Sales Model of a Holland Furnace – ca 1920
date: label: date made
content: ca 1920
notes: label: Description
content: This model was made ca 1920 by the Holland Furnace Company of Holland, Michigan. The model is made of aluminum and was used by the Warm Air Heating Research Laboratory of the University of Illinois. Similar models were used by salesmen for marketing purposes. The furnace was advertised by highlighting its high quality castings and efficiency . The furnace was intended to be enclosed within an outer casing which circulated air to be heated and then carried via convection to rooms above the furnace room. The air to be heated passed over the hot surface of the entire furnace, including the radiator which was intended to extract heat efficiently from the exhaust gases. The radiator can be seen at the top of the image. Combustion gases were directed upwards into the dome-shaped chamber at the top. A damper in the flue at the rear of the radiator could be opened while the furnace was being started in order to provide a direct draft. When the damper was closed, the hot gas was caused to flow around the entire circumference of the radiator. This provided a large area of heated metal for the air to be heated to pass over. The small door at the front of the radiator was for cleaning purposes. Holland also claimed it was a safety feature . Small explosions inside the furnace due to defective coal would blow the cleaning door open, thus avoiding combustion gases and dirt from entering heated rooms. The furnace included a humidifier; moisture was created by a pan of water located inside the furnace. Holland Furnace Company was co-founded in 1906 by J.P. Kolla and sold furnaces across the country until its demise in the 1960s.
label: Description
content: The model is highly detailed and clearly illustrates the important elements of the furnace’s design and function including all of the access doors, radiator and flue system, various dampers, and the mechanism for shaking the ashes into the ash-pit. Just as was the case in the actual furnace, the model has separate sections for the ash pit, combustion chamber, fire pot and radiator.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Michigan, Holland
topic: label: Subject
content: Model
label: Subject
content: Heating
label: Subject
content: Sales model
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering
label: See more items in
content: Engineering, Building, and Architecture
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of National Warm Air Heating and Air Conditioning Association, Cleveland, Ohio
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MC.326834
label: catalog number
content: 326834
label: accession number
content: 263166
objectType: label: Object Name
content: furnace, warm air, model
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 9 1/2 in x 6 1/2 in x 10 1/8 in; 24.13 cm x 16.51 cm x 25.7175 cm