The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-09-23
PROPERLY HANDLED
COAL IS AN ASSET
nv AMI7DEE J. CASEY,
fgTditpr American Coal Journal


! furnace can be made TO pay for the
| famly's shoes this winter. even at
/ the prices we are told the shoe men
| are going to demand. 1t will take
| little study to accomplish this but,
! once the method is learned, IT will
work almost automatically like the
habit of eating peas with a fork.
! All that is necessary is TO learn how
to build and care for dc furnace Are
and how 10 work the hampers. Any
! one of average intelligence can &C
! quire this knowledge with little effort
land the results in coal saving Will be
/ astonishing -
! 1t is 10 be supposed that the furnace
! is good one properly installed, with
| all Joints tight and with unobstructed
| hues II these conditions, do not exist,
| cut out a pair of shoes and use the
money TO have the plant put in proper
order. bearing in mind that the
! cheaper the furnace and the instal!a-
ton, the more 1t will cost In the long
run.
/ Before starting the winter fire, see
that the furnace is absolutely clean.
/ A thin layer of SCOT cxerts as much
/ resistance TO heat as ten inches OF iron
| and dirt has similar effect, II hot
| air plant IL used, any cracks should be
| flied with cement or a new section
/ should be installed in order that the
| fre-box shall be absolutely gas-tight
! See that the cold-air box does not adj
| nit too much outside air. especially
on very cold days and take care 70
| have the water containcr in the all
| Jacket always filled with clean water;
! moist air heats more readily ana rs
| more hygienic than dry air.
With a hot-water plant see that the
glass gauge of the expansion tank,
which will be found usually AZ the top
Of the house, above the level of the
radiators, shows the tank to be half
full at all times Open the radiator
season ard keep them open until
water begins to flow out of them.
This permits full efficiency of the rad
ators by expelling dead air and should
be repeated az intervals during the
winter. A hot-water plants success
depends upon the radiators being kent
fun Of water and free from air, Be
fore you start the fire for the season
draw off the water in the furnace and
renew it.
Do this also with steam heating
plant and twice week during the
cold weather, draw off a hucketful
through the outlet pipe and let SINH
lar quantity of fresh water run in
through the inlet pipe The water
gauge should show the boiler to be
half fun at all times. Too much water
wastes steam space and coal while
too little wiz result in damage to the
plant. See that the boiler If ahso-
A. iutcly clean and don't fool With the
radiator air valves. If these do not
work, have a steamfitter put on new
ones at once Neglect is expensive
, !, Read very carefully and follow .Surt
as -~carefully the printed directions
which every furnace manufactured
/ furnishes He knows more about his
own make than you do and his advice
- Is Good4 These instructions will give
I fun Information concerning proper
Banding OF hampers and this is the
= most important knowledge you car
acquire in connection with the
z economical handling Of 4 furnace
Z The care of the IRE differs accord
! ing TO the kind of coal used Where
! bituminous. or soft coal is used 1t has
| been demonstrated that a mixture ri
: quarter-inch to three inch coal Is hes,
suited to the average household fur.
mace, With hard coal the sizes known
as egg and stove are the most popular
although good results have been Oh,
tained with mixture of stove and
:. buckwheat coal The latter is a small
size and is cheaper, but not too great
4 proportion should be used Your
coal dealer can advise you about this
: in fact he can give you a good deal OF
cry valuable information, If you ask
$ him and it may surprise you TO find
1 cut how far removed he is from the
0 popular conception of the coal man
Do not keep your coal pile, near n hot
surface; do not mix ashes with the
I coal in the hins-ashes do not burn
S II you use soft coal dampen II slightly
6 before firing the furnace as this aids
! in obtaining perfect combustion
Too much shaking spoils your fire
r and wastes coal If the fro is low
= l-put on little coal and give il time
8 TO start burning before shaking Ir
very cold weather shake the fire ONLY
: until glow appears In the ash-pit
When tho weather is mild leave some
, ashes on the crates as this makes 4
4 slow fire and saves coal. Under nr
circumstances shake the fire until live
, Goals appear in the ash-pit Clean out
= the ash pit every day and sprinkle the
ashes slightly before removing them
II soft coal is used, the bed of the
+ fire should never be entirely covered
! because the gases will then be given
, off faster than they can be consumed
and great deal of smoke and SCOT
| will result, One OF the best methods
, is to push back the live Goals almost
down to the crates and put the fresh
coal in the space left. The CAGES will
, then pass over the fire and be burned
/ If the furnace has round fre-p pot
? the fresh coal may be piled in the GEN.
$ ter, leaving live Goals around the edge
! Use plenty of wood and allow 1t to
2 burn up freely before starting hard
. coal fire. Put on the coal in small
] quantities at first and give II time to
burn brightly before adding more
Keep the fire-pot filled to the level OF
the fire door at all times in order to
J obtain economical results. This APP
plies to both hard and soft coal. A
! low Are wastes coal Do not put on
too much coal at one time or the fire
q will be smothcred.
When you fix the furnace for the
, night. no matter what kind of coal you
, use, fill the fire-pot with fresh coal to
the level OF the fire door ana allow
} the gasscs to burn off. Then close the
dampcr in the ash-pit door and open
the check damper. In the morning
shake down the Ore and proceed as
, en- the day before.