Evening star., 1927-12-03
HOME HEATING ADVICE
BY ARA MARCUS DANIELS.
Consulting and Advisory Engineer.
Attending the Fire.

Firing of heaters and boilers may be
short-period firing or long-period fir
| ing. Coal is fired under power plant
/ boilers at short intervals. BY this
method the fire may be maintained
at n low and fairly constant level.
which has much to recommend 1t. OBJ
| viously, house heaters must be fired
| by the long-period method, whereby
the fire pot is filled to a depth of about
II inches. The fuel bed gradually
| lowers as combustion occurs until the
firing cycle is repeated.
Thus capacity of the fire pot is i'm
portant. and the length of the firing
period depends on the relation of the
heating capacity of the boiler to it's
requirements. In the home, unfortu-
nately, in many cases, comparatively
little attention is given the fire. 1t is
allowed frequently to vary from one
extreme to the other. Often no atten-
tion is paid to it until the house be-
comes uncomfortably cool or too hot.
Every fire should receive attention at
regular intervals. Generally speaking,
if the furnace in a warm-air heating
system or boiler in a hot water, steam
or vapor plant is suited to the require
ments, no more attention need be
gi'en the fire than in the morning,
No fire should need to be shaken
down more than three times a day
TwiC will usually be sufficient-in the
morning and late afternoon. Too
much shaking is wasteful practice
Live Goals should never he shaken
through the CRATE. In mild weather
an accumulation of ashes varying
from one to three inches directly over
the crate is desirable.
After shaking a fire the ashes
should be removed Immediately from
the ashpit. They should never be left
under the crate. The volume of the
ashpit in a properly designed heater
should permit enough air to pass into
and through it to burn the fuel prop
erly and at the same time keep the
crate bars cool enough to prevent in.
jury from overheating. Ashes left
in the ashpit prevent necessary air
circulation, hinder combustion and
cause damage TO the CRATES.
fire which has been dampered for
some time should not be shaken until
after the draft door and smoke pipe
damper have been opened long enough
to have permitted it to catch up.
When attention is first given the fire
in the morning it is well to open the
smoke pipe damper and the ashpit
damper. throw on a little fresh coal
and allow it to catch up WELL When it
is glowing the CRATE should be shaken
back and forth with a short, quick
movement. The movement of the
crates should be only enough to cause
the ashes to sift through If a large
clinker has become lodged and cannot
be removed with the clinker tongs, it
may be necessary to turn the CRATES
enough to pass the clinker. Only
under such conditions should this be
done. There is always the danger of
dumping a large part of the live
fire bed.
The appearance of the first bright
spot through the CRATE should be the
signal to stop shaking and remove
ashes. A sprinkler installed in the
ashpit is desirable. When not in
stalled, a small water pot kept near
the boiler may be substituted for ma
terially reducing the dust nuisance.
Poking or upturning of the fire bed
Is advised against wherever the fire
will catch up and burn properly if
given ample time. AT times. how