Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 88.djvu/149

 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

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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.

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