Mechanics of the Household. E. S. Keene

      Fig. 57a.—Indicates the general condition of the furnace fire during very cold weather. The fuel should fill the fire-pot to C. The ashes should not be allowed to accumulate beyond B, on the grate. There should be no more ashes than appear at H, in the ashpit.

      6. In severe weather give the heater the most careful attention the last thing at night.

      7. Do not overshake or poke the fire in mild weather; once in a while shake enough to give place for a little more fuel.

      8. Do not let ashes bank up under the grate in ash-pit. Grate bars are very hardy, but it is possible to warp them with carelessness. Taking up the ashes once a day is the best rule, even if but little has fallen into the pit.

      9. Keep the boiler surfaces and flues clean; a crust of soot ¼ inch in thickness causes the boiler to require half as much more fuel than when the surfaces are clean.

      10. If convenient, have a water hose to spray the ashes when cleaning out the pit.

      11. Attend the boiler from two to four times per day. In mild weather, running with a checked fire, morning and night is usually often enough. In severe weather, once in early morning, again at mid-day, again at five or six o’clock and finally thorough attention at from nine to eleven o’clock in the evening.

      12. If, through burning poor coal, the fire pot gets full of ashes, or slate and clinkers massed together, the quickest way to get a good active fire is to dump the grate and then build a new fire—from the kindling up.

      13. If a hard clinker lodges between the grate bars, do not force the shaking, but first dislodge the mass with a poker or slicing bar. Then the grate will operate without damage.

      Weather and Time of Day.

      —In severe weather keep the fire pot full of coal, and run the heater by the dampers or regulator (if one is used). Thoroughly clean the grate twice a day. Let the top of the fire in front be level with the feed door sill. Bank up the coal higher to the rear.

      In moderate weather there should be from 2 to 6 inches of ashes between the live coal and the grate. As the weather grows colder keep the grate and the fire pot a little cleaner—sometimes it helps to run the poker or slicing bar over it through the clinker door. With some fuels this is never necessary.

      Night Firing.

      —In very cold weather, when the house should be kept warm all night, clean the grate well at a late hour—the last thing. Clear the bottom of the fire pot of all ashes and clinkers so that the grate is covered with clear-burning, red-hot coals, then fill the pot full of fuel. If possible, leave some of the flame exposed to burn the gases. Leave the drafts on long enough to burn off some of the gas, then check the heater for the night. Thus there is plenty of coal to burn during the night and some on which to commence early in the morning. Some drafts do not make it necessary to leave the dampers on to burn off the gas after feeding.

      With the ash-pit draft damper closed and the cold-air check damper open at night, but part of the coal is burned and there is much of it not burned in the morning. So, by reversing the dampers in the early morning the fire starts up quickly and often the house may be well warmed before any coal is put into the fire pot.

      Some boilers are run the other way—a very poor way. If the grate is cleared off in very cold weather and coal added at five or six o’clock in the afternoon, by eleven o’clock at night nearly one-half of the coal is burned and the grate is covered over with a mass of ashes and clinkers. With little coal remaining, to shake the grate will quite likely put out the remaining fire; to put fresh coal on a low fire reduces further its declining temperature. The result is a cold house that will grow colder until a new fire is started.

      Often in cold weather with this poor way of night firing, it takes one or more hours of forced firing to warm the house in the morning, and all the coal saved the night before is more than used to get the house or building “heated up”—while the people who should be comfortable have to get up, bathe and take breakfast in chilly rooms. At no time in the day is heat more wanted than about the time of getting up and starting the day. A fire well cared for late in the evening makes a warm house all night. And so it follows that it is much easier to add a little more heat in the morning. And surely less coal is burned, for the forcing of a fire part of the time often overheats, and wastes coal.

      First-day Firing.

      —In the morning of moderate winter weather, with the ash-pit draft damper open, before adding any coal allow the fire to brighten up if it seems to be low; then (for such conditions) spread over a thin layer of fresh coal and set the drafts for a brisk fire. After the new fire is well started add as much coal as may be necessary to last until next firing. Do not shake much if any—just enough to give space for more coal. Then by setting the regulator (if one is used), or, by closing the ash-pit draft damper and opening the cold-air check damper a little, the boiler should keep up its work until the next firing time.

      In severe weather, if the boiler has been attended to at night as directed in the section on “night firing,” the drafts can be turned on and the boiler run for half an hour before adding coal. Or, if more convenient to give it immediate attention, the grate can be thoroughly shaken and enough coal added to last until mid-day. Often the cold-air check damper will need to be entirely closed and the ash-pit draft damper partly open if the heater is a water boiler. If a steam boiler, the regulator should then be set to maintain the number of pounds of pressure wanted and so left.

      Other-day Firing.

      —In severe weather more coal should be added about noon, sometimes the draft may be left on for a few minutes and then checked. And in such weather it is often well to give the boiler further attention at five or six o’clock. In severest weather the boiler should not be attended more than four times a day; and generally not less than three times.

      Often much coal is wasted by “nagging” the fire—poking, shaking and feeding it until it becomes “dyspeptic.” A sure cure is a little common sense in regular feeding, etc.

      Economy and Fuels.

      —In running many boilers for moderate weather better results follow if the grate is not shaken too much or too often. Sometimes in moderate weather a body of ashes on the grate checks the fire and there is enough heat without a useless burning of fuel. Many houses are overheated in moderate weather and too much coal burned by running the boiler as for zero weather.

      So we repeat—it is not wise to overshake or overfeed a boiler in moderate weather. The fire should be in such shape that if a change comes at night there is a basis for a good fire to start on. When the grate is shaken but once during the 24 hours (during moderate weather) late at night is the best time.

      When one stops to think that heating is needed during about 7 months out of the year, and that a greater portion of this time is usually moderate weather when a very little heat is needed, it must be seen that the science of running the heater to save coal is to apply