and a 

 %-inch oil tube, instead of 

 a %-inch, with valve and 

 holes in proportion, will 

 take care of a boiler up to 

 100 horsepower. In such a combination 

 the larger burner could be used alone 

 most of the time; in especially cold 

 weather this one could be cut out and 

 the two smaller ones used, with the 

 larger one held in reserve. Extra burn- 

 ers should always be on hand, well 

 cleaned and ready for instant use, in 

 case those in use become clogged at the 

 oil valve or coke burns fast to the tip, 

 making a change necessary. 



It is best to put the one burner used 

 for continuous operation under the cen- 



