Evening star., 1895-11-09
HEATING THE HOUSE.
This is in Fact One of the Unsettled
Problems of Civilization.

Problems of Civilization.
From the New York Ledger.
Heating the house, If one has furnace,
is by many persons considered very great
problem. Just why this is so 1t Is easy to
understand In the first place. the care OF
the furnace is usually left to man or maid.
The former locks at it once or twice in the
course of the day; the latter hates it, and
therefore takes no interest in 1t. Then the
householder complains that the furnace is
no good, and forthwith denounces this sys-
TEN of heating as unreliable and unsatis-
factory.
In putting in a furnace, the one thing of
prime Importance is to see that 1t Is large
enough. A thirty-eight furnace is none too
large for a six or eight-room house. If of
this size, 1t is safer, more easily managed,
more economical and works far better than
a smaller one. Many people think 1t is a
much greater consumer of coal. but this is
not true, If the furnace is properly manag
ed 1t is out of the question to maintain a
good degree of heat in cold weather with
out the use of fair amount of fuel, and
1t is much better to burn furnace with a
moderate degree of draft and with a good
supply of coal rather than have a small
firepot that needs constant crowding and
refilling and have the rise and fall of
temperature incident upon putting on fresh
coal when the fire is low and turning on the
drafts to heat up again, a process always
attended with an extra consumption of
fuel.
A furnace with large firepot needs fill
ing but twice in She day, morning and
night. The CRATES should be thoroughly
cleared out and the ashes removed. Spe-
cial care should be taken that there are no
clinkers or Stag to fill up the crate bars,
and thereby shut off the current of air that
IS indispensable to the proper burning of
coal. The best furnaces have a large pipe
6rof haIn hrl n n lo ofNrt
rent. that, after the gas is well consumed,
keeps the fire at a steady pitch for hours.
When a furnace fire is built it should be
done with an abundance of wood. There
is no economy in using little kindling.
The coal falls upon the crate all around,
is not consumed, and shuts off the draft as
soon it becomes covered with ashes,
which takes but a little while.
1t is almost impossible to grind this I'M
used coal up with the ordinary shaker, and
there it remains, holding the ashes and
clinkers and making f1rst-class, bright,
effective fire out of the question until the
whole thing Is turned out, and it is often
that the coal must be cleaned out by hand.
If a sufficient amount of wood is put in to
fill the bottom of the pot, then the coal
put on in proper quantities until the fire
Is well under way, there will scarcely be
scrap of unburned coal left. Additions to
the fire should be made one or two shovel
fuls at a time until the requisite amount is
put in. Once started it will burn for a
week or more without any trouble. great
many householders think it wise and eco
nomical to turn out the fire once in a week
or two, clear the CRATES thoroughly and
start in fresh. Furnaces conducted on this
system are thought to work more satis-
factorily and to keep a much more even
heat.
To heat up house quickly especially
after the rooms have been cold for some
hours, it is necessary to have the doors
open, so that there can be circulation of
air. A current of hot air pouring into
room against stagnant body of cold air
has hard work to warm the atmosphere
thoroughly. If all of the doors are opened,
and one window on an upper floor is down
at the top for about an inch, a lively cur
rent is established, and the house will be
warmer, more comfortable and more health
full than if the doors were kept closed