. CAMBRIDCE nia NFL arr Tg a Harp e §\\.\\§~“ 2a; V / Ur P EBACE pbs oak ACP k Teles by-4 hawk“ ap d £ an f i ia a 6 in a ot i ali i a ma aa o 5 28 0 Pay ea s a w. ix:\i\\.\§\\ .\|\\\I\\A!\\\\HM\!§\HTW\WVVflM‘~\,\\\v ie « G i’alfll"lm¥ * 4) nbkfilkfiln A CAA \.\\\-\\E\\ Pr M sie s» Nk\\§t\h~r y ox ww iraridt PrP o Nar an 1 a 3 Fak#/ates i {nisin iain, be ia dit stare ? ould apis neb omen cette. r ack rr an w I8 see P echos eee es Sees ess aie, s= 3 Nam ts bY d i S SS d P, 4 sess wees Nes s & is ss Wank task ss ass SS % par ¢ rao Loo oor arr Gel) pe e peo g r oes A aas Merier j 2 TZ let Fens r atte passe Ce a raro GLG XA T 7 as, p3 (RRS )”’,’g l;7;; t N oo oo arama tae *. ve Cury 2 oro a aah 4 4 ko P #7 fra sna 5}; [+ VT’ zz PZ exannaint rox R 84 SS & Sessa ADNAN eaanoyt Ress sy $2 s A te wa poet orto ha Soe rar frre 4 ose VR f pep am ame oo e PEL Tee aan sas A Sk aas od > e 7 a" Pram 2 [Io/fyI/I’if‘i m”- erates << Nora G P Coulis Ss pt PSs sss NHSS N wa erp waw eesesss sss sss ens ACE N = a LARGE VENTILATING FIRE-PLACE. IN MEDIAVAL STYLE. (See pages 189 and 190.) Seas Sed se s sss Soe as sen & Sum se A Ss S S os '\‘ ecco Sx esssy NQ §\\\:\ cnansan oss b RB tess Rost Abes Pa ik\\‘\ 4 mg? SF -::.‘3‘\5‘\; wx wand ss es No < & \\\‘\“\\ $3 THH OPEN FIRE-PLACE IN ALL AUGIh. nV BY "J. PICKERING PUTNAM, ARCHITECT. WRITTEN FOR "Tur AmErIcCAN ArcuirrEor anp NEws.'" ILLUSTRATED. BY 269 . CUTS, INCLUDING THIRTY-SIX FULL-PAGE PLATES. BOS TON: JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY. 1881. Copyright, 1880. By J. PICKERING PUTNAM, / 4 Pemberton Sq., Boston. The Riverside Press, Cambridge : Printed by H. 0. Houghton and Company. TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. THE OPEN FIRE-PLACE AS IT IS. PAGE L DirEoct RapiaTIO® - . * ; f > s % # Wasrs or HEar By Opex Fires . fett i yO DaxnaErroUs DRAUGHTS AND IMPERFECT VENTILATION * 2 PRACTICAL EXPERIMENTS ON THE WastTtE HEAT AND Ar CURRENTS 3 RESULT OF EXPERIMENTS . # * * f 3 % s A -> 0 THE IDEAL FIRE-PLACE . Fis, . € 3 * $ 10 DrEscrIPTION OF PLATES VII TO XIII : CHAPTER IL. HISTORICAL. Tur CHIMNEY Fuu®E® a MopErN DiscovEry . 4 a a a / ~A89 EArRLIEST Forms OF THE OPEN FIRE-PLACE . * ® A P A 15 PEAZIERS Axbp PorTABELE FirEs . - ..- . ® § * A * '_' I7 ORIGIN OF THE CHIMNEY R , f ; o ; 19 First FIrRE-PLACES OF THE MIDDLE AGES & s s § < ~20 FurtuEr DEyE.rormMENT or MEropIEvAL FirE- PLACES A H $ 24 DESCRIPTION OF PLATES XIV. to XX. EFFORTS TO IMPROVE THE DRAUGHT AND ECONOMIZE THE FUEL +33 THE, VENTILATING FirE-PLACE a a > * a a F 36 FirEc-PLACES % 3 > <+ 38 IMPROVEMENT IN THE FORM OF THE CHIM‘IEY THROAT A R s 43 Tur Supng BLowEER . * R R ® , F 3 F A :: 49 Tunc MovAaBuEr GRATE A 3 s a s 3 50 FirE-PLACES WITH INVERTED SMOKE FLUE 4 *J .% 00 VENTILATING SroVvE FIRE-PLACES WITH DIRECT SMOKE FLUE AND FRESH-AIR CIRCULATION . a - 97. VEnNTILATING FirE-PLACES MANUFACTURED IN THIS COUNTRY * § 69 EXPERIMENTS WITH THE "FirE on tu® HEartnx HEAaitER'"' 3 cs T9 Txr "Dimmick" HEATER s A ® * y 7 T4 EXPERIMENTS WITH THE “DIMMICK” HEATFR % s s - 79 OtHuEr AmErIcan FirE-PuacESs |. a * s f s * + 82 JACKSON'sS VENTILATING FIrRE-PLACE > s s s F = . 1BJ THE FRANKLIN REFLECTOR | . ~ s : X a s a - 91 GENERAL REmMaArRKS % s * R ~ T -. 92 DrscrIrrio® or PLATES ~s(XI TO XXVII vi Table of Contents. CHAPTER III. SUGGESTIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE OPEN FIRE- PLACE. - Intropuctory REMARKS _. s s F # a ~ 07 ComMBINATION OF FURNACE AND FIRE-PLACE # $ s # 4 97 FURNACES s s % * A s & & , , F ~*98 MoIstURE IN THE AIR Si * 2 % A < *-13100 SPECIAL FORMS OF FURNACE CONSTRUCI‘IOV a ier F A07 MATERIAL OF FURNACES . R $ s F f A f % s" ExPERIMENTS ON CAsT IRON * ~ s s a 3 a % «A11 ExAMPLES OF FURNACES . A R o y R s : A sc 115 EFrEsHu Ar IN our DWELLINGS . r s , o 7121 SIMPLE TEST TO ASCERTAIN THE PURITY OF THE Am 120 Amouxt or FErEsu Air rEQUIrRED PER HEanp pEr MinuTtE®E . - A20 NATURAL VENTILATION . * h A % * * -~~197 Tng® PosITION OF THE FRESH- AIR INLET s # F * a -- 188 VExTILATION OF GAs-BURNERS 7 F A s F s < A40 THE FURNACE VENTILATING FIRE-PLACE A ¥ - + " & 148 Tur "DISTRIBUTOR'' IN VENTILATING FIRE—PLACES A % = TBT Vartrous Examri®s or tuE® UsE or tHE " DISTRIBUTOR” K i - 3186 THE "DIstRIBUTOR®'' AS AN OPEN RADIATOR |-. o F a x- 108 Cost or THE FURNACE VENTILATING FirE-PLACE . a s ' A79 HratIng PowEr or THE FURNACE VENTILATING FIRF—PIACE F ~ 2 *176 ErFECT oN THE Dravext or AsBstrraction or HEar rrom THE Fuu® 177 VENTILATING CHIMNEY any t. y A % F a # - A81 CnmmxnEy Tors . s % : a s s A s A E « Raxor FLUr® . % + A s s > s s R a - : 188 FURNACE FLUE . 4 a ~~ DECORATIVE TREATMENT OF THE VP\TILATING hEGIMhRs * F ( :I87 ImMrprov¥yED SMoKE-CoXNSUMING FirE-PLACE _. s R R * J LARGE FIrRE-PLACEsS -. 189 ForMULE FOR DISCOVERING THE CAUSE AND EFFPCI‘I\G THE CURE or SmoKy CHIMNEYS . s P p * A s 5 & ." {301 RECAPITULATION . 8 s a s F p R 4 -~197 THE "REAL F IRE-PLACP n 7 $ § f "** 197 DEscRrIPTION OF PLATES XXVIII TO ‘(YXV ' APPENDIX. HEATING AND VENTILATION or PrivatE Hous®s . % > $ A i Tur "FImE on tuE® HEartH " HEATER, . s § ; f iv Tur JACKSON FIRE-PLACE . A s , A A aat : THE VENTILATING CHANDELIER # a £ * ; s a p iv LIDPF OF ILLUSTRATIONS ——.—_— PLATES. Large Ventilating Fire-place in Medigval Style _ . _ Frontispiece. . Following thle. I. Fire-place in a Studio at Terre Neuve (Vendé), France s II. Fire-place in a Peasant's Cottage in Brittany _. * s 68 III. Fire-place in the Council Chamber of Courtray _-. st IV. Fire-place in the " Salle de Mars,"" Chiteau of Prdngms 1. £ V. Gothic Mantel in Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy DIJOD XXII,. XXIV. XXx V. . Renaissance Fire-place & Moorish Fire-place _ . « Fire-place in the Bed- chamber of King Louis ‘(III France . « Modern French Fire-place . * « Fire-place in the Chateau de Tanlay, France . « Fire-place in the Castle of Heidelberg XV. XVI. XVII. XV ITL: XIX: CX. XXI. . Renaissance Fire-place « Fire-place in a house in the Rue de Berhn Paris _. « Fire-place in the Grand memg-room of the Bishop's Palace XXIX. XXX. XXXI. XXXI. XXXII. XXXIII. XXXIV. France ge & Turkish Fire—place at Keresoun *% Vignette a a 4 s - Gothic Fire-place of the Fifteenth Century s , Opposite page 12. . Fire-place at the Hotel de Ville at Lyons _. § s + ££ 66 66 66 66 66 66 Fire-place in the Chateau de Cormatin . s ._ Opposite page 24. Fire-place in the Museum of Cluny, Paris . + s o ts Fire-place in a house at Sarlat, France . Fire-place in the Hotel d’Alluve1 Blois, France Fire-place in the Chateau de T anlav France Fire-place in the Chiteau de Baynac . o Dining-room Fire-place in Modern English Gothic Style End of - Fire-place in the Hotel de Vogué, at Dijon _ . .~ Chap. IT. Fire-place in the Smokmg-room of the house of M. Le Comte Branicki, Paris - |.. Fire-place in the " Salon des Médallles '" in the Palace of Versailles, France s 66 66 66 66 at Beauvais, France _. Fire-place in the Hotel (Anny Boston Stone Fire-place for a Modern Dmmg—room ._ End of Chapter TFL: Rustic Fire-place between two Window-niches s s f Hall Mantel for a House in Salem, Mass. Hall Mantel for a House in Andover Mass. Library Mantel. House on Commonwealth Avenue, Boston Hall Mantel for a House at Nahant, Mass -. e Parlor Fire-place for a House on Commonwealth Avenue, Boston s Dining-room Flre-place for a House on Commonwealth Ave- nue, Boston . s s f A ® % a s viii List of Illustrations. ‘ FIGURES. ' 1. Modern Office Fire-place used in experiments. Front View 2. Modern Office Fire-place. Section s E fate, Gis "s. 3. Diagram giving dimensions of Office Fire-place used in experiment 4. Primitive Smoke-flue. (From Viollet-le-Duc) . + a X s 5. Backwoodsman's Log Cabin . * s s s % e 6. Chimney of Logs. (From Viollet-le-Duc) g’ g Brazier. (From Joly) a 9. Spanish Portable Brazier. (From Joly) 10. Origin of the Chimney. (From Labarthe) funk funk fuck fuck Ot y= go b i- jock * S fuk =I * . Os 18. - Fire-place at the Louvre. Front Elevation. (From Tomlinson) . : at the Louvre. Section. (From Joly) E « Savot's Fire-place . e s 4 s s Winter's Fire-place a « Fire-place with "* Bellows" . : Gauger's Ventilating Fire-place Fire-place in. Conisborough Castle. (From Tomlinson) . Fire-place of the Fourteenth Century. (From Viollet-le-Duc) C . Fire-place of the Fifteenth Century. (From Viollet-le-Duc) __. $ : Fire-place in the House of Jaques Coeur. [From Gailhabaud (except figures)] -* Old Fire-plaéé. (F‘rom"‘ Aritient Domestick Architecture '' (except figures)] : Hooded Mediseval Fii'e—plazce of Thirteenth Cénturir. (From-Violiet- le-Duc) s s * s R & h * f A s . Fire-place in the Ville de Cluny. [From Viollet-le-Duc (except fig- ures and accessories)] . Fire-place in Roslin Castle. From [** Antient Domestick Architecture " (except figure and accessories)] . Kitchen Fire-place of Granite. (From.Violl.et-1e-.Duc). s Fire-place of the Fifteenth Century. (From Viollet-le-Duc) g . Section of Fire-place of the Fifteenth Century. (From Viollet-le-D.uc) . Details of the Construction of Fire-place of the Fifteenth Century. (From Viollet-le-Duc) : Stone Fire-place in the Chateau d'Armay-le-Duc, Sixteenth Century. (From Sauvageot) . A - Fire-place in Linlithgow Palace. [F1:om * Antient Domestick Archi- tecture '' (except figure)] . < Fire-place in the Chateau de Couciv, Frénce.‘ (Ft:om VOiolleE-le—Iiuc) . . Fire-place in the Grand Hall of the Palais des Comtes of Poitiers. (From Viollet-le-Duc) Diagram showing Direction of Reflected Rays . « Perspective of Gauger's Fire-place « Fresh-air Supply Valve . s . Dalesme's "* Furnus Acapnos " A + B . Leutmann's " Vulcanus Famulans " . « . Smoke-consuming Fire-place. (From Peclet Smoke-consuming Fire-place of Touet-Chambor. (From Peclet) . Franklin's Smoke-consuming Grate. (From Labarthe) . Cutler's Smoke-consuming Grate. (From Edwards) « Dr. Arnott's Smokeless Fire-place. (From Tomlinson) s Atkins & Marriot's Smoke-consuming Grate. (From Edwards) List of lustrations. . Rumford's Fire-place. - Vertical Section. (From Peclet) . \ < Rumford's Fire-place. - Horizontal Section. (From Tomlinson) . . Another Form of Rumford's Fire-place 2 a s . Modern Improvement on Rumford's Fire-Place i Sylvester's Fire- place (From Edwards) § Stephen's Firo-place. (From Edwards) § King's Patent Grate. (From Edwards) . Lhomond's Fire-place & Lhomond's Blower -. F s s . Lhomond's Fire-place. Front Elevation. (From Peclet) . Lhomond's Fire-place. Section. (From Peclet) . Bronzac's Movable Grate s & Franklin's Pennsylvanian Flre—place . Desarnod's Fire-place. (From Joly) . Montalembert's Fire-place . Douglas Galton's Fire-place g & Fire-place of Descroizilles _. > . Sheet-iron Ventilating Fue—place (From Peclet) s . Ventilating Fire-place, with Vertical Fresh-air Tubes behind the Back. (From Peclet) . Ventilating Fire-place, with Vertical Fresh-air Tubes behmd the Back. (From Peclet) . « Taylor's Fire-place. (From Tavlor) s R . Suggestion of Smoke Circulation. (From J oly) « Fire-place of Leras. (From Peclet) f } Ventilating Fire-place, with Vertical Air Tubes (From Peclet) . . Section of Ventllatmg Fire-place, with Horizontal Fresh-air Tubes. (From Peclet) « Front Elevation of.same (From Peclet) s « Vertical Section of Fxre-place, with Metallic Heat—conductmg Plates. (From Peclet) « Horizontal Section of same (From Peclet) «~Section of Plates. (From Peclet) . Vertical Section of Ventilating F 1re—p1ace, w1thout Plates. (E rom Peclet) . Fondet's Fire-place. Front Elevation * . Fondet's Fire-place. Section - Section of Cordier's Fire-place. (From BOBC) « Perspective View of Cordier's Fire-place. (From Bosc) « Back of Cordier's Fire-place. (From Bosc) _ . a « Metallic Fire-back of Cordier's Fire-place. (From Bosc) « Fire-back in Profile of Cordier's Fire-place. (From Bosc) § Lloyd's Tubular Fire-place. (From Tomlinson) Details of Lloyd's Tubular Fire-place. (From Tomlinson) . . Joly's Fire-place. (From Joly) Dampers in Joly's Fire-place. (From Joly) . « Section of Dampers in Joly's Fire-place. (From Joly) « Plan of Dampers in Joly's Fire-place. (From Joly). - English Ventilating Fire-place. (From Douglas Galton) . Plan of Ventilating Fire-place. (From Tomlinson) . List of Illustrations. . Section of Ventilating Fire-place. (From Douglas Galton) . Double Ventilating Flue. (From Peclet) . Morin's Fire-place. (From Bosc) I Douglas Galton Fire-place. (From Peclet) . The ** Fire on the Hearth '' Heater * . The '* Fire on the Hearth '' Heater. Plan. The * Fire on the Hearth '' Heater, Smoke and Ventllatmg Flues . The " Fire on the Hearth '' Heater Stove . The Dimmick Fire-place . Section of the Dimmick Fn'e-place « English Ventllatln? Fire-place. (From Johnson's Enc‘ clopzedla) Stove Radiator . Jackson's Ventilating Fn'e-place. Sectlon f . Jackson's Ventilating Fire-place. View of Hot-air Chamber . Jackson's Ventilating Fire-place. Front View . Jackson's Ventilating Fire-place. Plan . Fire-place with Ash Pit s . The "* Franklin Reflector” (so called) . Ventilating Fire-place described by Peclet. (From Peclet) . «* Another Country Parson's '' Grate . 5 . "* Another Country Parson's '' Grate. Sectional Views . Persian Fire-place . Diagram of Furnace for utllxzmg the Heat of the Smoke +. > & . Furnace in which the Smoke passes between Perpendicular Hot-air Pipes. (From Peclet) . Furnace in which the Smoke cire ulates around Horizontal Hot-air Plpes (From Peclet) . Magee's Furnace . The Peerless Furnace . The Chilson Furnace . . Cast-iron Cup tested for permeablhtv . Experiment on the permeability of Cast-iron . Test of Gas-pressure by means of a Manometer . Section of Pig Iron f % s A « The Reynolds Furnace . X . Dunklee's Golden Eagle Furnace . Chubbuck's Furnace P . The Gothic Furnace . Crary's Clay Heater . The Soapstone Furnace __. A . Apparatus for testing the Poros1ty of Bulldmg Materials . Movement of Hot Air from Furnace Flues . . Exhaust Register placed too high . . Movement of Air about a Stove . . Ventilating Chandelier . f . Ventilating Chandelier _ . . Ventilating Chandelier . . Ventilating Chandelier . Ventilating Chandelier . . Ventilating Chandelier . Ventilating Bell | . . Ventilating Drop-light . Ventilating Drop-light . . The Faraday Gas-ventilator . The Faraday Gas-ventilator . . The Faraday Gas-ventilator In: 394 :; 135 >> IgG . 140 139 iv Ad 142 ec A41 »I41 140 . 140 142 1614. 162. 163. 164. 165. 166. 167; 168. 169. « Ventilator for Bracket-burners .. 17TL. 172. 178. 174. 1795. j76. 177. 178. 179. 180. 181. 182. 183. 184. 185. 186. 187. 188. . Vertical Section of Iron Distributor 190: 191. 192. 193. 194. 195. 196. 197. 198. 199. 200. 201; H 202. 203. 204. 205. 206. 207. 208. List of lllustrations. The Faraday Gas-ventilator . % The Faraday Gas-ventilator _. f Ventilating Gas-burner used in England Ventilating Gas-burner used in England _. Ventilating Gas-burner used in England Ventilating Gas-burner used in England . Ventilating Gas-burner used in England Ventilator for Bracket-burners . Ventilator for Bracket-burners Ventilator for Bracket-burners Ventilator for Stage Foot-lights . Ventilator for Stage Foot-lights Ventilator for Stage Foot-lights Ventilator for Stage Foot-lights Ventilator for Stage Foot-lights Plan of City House s Plan of City House Plan of City House Plan of City House > Parlor Ventilating Fire-place Horizontal Section of same s 8 Front Elevation of House on Dartmouth St. Vertical Section of Terra-cotta Distributor Vertical Section of Terra-cotta Distributor Terra-cotta Distributor s s Ventilating Chimney Vertical Section of Iron Distributor Dining-room Ventilating Fire-place Fire-place with Iron Distributor Fire-place with Iron Distributor Fire-place with Iron Distributor Fire-place with Iron Distributor % ¥ f Distributor with " Fire on the Hearth ' Heater Distributor with "" Fire on the Hearth ' Heater Distributor with " Fire on the Hearth '' Heater Distributor with "Fire on the Hearth '' Heater Distributor with " Fire on the Hearth '' Heater Distributor with Downward Draught ood .. s . a s s Hood . s s $ s s Library Ventilating Fire-place Distributor - s s s Distributor Distributor Distributor Perspective View of Dining-room Ventilating Fire-place . « Hall Ventilating Fire-place - + - 210. s 211. 212. 213. 214. 215. 216. 217. 218. 219. Drain-pipe Distributor Drain-pipe Distributor . Distributor as Open Radiator E Distributor as Open Radiator % + Diagram showing Direction of Heat Rays and Air Currents Diagram showing Direction of Heat Rays and Air Currents . Distributor as Open Radiator Distributor as Open Radiator a A ¢ . s Distributor as Open Radiator. Horizontal Section . Model of House 3 & * s $ A Xi « 142 142 -+ 143 « 143 143 & 143 144 ©" Aig 144 "> 14g 145 145 ~ +145 145 ' Af 149 -/ 149 149 #" 180 151 *s 154 os 151 153 "19g 157 -- 157 160 A67 +481 161 ~. 16s 163 . Gs 163 a 164 & 164 164 -. 165 165 166 ., 166 166 a> 167 167 - ~367 ..- 168 ; A69: 170 "+ 170 171 arty] £72 * List of IWlustrations. . Ventilating Chimney . & Smoke-flue Joint . Registers and Valves . . Registers and Valves . Van Noorden Chimney-top + e > . Diagram showing Movement of Air Currents . Range-flue Ventilating Registers R s . Parlor Fire-place in Hotel Cluny, Boston . Dining-room Ventilating Registers . Large Fire-place for Reading-room s s & F R . Ornamental Terra-cotta Chimney-tops on Public Buildings . Ornamental Terra-cotta Chimney-tops on Private Houses . The ** Fire on the Hearth '' Heater, No. 2 . s . The ""Fire on the Hearth '' Heater, No. 2 s 481 - - * 189 « 183 A ~*A168 . 184 -* ~ TSB 180 .~ ~ *3SB ; 190 195 A ' 196 Appendix iv & Appendix iv w 62 & - md A4 y-. I Neuve (Vendé), France. - % ZZ PP fi<§§> PLATE T. PLATE II. Fire-place in a peasant's cottage in' Brittany. The abode of the farmer often consists of a single room on the ground-floor, in which it is no uncommon thing to find the beds of eight or ten persons, the room serving as kitchen, parlor, bed-room, and cattle-stall at once. The room shown in our plate has been somewhat modernized, the colossal fire-place and mantelsalone preserving its original ap- pearance. The woodwork is of the period of Louis XIV. or XV. The cut is from the Revue Générale de 1 Architecture et des Travauz Publics, 1878. - Vol. xxx. PLATE IL. U v $5: ~A y ~f" r .of. imber Ch > a PLATE HJ: PLATE, IV. Fae-place and chimney in the ** Salle de Mars,” Chateau of Eranqo | I. at St. Germain en Laye, France. - From Sauvageob © Palais et Chateaux de France ' rPLAYFE IV. PLATE V. Gothic mantel of stone in the Guard Chamber of the ancient palace of the Dukes of Burgundy at Dijon, France: fifteenth century; The style is late Gothic or Flamboyant ; the decorative screen work, is designed to screen the pyramidal flue of masonry behind it from sight. There are several ancient Gothic fire-places with pyramidal upper part existing in England, but they are all undecorated. In. France, a small concealed place or chamber was often constructed. behind the fire-place. The Duchess de Berry and her attendants, were captured in one of these hiding places, having crowded more. into it than the place was intended to hold, and the soldiers having. made a large fire in front of them. The cut is from The Builder. London. 1847. F ff“ Nu Sy - ji PLATE V. PLATE VI. Turkish fire-place at Kérésoun. This specimen of the Oriental _ Art of the seventeenth century is in the Pacha's Palace in the city of Kérésoun (ancient Cerafonta), which stands on a rock on the - southern coast of the Black Sea. The entire central frame of the fire-place is of a hard grayish stone, | b somewhat resembling granite.. The decoration of the mantel and of - the two sides, or, wings, ornamented with niches, is moulded plaster- work vigorously retouched with the chisel. The whole is fitted in - the wooden facings of the walls, which are garnished with divans and cushions. The climate of this country demanding often a speedy and bright flame, the fuel is placed vertically, as in Persia. The lighting is effected by means of dry aromatic herbs.. From 'Art pour Tous, for 1861. wees sn K PLATE VI THG OPEN: FPLRE- PELACI IN ALL AGES. < % th a # % Bee Coment PIPE OPEN EIRE- PL ACH. CHAPTER I. THE OPEN FIRE-PLACE AS IT IS. Trat Grrar Raprator of heat to all living beings, the sun, furnishes those beings with the kind of heat best suited to support the life which it has developed namely, that of direct radiation. If we would only accept this lesson, repeated every day, as if for the purpose of giving it all possible emphacls in a manner the most im- pressive and with apparatus the most magnificent that nature can fur- nish or the mind of man imagine; if we would accept the lesson, and endeavor to heat our houses after the same principles, these houses might be made as healthy as the open fields. We should be prompted to respect more the open fire-place, as fur nishing the best substitute for the life and health giving rays of the sun, and to discard all such systems of heating as are opposed in principle to that employed by nature. With direct radiation the body is warmed, while the air breathed is cool and refreshing. With the hot-air prmmple of heating the reverse is the case, and it is found that, when this unnatural method is long employed to the total exclusion of the natural, serious discomfort ~ and disease are the results. That warm air is less effective than cold in purifying the blood by removing the carbonic acid from the lungs is demonstrated both by our own experience and by the Investlcratlons of science. Experiments made on birds and animals have shown that the amount of carbonic acid exhaled when breathing air heated from 80° to 41° Centigrade (86° to 106° F.) is less than one half that exhaled when the temperature is near the freezing point. The open fire, while it radiates an agreeable heat upon our bodies, animating us with a cheering and healthy glow or excitement, like that produced by a bright sun on a frosty morning, leaves the air comparatively cool, concentrated and invigorating for breathing. Now, although from the earhest times of which we have record the open fire- place seems to have been the favorite device for heating and ventilating the habitations of man; although no modern house is considered complete without it elther for use or for ornament; al- though the physician regards it as a most valuable ally in the mastery 2 a The Open Kire-Place. of disease; and although its improvement has at all times claimed the attention of the most distinguished scientists and philanthropists, as well as of the practical mechanic; yet we find it to-day so little understood and generally so incorrectly constructed that at least seven eighths of the heat of the fuel is lost, and its capabilities as a ventilator are almost entirely neglected, so that our fire-places may be properly described as devices contrived in the interest of the coal merchant for the purpose of carrying up to the roof, in the form of smoke, the greatest possible amount of money, and of leaving the smallest possible amount of comfort behind.. My definition of the word ""chimney '' would be this: A long tube open at both ends, the lower opening, called a " fire-place," being used to receive fuel and to emit smoke; the upper, to direct upon the roof from eighty- five to ninety-five per cent of the heat and smoke generated below ; generally so constructed as to carry off as much of the warm air of the room as is pure enough to be breathed, and cause large draughts of cold air to supply its place by rushing across the feet of the occu- pants in the manner best calculated to give them rheumatism, con- sumption, pneumonia, and other diseases. To complete the appa- ratus, screens are sometimes added to obstruct the circulation in the apartment. WASTE OF HEAT. In the city of Paris, according to M. V. Ch. Joly, there are used annually, for heating purposes, over 500.000 cubic meters of fire- wood alone, costing about twenty-five million frances, and of this only eight to ten per cent, or in value about two million francs, are actually turned into serviceable heat. The remainder, to the value of about twenty-three million francs, annually disappears in the air without profit to any one. " What must we estimate the total amount of an- nual loss," says an eminent writer on ventilation, ** in fuel, both of wood and coal, throughout the entire world, when we consider that the open fire-place is used to-day by over fifty millions of people ! * DANGEROUS DRAUGHTS AND IMPERFECT VENTILATION. The «< Encyclopzdia Britannica" has on ventilation the follow- ing : " An open fire-place, unless the air enters from the ceiling, often produces little or no ventilation above the level of the chim- ney piece, and. even then, it does not afford the best and purest atmosphere. The air above may be comparatively stagnant, and of- fensive in the extreme from the products of combustion and respira- tion, while a fresh current moves along the floor to the fire-place."" So great is the danger from cold draughts occasioned by open fire- places as they are now constructed that one is said to be less liable «to take cold standing in the open air, with the thermometer at freez- ing point, than sitting on such a day in a room heated by a bright open fire. So unequal is the distribution of heat in such a room that water may be frozen in one corner near the window draughts, and The Open FKire-Place. 3 boiled in another near the fire, and it has even been found possible to roast a goose in front of such a fire, while the air flowing by it into the chimney was freezing cold. «I have no doubt in my own mind," said Count Rumford, " that thousands die in this country every year of consumption, occasioned solely by this cause." ses In short, it would be difficult to point out any part of our usual do- mestic edifices which would show such a total absence of scientific - principles as the construction of our fire-places and chimneys. PRACTICAL EXPERIMENTS ON THE WASTE HEAT AND AIR CUR- REXTS. The best authorities put the waste heat of our fire-places at from eighty to ninety-five per cent, depending upon the shape of the fire- place, the nature of the fuel, the amount of the draught, and the size and nature of the flue; but I have been unable to find any satisfactory records of experiments made to corroborate their statements. Those made by General Morin answer most nearly, but still not entirely, our questions. I have therefore made a number of careful experi- ments, the results of some of which are given in the accompanying tables. The first six experiments were made in houses built on the new land on Marlborough Street, and the second series of five on the house No. 4 Pemberton Square, Boston. The grates, fire-places, and flues tested were of the so-called ** most approved " modern construction, and calculated to utilize the great- est amount of heat possible without employing the peculiar or patented forms invented by Franklin, Gal- ton, Winter, Gauger, Fondet, Joly, Jh 3 and others, little known in this coun- i try and difficult to obtain and set. The / P f/f/ fire-place and grate used in the second / TF series of experiments recorded in the ac- , ps companying tables are represented in front % % j elevation in Fig. 1, and in section in Fig. 2. LP a I? f The dotted lines show the form of the PP T back only of the fire-place used in the '# first series of experiments, the sides form- 77 ing an angle of 135 degrees with the back, Fiy.2. / to improve their reflecting power. In the 7 second series the fire-place was smaller, §7 SDollover, god the sides were at right an- 17727 *" gles with the back, the upper half of which inclined forward as shown in Fig. 2. ! AFA 4 The Open Fire-Place. f The entire length of the flue in this case was seventy feet. Half way up, or thirty-five feet from the fire place, an opening was made in the flue large enough to receive a chqmlst’s pentlgrade th'ermomg- ter, and the heat was tested at this point during the experiments in order to ascertain the amount lost by absorption in the upper half of the chimney. The thermometer was surroqnded by putty to render it air-tight. _ When the readings were taken it was drawn out through the putty far enough to see the head of the mercury column and then pushed back into its place. . These readings were recorded by an as- sistant in columns 6 and 16 of the tables. For want of space only two of the tables are given, the others agreeing substantially with them, and the results being nearly the same. The anemometer used was one of Casella's most delicate instru- . ments, lately imported from London. A careful test previously to making the experiments proved it to be exceedingly accurate and reliable. Where possible the observations were made every minute, but where this was impracticable the intervals were made as small as possible, and the figures for the intervening moments were obtained by calculation. The amount of wood burned in each experiment was exactly three kilograms." f From these tables it will be seen that the amount of heat dissipated in the open air through the mouth of the chimney from the combus- tion of 3 kilograms of dry pine wood is suflicient to raise the temper- ature of nearly 16,000 cubic meters of air 1° Centigrade, according to the first experiment, or 16,980 cubic meters according to the second experiment; giving an average of 16,488 cubic meters raised 1°. This is equivalent to 5,070 units of heat, or enough to raise the tem- perature of over 5 tons of water 1° C., or to raise 50 kilograms of water from freezing to boiling point. The greatest possible amount of heat which 3 kilograms of dry pine wood is capable of yielding being, according to Rumford, 3,590 X 3 =10,770 units, we see that one half of the heat generated passes at once up through the chimney and out at its mouth. Of the re- mainder we shall hereafter see that about four-fifths is absorbed in the brickwork, and either given out from the surfaces of the outer walls, or carried up in the air space between the studding and the brickwork to the roof, whence it radiates into space. 1 In this article I shall use the metric weights and measures, both because the calcula- tions are made easier by so doing, and because these units have been adopted by most of the writers on the subject whose works we have occasion to consult. 1 kilogram or kilog. = 2.2046 or 2.2 pounds avoirdupois. 1 meter = 8.28 feet; 1 square meter = 10.8 square feet ; 1 cubic meter = 85 cubic feet. 19 Centigrade = 1.8° Fahrenheit. 1° Fahrenheit = 0.55° Centigrade. 1 metric heat unit or calorie is the amount of heat required to raise 1 kilogram of water 1° Centigrade. 1 calorie = 8.968 English heat-units. TABLE I. EXPERIMENT No. 1. May 24, 1878. EXPERIMENT No. 2. May 25, 1878. Outside Air from 15.5° C. to 183° C. ~- Outside Air 18° Centigrade. #o (balk cls 44 [4 |3 $6 B6 lesl$ .i§r) b6 |% [Y. $4 a (efliglff 43 |f (is) "3 sf igfs tf (PG) =T =>. 125) TB |= 2 o im |o Lys im = (24 2 4s sh | s lts! o8§ a 38 |& #2 snl 43) 38 |S (45) 39 §= "~\\‘\§§*‘\Q\ x7 jg; £4 n~ xg" ,g%%—!l4¥ p2.; ist , fr e o" f P *a T Tn 2) PRF .: 4,79 Z Fig. 4. From Viollet-le-Duc. atmosphere apparently pure and transparent, as well as agreeable to the senses, may be filled with the most subtle poison. A hundred years is insufficient to work a revolution in the habits and prejudices of men for the sake of a thing which they can neither see, smell, feel, hear, nor understand. What progress has been made will be seen from the following historical sketch. f The Open FKire-Place. 15 EARLIEST FORMS OF THE OPEN FIRE-PLACKE. In the earliest ages the chimney consisted of the entire house, the fire being built in the middle of the building or hut, and the smoke escaping from the roof, as is shown in Fig. 4. Barbarous as this arrangement may seem, it nevertheless has certain advantages we should not lose sight of in making our improvements. The heat of the fire is utilized to a far greater extent than is the case with that burning under our modern chimney. All the radiated heat is ob- tained and a large part of the heat of contact of air. As a ven- tilator it is superior to our modern apparatus, since no impure air can remain for a moment in the room, and the cold draughts entering are not drawn to a single spot limited by the height and size of the man- tel, as with us, and being, therefore, less concentrated, are less dan- gerous. In its manner of disposing of the smoke it is, of course, inferior, notwithstanding the statement of the owner of the hunter's cabin +, f: 7 e “A" ”ff/4; 2 AL Y 22 #, Fig. 5. Backwoodsman's Log Cabin. represented in the accompanying sketch, that the smoke never troubled him in the most unfavorable weather. A central flue constructed of sticks smeared on the inside with mud or clay, and descending from the opening in the roof to within a safe distance of the fire below would improve the draught and prevent the smoke from blackening the roof, though at the expense of some of the heat. The next step made to improve the draught by means of a flue is described by Viollet-le-Duc, in his * Habitations of Man," Fig. 6. But the description must have been purely imaginary, as no evidence exists of the use of such flues at the early age indicated by the writer. The fire was in this case supposed to be built against the wall of the house. - Thus a large part of the radiated heat of the fire was cut off 16 The Open Fire-Place. T ""‘3‘§.,/“\\ Mes J .# “‘L\ ”a?“ A r rere. MLV e eft. P M pg £m aw» - a %— V”///, g- - 4 ,,/rff77.¢///_{ ree sel p} - RZ. Les Apacet es # © Z f os. #4 Fig. 6. From Viollet-le-Duc. R (94. S4 t+ tee tes PLATE VIL Bed-chamber in a chateau of the fifteenth century. The chimney breast is overloaded with seulpture, as is also the furniture, and the entire finish of the room, characteristic of the Gothic style in its decadence. From Viollet-le-Duce's " Dictionnaire du Mobilier Fran- qais.” ELALE .Y LL: France." tectfirdléh i Arch Lyons, T/ Art vit Ve'Vill‘e of ATE 1 d t;" the Hotel Rouy Erofi E. 6 H- p : fire-place in utury. P fir § A * a 'm m m . el mi 4) Fi ATE-_VIIL PL t in 1567 e. Buil ¢ RGNL rr rr re P Z Hit NH 7 7 T L a GWO ff 4 * Its 'd; a PEATE IX. * cture. 'the house of M. le rchite d' A die room of ing- -draw m 3 From the Encyclope Pr. ian Pers ArlS.. P. lace in . PLATE X: PLATE XI. Wooden fire-place in the bed-chamber of Louis XIII., king of. France, in the Chateau of Cheverny (near Blois, France). The picture over the mantel represents a scene in the history of Perseus. Conducted by Minerva, he petrifies his enemies by showing them the head of Medusa. The small tablet on the facing is made of mosaic on a gold ground. It represents children playing with the head of Medusa. Other scenes in the life of Perseus and Andromeda are painted on the ceiling and over the doors. The walls are covered with magnificent tapestry, of which a part is shown at the right and left of the mantel. From ** L'Art Architectural en France," Vol. I. By E. Rouet, 7 » Ki //// f //////;’////// ////7 /7///é/%/ //Z/// MZ/ ’/// f , 4/47/47/ Z/ Z/f g ’///// //,,/ M// Z HOSS i bed fl” //// 7 G0 // / ////// 7 GFF 7 7 v///IIA//// - 200 - -- igo Biff rie Corante tags ons bchillt de pusu frorn rre nne fors foes forges s formes ofm -4 »"a$ p mare a metros PEXTVTE -X1 : hrdbiteci; Escalier, r June, 1880. 0 R C a (Ts: R & nS © R # "s iteu on # rom §":::::::j PLATE XIL .h¢fa N) Pancit «fig x9 a a hve % & de France." » téali de Tanlay i the Ch aux t uvm D fu- a hambe t Ch ed-c ais e f &5 i ot; ‘Ffaf $ -place. ‘Saifilage C- firer te- or E PLAT The Open Fire-Place. 17 and no corresponding change was made to regain the proportion of heat thereby lost. Gradually, for the purpose of avoiding lateral currents of air, jambs were built on each side of the fire, to direct the air upon the fuel, and the chimney flue was brought down to within a few feet of the fire. By this step another large portion of the radiant heat was lost, and the whole of the heat of contact of air, without an effort to obtain a corresponding compensation. BRAZIERS AND PORTABLE FIRES. In milder climates we find the portable brazier without any pro- vision whatever for the outlet of the smoke. _ This system of heating was generally employed by the Greeks and Romans. It is still used in Spain, Italy, Algeria, and other warm countries. The braziers of the Greeks and Romans formed “MD elegant pieces of furniture, often beautifully scuolptured, as in Figs. 7 and 8. The Spanish $5? 3 fi portable brazier, Fig. 9, in which charcoal is ({X 5) burned, is rolled from room to room, warming Cas CP $3 1/7 f $ CX each in succession. By this system the entire heat of the fuel is realized, but, on the other hand, the products of combustion, always disagreeable to the occupants, and highly injurious to the paint- ings and furniture, are extremely dangerous for the health. The combustion of one kilogram of coal, for instance, converts into carbonic acid all the oxy- f gen contained in nine cubic meters (or yards) of C- > air. This, according to Peclet, renders twenty- 3 seven cubic kilograms of air unfit to breathe, so (Tpm/~ W‘ that the air of our room 20 X 20 X 10 feet, or . CEMAAKIERMA®®* " of about one hundred and ten cubic meters ca- pacity, deducting furniture, would be rendered irrespirable and would suffocate the persons attempting to breathe it, by the combustion of about four kilograms of coal. It is true that the heat generated by this quantity of fuel burned in the middle of a .closed chamber, without chimney or other opening, would soon be so excessive as to require the opening of the windows. The four kilograms would raise the 4 x 7000 temperature of our room to as- -im; == 823 degrees centigrade, or about 1500 de- grees Fahrenheit, which would be nearly hot enough to melt brass. (In the equation, 7000 represents the heating power of coal in units ; 1.3 the weight of 1 m. c. of air at 0° C.; and 0.2377 the specific heat of air.) The real danger results from the production of carbonic oxide, Fig. 7. From Joly. Fig. t. From Joly. 19 . The Open Fire-Place. which gives much less heat. It is calculated that a hundreth part of this gas in the air is sufficient to kill warm- -blooded animals. Hence the dancer of using charcoal for fuel as in the Spanish brazier, the products of combustlon being largely carbonic oxide. A remarka- ble instance of death by charcoal fumes is given by the suicide of the son of the celebrated chemist Berthollet. He left us a vivid account of his own destruction by asphyxia in an air-tight chamber. Locking the door of the room and closing up all the cracks which might admit fresh air, he prepared a char- coal fire on a brazier, seated himself at a table with writing materials and a seconds marking-watch, marked the precise hour and then lighted the char- . coal on the brazier before him. With f ; all the method and precision of a scien- é tific experiment, he recorded the vari- O ous sensations he experienced, detail- ing the approach and rapid progress of delirium, and as suffocation began the language became more and more confused the writing larfrel and more lllefnble, until the writer fell dead upon the floor. In colder climates, where greater heating power is necessary, the brazier is of course insufficient. - In the fI‘lO‘Id zones, however, where wood and coal caunot be obtained, the brazier reappears in the form of the smoky lamp of the Laplander and Esquimau. Here economy approaches its maximum, the heating, lighting, and ventilation being effected by one and the same inexpensive (went namely, putrid 011 burned under a hole in the roof of the hut. < The Greenlander, 3 says Tomlinson, " builds a larger hut and contrives it better, but it is often occupied by half a dozen families, each having a lamp for warmth and cooking, and the effect of this arranflement according to the remark of a traveller, 'is to create such a smell that it strikes one not accustomed to it to the very heart."" 'The effect of this great economy, however, is shown in the bleared eyes and the ' stunted growth of the natives. Fmally, the last degree of economy in warming, if we can call that economy which saves fuel at the expense of health, is reached by the lace makers of Normandy, who work warmed by the natural fires burning in the bodies of their domestic animals. They rent the close sheds of the farmers who have cows in winter quarters. " The cows are tethered in a row on one side of the shed, and the lace makers sit cross-legged on the ground on the other aide, with their feet buried in straw. The cattle being out in the fields by day, the poor women work all night for the sake of the steaming warmth arising from the animals. 7 1 We wonder at the backwardness of the civilized Greek and Ro- man in the use of their tripods, smile at the Spaniard with his bar- Fig. 9. 1 Tomlinson, Warming and Ventilation. The Open Fire-Place. 19 barous rolling brazier, pity the Esquimau with his feeble and smoky lamp, and sympathize with the wretched lace makers of Normandy in their close and sickly atmosphere, yet all the time forget that we ourselves allow the air of our rooms to be impoverished in the very same manner, and often to an even greater extent, by the noxious vapors pouring from our unventilated gas burners. ORIGIN OF THE CHIMNEY. The idea of building the fire-place against the side wall probably originated in England in the eleventh century, at the time of the Norman Conquest.: Previously the chimney consisted merely of a hole in the roof, with a small wooden tower above to carry up the smoke. At the time of the Conquest, fortresses were constructed and the roofs used for defence, so that the central opening for smoke was rendered impossible. The fire-place was removed to an out- side wall and an opening made in this wall above the fire for the passage of the smoke, as in Fig. 10. The oblique opening in the wall gave place soon after the Conquest to the ordinary chimney- sac * Jl" op p RNE <4 ‘\-*‘u\ s Fiz. 10. Origin' of - the a Chimney. _ From - La- Figs. II and 12. Fire-Place in Conisborough Castle. barthe. From Tomlinson. flue. Figs. 11 and 12 represent the fire-place and flue in the great guard room of Conisborough Castle, erected in or near the Anglo- Saxon period. This form of flue naturally led to the ordinary chimney as it is now constructed. The fire-places and flues were at first very large. In France a royal edict, as late as 1712 and 1723, fixed the size of the flue at three feet wide and deep enough to admit the chimney-sweep. In this country we have seen old-fashioned fire-places eight feet long and three feet deep. These caused such a draught that screens were necessary in the room to protect the inmates from powerful currents of cold air, but, although the waste of heat was enormous, on account 20 The Open Fire-Place. of the cooling effect of these strong draughts of outside air, it was nevertheless much less in proportion to the fuel burned than is the case with the smaller modern fire-place. Provided usually with a large hood projecting boldly into the room, and placed at a consid- erable height, sometimes six or eight feet, above the hearth, Figs. 13 and 14, they radi- B / 4 ®\ ( I Ye 1:54“ l f Ties < (J ”fir ; oan", C exe * \ CM 1 L Fig. 19. Fire-Place in Roslin Castle. 26 The Open Fire-Place. 'or of two pieces of material, as in that of the Cathedral of Puy en Velay, shown above, or in that of the private house in the old town of Cluny, France, represented in Fig. 18. Here the hood is supported by a single curved timber. In this example the entire thickness of the wall is used, the back of the fire-place being on a g f a I, ll {MMML \Tl j ; ~R val gums It MM n Wig 7, i Fig. 20. Kitchen Fire-Place of Granite. From Viollet-le-Duc. line with the outside of the wall, so that the masonry of the chimney shows in projection on the exterior. The hood is elliptical and re- solves itself, as it ascends, into a circular flue. On the right and left are little shelves for lamps, corresponding to our modern gas- burners on the chimney breast. The low windows near the fire- The Open Fire-Place. | 21 place enabled the occupants to see what was going on in the street while they sat by the fire. # Fig. 19 represents the old fire-place in Roslin Castle, of colossal dimensions and extreme simplicity of design. In these great fire- places huge trunks of trees six or eight feet long were sometimes : To We 6 3 VA C A t + \f (* / I RAJ] / . \ we, ‘ \I " f & \\\‘ / fl 4 “Q\““\\\ \| p mes SsSs i A" lf & «ll Pli gles a § is - Jif§~fl l Fig. 21. From Viollet-le-Duc. burned. Seats were placed on and about the hearth, and the screens and jambs of the fire-place formed together a complete antechamber as it were, apart from the large halls in which they were built, and here the family united to pass the long winter evenings and listen to the famous legends of olden times. ; 28 The Open FKire-Place. After the thirteenth century the kitchen, forming part of the main house, and no longer a separate establishment in which whole sheep and oxen were cooked at one time, was furnished with one or more of these massive fire-places, of which Fig. 20 furnishes a beautiful example. . It belonged to the Abbey Blanche de Mortain, was built of granite, and still bears the arms of the abbey and the triple pot- hanger with the iron plate behind the fuel. Here we have no piers at all, the hood resting on heavy corbels of \\ acs 2A AA SX A nn \ ase res § t ees =< V'fiyfil fo\Ac7\; 3 / r Pk .‘. ss "at% - - C “I???“ R M If ‘if | |II "~. 1 .i:|i§§Iiilluu... o> -.-—--1‘7a------ a» suse sete a Fig. 22. From Viollet-le-Duc. granite, and the fire-place is built as usual in the thickness of the wall. Up to the fourteenth century the fire-places of private houses and chiteaux were generally of great simplicity, and it was only later that we see any attempt at decoration. Figs. 21 and 22 represent two fire-places of the fifteenth century, with jambs of stone and hoods of wood plastered and curiously dec- orated. They are in the little town of Saint Antonin (Tarn-et- Garonne). : The Open FirePlace. 20 Fig. 23 gives a section of the first fire-place, showing the construc- tion of the hood, which stands 1.77 meters (about 5 feet 9 inches) above the hearth. Fig. 24 gives a detail of a lower corner of the framework. The hood, being plastered and having therefore the appearance of stonework, seemed to the eye too heavy to be self-sustaining. The artist has therefore taken the pains to carve upon the surface heavy cables, in the hopes of being able thereby to diminish in a measure this dis- 'agreeable effect of weakness. The second fire-place is more profusely decorated, and chains are added as well as man-power on the right and left, to assist the cable in supporting the heavy hood. Fig. 25 represents one of the richly seulp- tured fire-places in the Chateau d'Arnay- le-Duc, of the sixteenth century. It is 2.50 meters long by nearly 2 meters high, and stands in a room 4.20 meters high. «& Chapter III. contains a figure of the great [ fire-place in the Council Chamber of Cour- tray, built in the Elizabethan style. Al- though decorated with the finest sculpture, it has nevertheless a bold and massive as well as a highly picturesque effect, and must be considered as one of the most beautiful examples of its style and period. 'The fire-places thus far described have not exceeded eight or ten feet in width. When very large halls or saloons in palaces or public buildings were to be heated 'they sometimes measured thirty or forty feet, ous manner. Ans L i "NHC Et =- > + = a s hing # 7 na 3 "1 aC G 24. 40. 24 ‘rY-r1‘r1\ » = +»'~3 > 4 u Cie oB L 4a eld u s boa nes \&J-LJ-'.. ~ 7 # a1\ ~ I xk A «Li Put IL ao we et 3 ~ a * 3 a % -1- ria -p -- 4» b £04 fi ra ® u £ r- i I/ Fig. 23. From Viollet-le-Duc. and were decorated in a most sumptu- In this case, however, W ir e= "p by} 7 - # é/f Fig. 24. From Viollet-le-Duc. it was necessary to support the man- tel by intermediate piers, as shown in Fig. 26. When these piers ex- tended from the front to the back they formed, under a single mantel, separate fire-places, each having a distinct flue of its own, as shown in Figs. 27 and 28, the former being from the Chiteau de Coucy, France, and the latter from the Grand Hall of the Palais des Comtes of Poitiers. The subdivision of the opening and flue into several parts had other ob- jects besides that of properly sup- 30 The Open Kire-Place. porting the mantel. The ties or withes strengthened the walls, and the draught of each was materially improved by having its own small, independent flue. When the fire was first lighted, or when less than the ordinary amount of the heat was required, it was possible to con- fine the fire to a single section. By this arrangement each part, Echells da 2 # 4 Maren Fig. 25. From Sauvageot. besides having sufficient draught of itself, served also to heat and improve that of the rest. The fire-place represented by Fig. 28 was built in the fifteenth century, and occupies one end of the hall in which it stands. " It is,'' says Viollet-le-Duc, * no less than 10 meters long and 2.30 meters (7 feet) high under the mantel. . . . . In the interior of the public buildings as well as in the exterior, the Middle Age under- The Open Kire-Place. © 31 yt 28 Meal - te si] Fig. 26. From ' Antient Domestick Architecture "' (except figure). M = 1. mt | "WW“?! D | | SA /t D g / y 1 / Fig. 27. From Viollet-le-Duc. 32 The Open Fire-Place. stood how to produce imposing effects of architecture, which make the treatment even of our most important modern buildings seem weak and insignificant by comparison. " When the counts of Poitiers, in their grand robes of state, sat enthroned in this hall, surrounded by their officers; when behind the feudal court blazed the three fires on their three hearths; and when, to complete the picture, the assistants were seated on benches before the gorgeous windows above the mantel, one can imagine the respect that a scene of such nobility and grandeur ought to have inspired in the minds of the vassals assembled around the court of their lord. j ( a i tive pu \ 1g: ‘ M Fig. 28. Certainly one should feel himself triply in the right to be able to de- fend his cause before a tribunal so nobly seated and surrounded." EFFORTS TO IMPROVE THE DRAUGHT AND ECONOMIZE THE FUEL. Interesting and beautiful as were these immense fire-places of the Middle Ages, they were, as then constructed, open to the objection of being too expensive for ordinary use, both in first cost and in their large consumption of fuel. For the majority of our modern rooms they would be altogether out of proportion in size, and about as much in place as would be a smelting furnace for a domestic oven, or the grand portal of a cathedral for the entrance of an ordinary dwelling. Their capacious throats engulfed huge quantities of air from the room, - much more than was necessay to support the combustion of the fuel, - and, as this air could not conveniently be allowed them, 1 To support the combustion of say three kilograms of wood about thirty cubic meters of air are necessary, whereas we have seen by our Table I. that over eight hun- dred cubic meters passed up our small chimney. Thus over twenty times as much as is necessary to support combustion, and ten times as much as would generally be neces- sary for ventilation, are used even with our small fire-places. “N. at 4 “4M.“ “72:5 [N «EMaARLL CN y EM“? DORO THEA I3T IR. NAM ex pesonttramcessin Ars cany ( s PLATE XIV. orm Tou © de Co . pour m L'Art Chat t the Fro x ts 9";C xv. XII. a JF s A PLAT ; des Loui ¥ ¢ 3, / % +8. teen X iéce.,.'ofé ; plac Seven - df PCi : ~. Fagen *- XV. PLATE eee ee e ee eee eee i on eee eee ot Smit ie aes ece Roe Ne En Amie es ECCO CTT i PLATE XVI Stone fire-place at the Museum, of the Hotel de Cluny, Paris. French Renaissance. - The fire-place formerly stood in a house built at Troyes in the sixteenth century, and was brought to Paris soon after the foundation of the Museum. From pour Tous for 1869, 1870. E HHP HBF Besser I %/ 7 RRR» f ’/// a {M/C/fl/ é/z/ZW a tase . se /’/ // T L , PLATE 'X Y1. re: t Archit r . _The sculptu oe France Rouyer, "* L' A lat, t Sarl From E. ~ m v a ho in | is life a4 , i mante nee." ra C place 1 en F Siting fire- ve the turf; 7 PLATE XV IH. PLATE XVIII. Fire-place in the " Salle des Gardes," in the " Hotel de Alluyer," at Blois, France. House of the Minister Robertet, of Louis XII. and Francois I. It is built of stone, measures 3". 68 in height and 3". 24 in width. The arms of Robertet are sculptured over the piers. The main panel is surrounded by a moulding which contains the knotted cordeliére of Anne de Bretagne. The field of the panel is decorated with the losanges alternatively of France and Bretagne. The shield of France is surmounted by the crown, and surrounded by the collar of the Order of St. Michel. The birds in the curved cornice are sculptured with the arms of Michelle Saillard, wife of: Robertet. From Rouyer, "* L'Art Architectural en France." PLATE XVIIL e Fr: ance P» Cghfite x de t Chateau hbisho re G md - m is e of the A « Pala the chamber I ace in / 7 (AUAUOAOUEI WU LILY I7 " W W Sys XIX. PLATE ._ Renaissance ance. Fr c, France Architectural en ayna ~@I/Art 7 uyer, [se) f O - pp Ewes & A harall r «f .A #4. O & ace in rom E. Ro heffii-e? | PLATE XX. The Open Fire-Place. 38 where no economical means of warming it as it entered the room was known, they smoked (as any sensible chimney would do under the circumstances), and the only way that could be imagined to diminish the smoking was to diminish the size of the fire-place open- ing. This diminution took place as has already been described, and the fire-place assumed its present economical proportions.: The chimney continued to smoke, however, and it was seen that the cure had not as yet been discovered. The first recorded effort to study the matter seriously on a scien- tific basis was that of Louis Savot, a physician of Paris, born in 1579 and died in 1640. Savot made a study of architecture from a sanitary point of view, and having found in the smoky chimney an unusually troublesome patient, he set to work, like a true physician, to investigate the causes of the disease. But his success was only artial. 'The treatment he administered was quieting and salutary, but he failed to discover the real trouble and the secret of its cure. He improved the form of the fire-place opening by diminishing its width, so that less cold air could enter on each side of the fire, and he showed that the flue should be smooth to lessen the friction of the ascending smoke. His is the first recorded attempt to save the waste heat of the smoke and the back of the fire. The famous fire-place at the Louvre, of which Fig. 29 gives the front elevation and Fig. 30 the section, t 4 ////A ermm T DIC / orcad 3 -E 3 >> pf eees 8 1T ET EL EL EHO Bl EBC EBO [3 ETS. 272 é MY w= '((-/‘ MC, z= I as '208 fel- fbb ““‘ \ TH U (|- L| | G Ht] | I HP)) PB fry) ' 'N) ipa, {(Ta mt k Fig. 29. From Tomlinson. Fig. 30. (From Joly. was first brought into public notice by him, and shows the manner in which this was done. The room is warmed not only by direct radi- ation, as is usual with the ordinary fire-place, but also by the heat of contact of air. The air of the room enters the opening shown under the grate, passes behind the back of the fire-place and above the top, as shown by the arrows, and returns heated into the room through the round openings just under the mantel moulding. The ornamental bands passing in front of these openings appear to have been designed 3 34 The Open Kire-Place. to deflect the warmed air upwards as it issued from them, and prevent its returning at once into the fire-place. To admit of this cirecula- tion of air the fire-place was, of course, made double as shown, and the inner box. was made of iron. In this way a portion of the cold air at the bottom of the room was heated and tended to rise to the top, and a certain amount of heat was saved. This ingenious con- trivance does not appear to have been appreciated or successful, thouch, since the time of Savot, the arrangement has, with slight modifications, been patented over and over again as a new inven- tion. By it neither was the air of the room changed nor was the draught of the chimney improved, and the saving of heat does not appear to have been suflicient to bring about its introduction. A simple modification in the nature of its air supply, however, would have rendered this invention of the greatest value. By taking the supply of air to be heated from the outside instead of from the room itself, we have the principle of the so-called ventilating fire-place, hereafter to be described, and in consideration of its simplicity it would have formed one of the best of its class known. To secure the air-space below the hearth the fire was raised three or four inches above the general floor level. This rendered the fire more efficient in warming the floor of the room, inasmuch as a greater number of rays of heat would evidently strike the floor, and all at a better angle. Fig. 31 shows, in section, another form of Savot's invention. When the column of air in an up- right flue is heated and becomes light- er than the surrounding air, it is no longer able to maintain its equilibrium with the colder and denser column out- side, which therefore rushes into the house through the cracks and crev- . ices, driving the warm air up the \ chimney until the balance is restored. If, now, these cracks are all closed, the cold air will force its way into the room through the chimney itself, de- & o scending on one side of the flue, while the hot air and smoke ascend on the ‘\\\\ s S other. A struggle will ensue between Fig: 3} the two opposite currents, causing the cold air to enter spasmodically, or in puffs, bringing part of the smoke with it. But let a separate inlet be made for the outside air and it will en- ter the room in a steady stream and drive the smoke smoothly and rapidly up the flue. In the majority of cases a smoky chimney may be cured by observing this simple law. The first really important step in improving the chimney draught, then, was made when this principle was recognized, and a sufficient opening provided for the admission of the outside air. The manner, however, in which the gere IC 9&1 - ACE < gykffil fa ' Bes \\, A FS ? Es_A p a 8 | FOE NCB v Ames ran 2 ell The Open FKire-Place. 26 renewal of the air was at first accomplished was such as to improve the draught only at the expense of the ventilation of the room, as will be seen by examining the accompanying Fig. 82. It repre- sents the apparatus of Sir John Winter, invented in 1658. Fresh air was brought in under the grate from the outside and acted on the fire as a powerful blower. A valve was placed in the supply-pipe and by it the amount of entering air was regulated to the requirements of the fire. It will be seen at once that when the supply-pipe was large enough and the valve was opened the fire would be sup- plied with air entirely by this pipe, and all objec- tionable draughts through window and door cracks be effectually debarred. But it must also be borne in mind that by just as far as the draught was sup- plied from this source, by just so far would the ven- tilation of the room be reduced, and if the pipe supplied all the air necessary the ventilation would be nothing. Fig. 33 represents the section of another form of the " blower ' 3 \\ chimney, almost entirely abandoned at S Q the present day, but at the time of its \ invention much in. vogue. The fresh air is brought in a canal from the out- side and turned on the fire from above, \§\\\\\\\\ passing between the two plates repre- N Cy! sented in section under the mantel. a 8 / \ This has all the objections and none of Fig: 32, \ 1/ \ the advantages of the blower of Win- % / / ter. The ventilation of the room is de- j stroyed; a cold current of air is pro- \ duced in the neighborhood of the fire; and the point of delivery of cold air is R not located favorably for stimulating \\ Sm the fire. i , Still another form has been much praised, though without a shadow of merit. By it the fresh air is introduced into the room directly from the outside at the level of the floor, just in front of the fire-place, under a fender perforated for the purpose. The form of the fender is such as to direct the incoming air forward upon the fire as it enters. This is the worst possible form of fire-place; and besides having all the objections enumerated above is liable to clog with dirt, and is difficult and expensive to construct. A modification in the manner of supplying the fresh air, so that it could be used to ventilate and warm the room before feeding the fire, would have rendered Winter's invention of the greatest value. His contrivance was, therefore, also a failure, though it has, since his time, after having undergone slight modifications not affecting its 36 The Open Kire-Place. general principle, been frequently patented as a new idea. It only remained to combine the inventions of Savot and Winter to produce most useful results. THE VENTILATING FIRE-PLACE. This combination was made, in 1713, by Gauger, the real inventor of the ventilating fire-place and, indeed, of almost all the most im- portant principles of im- lllfllllllllllll”“INIHIIHHI' j provement in the form | | I of the fire-place since the time of Savot. He gave the fire-place the elliptic form as shown in Fig. 34, instead of the square form hither- to used, for the purpose of improving its reflect- ing power. He showed that, with the rectan- gular jambs, very few of the rays of the fire are reflected into the room. - Thus, if we suppose a fire to be at F in Fig. 35, in an or- Fig. 34. dinary fire-place, only ~» -» two of the rays repre- e re- sented by dotted lines Pays, as striking the jambs It would be reflected into ~ the room, the rest be- §Za ing thrown upon the ie wis" 28 = C 1 C PLL IT ILIV verdi Fig. 44. Franklin's Smoke-con- Fig. 45. Cuttler's Smoke-consuming suming Grate. From Labarthe. Grate. From Edwards. pitcher. This door is opened for the purpose by means of a poker. The door is then closed, and the grate revolved by means of the poker, so as to bring the fresh coals underneath those already burn- ing. By this means the smoke of the fresh fuel is obliged to pass through the fire or red-hot coals, and is ignited. In 1815, a Mr. Cuttler took out a patent for a smoke-consuming | RN I The Open Kire-Place. 41 grate, with a chamber or magazine attached, for containing suffi- cient fuel to last all day. Fig. 45. The following description is from Rees's "Cyclopedia:" «©The bottom plate of the chamber is movable, and, by means of a wheel and axle, the fuel contained in the chamber can be raised so as to bring a portion of it into the grate at the lower part or from beneath, and thus from time to time replace the fuel that is consumed without the trouble of throwing on coals. To make the fuel burn, the flue must be so constructed as to produce a strong draught through and across the top of the fire. In- troducing the fresh coals from beneath causes the smoke therefrom to be consumed in passing through the superposed hot coals. Another improvement is to reduce or extinguish the fire; the fire is lowered into the chamber beneath the grate, and is thus deprived of a sup- ply of fresh air, and is congequently soon extinguished." If by this means the smoke could be entirely consumed, soot and chimney sweep- ing would be unknown, and smoke could not enter the room because it would cease to exist, and a fire so readily extinguished would be a great source of comfort to the anxious housekeeper. Dr. Arnott effected the same object by a somewhat simpler means in his " Smokeless Fire-Place." Fig. 46. His coal chamber has, like Cuttler's, a false bottom or piston sup- - ported by a piston rod with notches, in which a catch engages so as to support the piston at any required height. By placing the poker in one of these notches, and rest- ing its point on some fixed support, it may be used as a lever for raising the piston, and bringing a fresh supply of fuel into the grate. Should it be necessary to replenish the coal-box, while the fire is burning, as when the piston has been raised to its full height, a shovel or spade, which may be made for the purpose, is pushed in over the piston to take its place, while the piston is lowéred. The spade is then raised in front # by its handle, presses upwards the two front bars of the grate, which bars are ar- ranged loose for the purpose, and exposes the mouth of the coal-box, and a new charge of coal is shot in. It is, of course, important that the piston should fit accu- rately in the coal-box to prevent ingress of air from below, or in other words to limit i- the combustion to that part of the fire which is visible from the room. - In recom- Fig. 46. Dr. Arnott's Smokeless mending this device, Dr. Arnott stated frre Flags, that the cost of washing the clothes of the inhabitants of London was greater by two and a half million pounds sterling a year than for the same number of families resident in the country, to say nothing of Im wwe s meme mesa _ ==, U 42 The Open Fire-Place. the injury of such articles as carpets, curtains, female apparel, books and paintings, decorations of walls and ceilings, and even the stones and bricks of the houses themselves, from the same cause. He also urged that the frequent washing of hands and face led to an in- creased consumption of soap; and that many trees and shrubs could not live in a smoky atmosphere like that of London. Nevertheless the complete combustion of the smoke will not render it wholesome to breathe. Some injury is no doubt caused by inhal- ing soot ; but by passing the smoke through the fire in some smoke- consuming apparatus, while we save the heat, we convert the visible soot into invisible acids, carbonic, sulphurous, and pyroligneous, and ammonia, etc., of which, with water, it is composed. Figs. 47 and 48 represent the smoke-consuming grate of Atkins and Marriot, an ingenious contrivance, xvhich introduced fresh coal at the bottom of the grate as it was wanted. The section shows Fig. 47. Atkins & Marriot's Smoke-consuming Grate. From Edwards. Fig. 48. clearly how this was done. The idea was to obviate the possibility of the whole body of coal getting into a state of active combustion, as in Cuttler's grate. It either was not understood, or was for some reason practically objectionable, for it does not appear to have met at any time with success, and was soon forgotten. These smoke-consuming fire-places never came into general use on account of their awkward appearance, and the inconvenience of man- aging them. They involve machinery which is a little liable to get out of order, and few housekeepers are philosophers enough to be willing to undertake the management of a machine requiring espe- cial mental effort, where the advantages are not directly visible to the senses. The average servant is thoughtless and impatient enough to prefer the primitive method of "discharging an avalanche of coals '' upon the fire from the hod, to going through the experiments with the lever, ratchet, wheel and axle, recommended by Cuttler and Arnott. The Open FKire-Place. f 43 Moreover, the complete combustion of the smoke, and indeed every- thing else connected with the fire, has been considered of minor impor- tance, compared with obtaining a " good draught'' at any sacrifice. If we assume that but an eighth or a tenth part of the fuel takes the form of unconsumed smoke, and consider that a tenth part of the entire heat generated by the fuel is more than we ordinarily realize, the saving by the use of a smoke-consuming apparatus would, in an ordinary fire-place, amount to only about a hundredth part. It is evident, therefore, that such a refinement on the score of economy is absurd, so long as we allow the waste in other ways to be so large. If we throw away nine tenths of the fuel consumed, we cannot com- plaindof the loss of the one tenth of the remainder which is uncon- sumed. IMPROVEMENT IN THE FORM OF THE CHIMNEY THROAT. The next important step made was in the improvement of the form of the smoke flue where it connects with the fire-place. Cold air, be- ing heavier than warm, will fall below the latter, and press it upwards to make way for itself. - Thus the air in the neighborhood of the fire- place will press the hot smoke up into the chimney throat. If this throat is only large enough to take the smoke, hot air only will enter the flue and the draught will be rapid. But if the throat is larger than necessary, that part of the cool air of the room which enters the fire-place and becomes most heated by the fire, and next in buoy- ancy to the smoke, will, in its turn, be pressed up by the cooler air behind it, and enter the flue alongside of the smoke. Indeed, the entire volume of the air of the room, being warmer than the outside air, will tend to enter the flue with the smoke, so long as there be room provided for its entrance. The heat of the column, and conse- quently the rapidity of its rise, will therefore be proportionally di- minished. For this reason the throat of the chimney should be con- tracted until it is no larger than is sufficient to carry off the products of combustion. A similar contraction throughout the entire length of the flue would be desirable, were it not that an allowance must be made for clogging up by soot, and for the resistance by friction to the passage of the air offered by the rough walls of the flue. The first to recognize and apply this principle was Count Rum- ford (1796-1802). He published a number of valuable and interest- ing essays on various matters of domestic economy, one of which was devoted entirely to fire-places and chimneys. But he is to be blamed for not investigating or at least acknowledging the progress made by his predecessors in this particular. He says, " It is, how- ever, quite certain that the quantity of heat which goes off combined with the smoke vapor and heated air is much more considerable, perhaps three or four times greater at least, than that which is sent off from the fire in rays, and yet small as the quantity is of this radiant heat, it is the only part of the heat generated in the com- bustion of the fuel burned in an open fire-place which is ever em- ployed, or which can ever be employed in heating a room;" and 44 The Open Kire-Place. again, * As it is the radiated heat alone which can be employed in heating a room, it becomes an object of much importance to deter- mine how the greatest quantity of it may be % generated from the combustion of fuel." Thus, % however much good he may have done in im- % proving the form of the chimney throat, and in calling public attention to the advantages of bevelled over rectangular jambs, he cer- tainly also did much to discourage any further effort in economizing the waste heat of the smoke, and should therefore be considered as having really done more than any other one man to retard the proper development of the subject. He complains of the enormous waste of heat, and regrets that no means of saving Ee it can be invented, in the face of the discov- eries of both Savot and Gauger. Even his fl bevelled jambs for better reflecting the rays I E -] into the room had long since been recom- _ / mended by Gauger. They were brought for- p ///A ward as quite new by Rumford. In speaking of the waste in unconsumed smoke, he says, "I never view from a distance, as I come into town, this black cloud which hangs over London, without wishing to be able to compute the immense number of chaldrons of coal of which it is composed ; for could this be ascertained, I am persuaded so striking a fact would awaken the curiosity and excite the astonish- ment of all ranks of the inhabitants, and perkaps turn their minds to an object of economy to which they had hitherto paid little atten- tion."" Yet he gives no way of consuming the smoke or of alleviat- ing the evil. Figs. 49 and 50 represent the so-called Rumford stove or fire- place. He contracted the area of the fire chamber and save the sides an angle of 185° with the back, or, which is the same thing, of 45° with the front of the fire-place, in or- der, as he said, to reflect the greatest possible amount of heat into the room. He con- sidered the best proportions for the chimney recess to be ; when the width of the back Fig. 50. From Tomiinson. was equal to the depth from front to back, and the width of the front or opening between the jambs three times the width of the back. - These proportions are used to-day, and are undoubtedly the best. He objected to the use of iron for these surfaces on account of its great heat-conducting power, which wasted the heat and cooled off the fire, but advocated some non-conducting substance, such amon Fig: 49. From Peclet. The Open FKire-Place. 45 as fire-clay. He also objected to circular covings, on the ground that they produced eddies or currents, which would be likely to cause the chimney to smoke. But his chief, or perhaps only, real improvement consisted in the reduction of the size of the chimney throat, and the rounding off of the lower edge of the chimney breast, as shown in Fig. 51, in order, as he said, to afford less obstruction to the ascent of the smoke. When the chimney required sweeping, the plate or flagstone opposite this rounded edge could be removed so as to open the throat, and be replaced after the operation. - This form, as given by Rumford, is however still defective. The small- est part of the flue should be at the bottom, as shown in Fig. 52, so as to § prevent the entrance into the flue f g%\ of un burnt air from the room. & \ i g§7\ From this point it should increase A \ i §,W/j\\ somewhat, to allow of a slight ex- ~. _ \§! %é\ pansion of the heated column and _>. ) \ || {Z to diminish its friction against the sf MY! ;/;A\ walls of the flue, as well as to allow ~~... |\}\\!! # for a partial clogging by soot and "ig. %é\ for the resistance to its passage of- 2 QfiW/Z\ fered by the roughness of the plaster. yyy i x The back of the fire-place should also incline forwards, as shown, in order to increase its radiating effect as well as that of the flame. The simple and earnest style of Fig:=51. #7 /%;/{/ Count Rumford's essays, the sub- ' //% stantial nature of his acknowledged improvement, 'the facility with which it could be tested, and the enthusiasm with which he urges its importance, the detailed directions he gives for the guidance of the builder, and the liberality with which he offered the free use of his invention and services to the public, all tended to make a permanent im- pression, and not only to give the Rumford fire-place precedence over all others, but even to place the latter altogether in the shade. So much in the shade that, though infinitely more important as tending to improve the ventilation of the apartment, and the draught of chimney, as well as to save the waste heat of the fuel, they were almost forgotten, and, so far as the mass of the public is concerned, remain so up to the present day. So great was the influence of Count Rumford as a man of science, and his ability as a writer, that his failure to acknowledge the value of the efforts of his predecessors seemed like a tacit condemnation of them, and proved the severest blow to the cause. 46 The Open FKire-Place. Almost all modern grates are based upon the principles explained by Count Rumford, and a fire-place was considered perfegt which was made in accordance with them. It was a rare exception when anything beyond this was thought possible. The modern grate represented in Figs. 53 and 54, called Sylves- mp Ss @,8 Ce O Z R Se \ S XX 8 S \ Sylvester's Fire-Place. From Edwards. Fig. 53. Fig. 54. ter's patent, formed one of these exceptions, and was introduced about twenty years ago. In this the fire was put lower down than it had been at any time since coal became the staple fuel. The bottom of the grate was formed of separate bars, which extended considerably into the room. A curb of iron and a raised bar of cir- cular form were used to enclose the bars and answer the purpose of a fender. The back and sides of the fire-place were formed of fire- brick. Instead of the register door above, Venetian plates were provided at the back of the grate for the escape of the smoke, which could be opened more or less by a touch with the pokef. This grate is quite common with us to-day; but it is rare that we see it with the ventilating attachment shown in the figure, and operating on the old principle of the fire-place at the Louvre, described by Savot. The air from the room was warmed against the back and top of the fire- place, in the spaces shown in the section, and afterwards returned into the room. The contraction of the chimney throat by means of the Venetian plates, which could easily be regulated, was an excellent application of the principle advocated by Rumford. 'The projecting bars re- flected considerable heat, but there were certain disadvantages. The apparatus was necessarily expensive. It required more than usual care in setting. The fire was injudiciously low, and the necessity of removing the bars individually for the purpose of taking away The Open Fire-Place. 47 the dust, and of then replacing them, was objected to from the fact that the operation was an unusual one, and one, therefore, which domestics were certain to object to. Figs. 55 and 56 represent the so-called Stephen's grate. This Y Fig. 55. Stephen's Fire-Place. From Edwards. Fig. 56. has no ventilating flues. It was simply built after the Rumford prin- ciples, and may be taken as a type of what was and is considered a perfect grate or fire-place. As in Sylvester's device, the smoke passes away from behind, but through a single arched aperture instead of between Venetian plates. A polished surface of iron fills up the space between the aperture and the front of the grate. A pan to re- ceive the ashes is fitted below the fire bars, and is made to project a few inches in front of them, where it is covered by an open grating. Fire-brick is used behind the bars to enclose the fire, and a door to move backwards and forwards is used to regulate the opening into the chimney. The iron-work is ground and stained black for dining- rooms and libraries, and is ground and polished bright for drawing- rooms. Burnished steel and ormolu are introduced, of course, for those who can afford to pay for them, and the ash-pan itself is sometimes constructed of stamped and highly burnished steel bars, which, ac- cording to Edwards, the grate manufacturer, gratify the ladies by their brightness. Two curious circumstances attending the intro- duction of this grate are that it was not made of a semicircular form by the inventor, but elliptical, and that the notion was given over for a small sum of money to a manufacturer, who called it a patent, and retained the sole privilege of using it for many years, till it was dis- covered that there was no such thing as a patent in existence. Even before the introduction of Stephen's grate, another one, known as King's patent, and shown in Figs. 57 and 58, was introduced, which combined several similar qualifications, but only succeeded in becom- ing very little known. The form of the upper part was square in- stead of semicircular; and the door at the back of the grate, instead 48 The Open Fire-Place. of being suspended from the bottom, as in Stephen's apparatus, was suspended from above and balanced by chams and weights, so that a slight touch with the poker could move it up or down at pleasure, and increase or diminish the draught. This fire-place was, scien- tifically speaking, superior to Stephepzs. The amount of reflecting surface was greater than in the semicircular form, and the draught into the chimney was far more perfectly regulated than by the Ste- phen's door. It is curious to observe how instantaneously the draught seee < o Ld LJ Ck Fig. 57. King's Patent Grate. From Edwards. Fig. 58. is affected as the door is brought in proximity to the fire or is removed from it, and how perfectly all the products of combustion are carried off when the opening into the chimney is exceedingly contracted. The grate, however, failed to excite much attention for one reason, and one only, namely, that the square form was not at that time cal- culated to be so popular as the arched form. "It is," says Edwards, «* of no use to attempt to reason upon matters of taste. It suffices to state that the arched form was at that time novel, and that few would look at any other. King's grate was subsequently made of the semi- circular form, but not until the other had got the run, and it had be- come practically impossible to supplant it."" THE SLIDING BLOWER. Soon after the improvement made by Rumford, Lhomond added a. movable blower, as shown in Figs. 59, 60, 61, and 62, allowing the y opening of the fire-place to be increased or diminished at will. In this way the entire current of air could be turned upon the fuel, and the open fire - place becomes trans- formed into a closed stove, so N far as the concealment of the ami Bo R Bs flame and the improvement. Fig. 59. _- of the draught are concerned.. The Open Fire-Place. f 49 This is at times very useful with chimneys liable to smoke, particularly when the fire is first lighted, and it is very gen- erally used in Europe, especially in Paris. The blower is composed of one or more leaves of sheet metal (Fig. 60), sliding one over the other in the slots, as shown on the plan. The lowest is supported in the middle by a chain which passes over two pulleys, and is balanced by a weight. The use of this blower is, of course, an effective cure for smoky chimneys, because it may be closed so as entirely to cover the fire, but it is an expensive cure, since it sends a part of the radiant heat up the chimney. It is true Fig. 60. that the high conductibility of the metal plate allows heat to pass through it rapidly, but the loss is nevertheless very great when closed _ over non-ventilating fire-places. Its use is only to be recommended where no better means of preventing smoke is to be found, or where a powerful draught is required to light the fire rapidly. A good arrangement of the grate for burning coal is to have the entire grate project beyond the fire-place so as to utilize the great- est possible amount of radiant heat. A semicircular hood of metal over the fire would then serve to direct the smoke into the chimney. This hood, being a heat conductor, would also transmit a large portion of the rays of heat into the room. The fire-place of Lhomond, as shown in Figs. 61 and 62, is designed Fig. 61, From Peclet. Fig. 62. From Peclet. for wood, but by putting a grate in place of the andirons it may be used for coal. 4 ei 50 The Open Fire-Place. THE MOVABLE GRATE. Fig. 63 represents the movable grate, invented by Bronzac. The fuel rests on a small carriage with wheels or casters, which allow of its being brought forward into the room, when The fire is once lighted and burning well. The grate or carriage consists of a cast-iron box, open in front, and was used with an ordinary fire-place of Lhomond or Rumford. These grates, according to Peclet, well made at first, met s with great success, but upon the expiration of the term of the patent right their con- struction was less careful, and they fell into comparative disuse. At the Universal Ex- hibition of 1855, an apparatus of the same nature was exhibited. The grate could be brought forward several meters into the room, the smoke then passing into the chimney through a flue formed of sliding tubes, fitting into each other like those of a «telescope. As to how far the use of such a Ndevice is likely to spread in our modern Fig: €: apartments is a question of which each is best able to judge for himself. But it seems to the writer more suit- able for the shop of the tinsmith or the laboratory of the chemist than for an ordinary living-room. Various other forms of the movable grate have been invented, a common \ S form among which is the hanging-basket S grate, now occasionally used, supported by a chain on a swivel bracket projecting from one of the jambs of the fire-place. This form of grate is objectionable on account of the difficulty of holding it firmly while replenishing or poking the fuel. It is sometimes used on account of its oddity or picturesqueness. FIRE-PLACES WITH INVERTED SMOKE 3 PsA | 1 LCE: \\\\\\ Se In 1745 Franklin invented the famous - \m\\°\’\\\ Pennsylvanian Fire-Place (Fig. 64), in < which the smoke descends to the bottom Fig. 64. Franklin's Pennsylvanian of the fire-place before it enters the flue, Fire-Place. in order to heat the surfaces of the fresh-air channels enclosed in the fire-back. This fire-place of Franklin's, however, was closed in front, and was objectionable on that account, the fire not being visible. It belongs therefore rather to the stove family than to that of the fire-place, as its name implies. It was modified by Desarnod, who opened the front to expose the fire (Fig. 65), and added on each side three little tubes which entered a larger one, through which the omor oo roa oro ola oar ovo The Open Fire-Place. 51 smoke passed and gave out a large part of its heat before entering the chimney. In short, the apparatus consists of a small fire-place inside of a larger one. Above the smaller is the opening through which fresh air enters the room. The system of an inverted smoke flue was also adopted by Montalembert, who in 1763 invented the fire- place and chimney represented in Fig. 66. It consists of a small chim- I! ll ney inside of a larger one. Upon lighting the fire, the damper at the top of the inside flue is opened, and that on the outside flue closed, by means of cords and tassels, allowing E 4 f the smoke to rise directly into the chimney. Once the fire is well S lighted, the dampers are reversed r 1 T|; and the smoke is forced to follow I the course indicated by the arrows. When the walls of these flues are constructed of a good heat-con- Fig. 65. Desarnod's Fire-Place. From Joly. ducting material, the saving by their use may be very great; if constructed of brick and j the usual furring put upon the chimney breast the gain is, on the contrary, but slight. Not- f ~ A withstanding this objection and the compli- ct * - cation of the construction, these chimneys 3 became quite popular at the time of their in- f troduction. 1 The chief difficulty with all these arrange- ments having the reversed draught is their lia- I t bility to smoke, and to clog with soot. Where the principle of multiplied circulation is em- ployed to bring the fresh air and smoke flue "I/I/l/fl/I/ ‘Ql sm sts Zora by PIL PY & zzz lat e Fig. 67. in contact with each other, the circulation should if possible be on the part of the fresh air and not of the smoke, unless convenient openings can be provided for cleaning out. Another form of fire- place, constructed on the same principle, is that of Douglas Galton, represented in Figs. 67 and 68. In this the fire-place projects en- tirely into the room. 'The smoke passes through the large central 52 The Open Fire-Place. flue, and is surrounded by fresh-air chambers, which bring the warm air into the room through the openings shown in the section at the top of the stove, following the direction shown by the arrows. The fire-place is constructed of fire-brick, which absorbs a great quantity of heat, and, when once thoroughly wgu'med through, has the pecu- liarity of radiating the heat in all directions very rapidly. Soapstone has the same property. The grate and case of the fire-Place are made of iron. This apparatus can only be employed with safety where the chimney draught is very regular and powerful, the ver- tical flue being heated from some external source, as in the. Herbert Hospital, Woolwich, England, where, by the side of the upright flue, is placed a spare flue terminating in a fire-place in the basement, which enables the vertical flue to be warmed, so as either to mqke it draw when the fire is first lighted, or to enable a current to be main- tained for ventilating purposes through the fire-place when the fire is not lighted. The horizontal flue is swept by pushing a brush along N A .~ . ‘: ‘\ é), l vs i 2 t Fras: AR Fig. 68. Fig. 69. Fire-Place of Descroizilles. it to force the soot into the vertical flue, whence it can be removed by a special contrivance. The fire-place of Descroizilles, with smoke flue constructed on the same principle, is shown in Fig. 69. In order to diminish the unnecessary entrance of cool air into the chimney flue above the fire, without at the same time curtailing the view of the flame, Descroizilles closed the upper part of the opening with a curtain of fine metal gauze. This, applied to both wood and coal fires, gave excellent results. Glass and mica slate have been used for the same purpose, but, owing to their frangible nature, have had but a limited use. The apparatus for warming the fresh air shown in the figure is much too complicated ever to become popu- lar, even if it were not objectionable in many other particulars.. The The Open Fire-Place. 53 whole is constructed of metal. The metal gauze in front of the fire is made to turn on a hinge on its upper side, so that it may be opened or closed at pleasure. The smoke is allowed to pass di- rectly into the chimney when the fire is first lighted, but when the flue has been sufficiently warmed to insure a good draught, the small damper above the fire is closed, and the smoke is compelled to descend, turn to the right and left, rise again, and circulate through the bent pipes as shown in full and dotted lines, before it finally escapes into the chimney. While the machine is in good order it warms the fresh air economically and effectually, provided it is not attempted to warm too much air. But it is particularly liable to clog with soot, and very difficult to clean out again, it being nec- essary to take it entirely apart in order to do this. Moreover, the frequent changes in shape and direction of the various parts of the smoke flue give rise to numerous counteracting eddies, which seri- ously retard the passage of the smoke; and often to such a degree that, with fire-places having openings of the ordinary size for burn- ing wood, its use, without the gauze blower, would be quite out of the question. Fig. 70 gives a simpler device, but one which is also objectionable on account of back eddies, soot clog- ging, and smoke, without the advan- tage of the damper leading into the direct flue to fall back upon when the draught is feeble. Figs. 71 and 72 represent a ven- tilating fire-place taken from Peclet's " Traité de la Chaleur." It is com- posed of a small fire-place of sheet- iron, placed inside of a larger one containing the fresh-air tubes, T T. These tubes are arranged in plan as shown in Fig. 72, in such a manner . as to take from the smoke, as it passes & u between them, as much heat as pos- {{ sible, without obstructing its passage M e,, os or occupying too much space. The Fig. 70. From 'Pécist. small inside fire-place is distinct from p the larger one containing the tubes, so that it can easily be removed when it is desired to clean out the latter. The smoke and hot air of combustion, rising from the fuel, pass over the back of the inside fire-place, descend between the fresh-air tubes, and pass out into the main flue through the large opening at the bottom, F. An open- ing above E, furnished with a damper, serves to establish the draught when the fire is lighted. The fresh air circulates through the tubes ////7//, K R __ and enters warmed into the room through a register just above the fire. The usual blower for diminishing the size of the fire-place open- ing accompanies the apparatus. This fire-place is simple and easily set in any ordinary chimney opening. It was tested by Peclet and highly recommended by him. 54 The Open Fire-P"ace. The reverberatory fire-place, invented by a Mr. John Taylor, an English architect, is represented in Fig. 73. It is constructed of hollow bricks laid round an iron frame in such a manner that the smoke is obliged to pass around and below the fire before ascending the flue. An opening with a damper immediately above the fire al- lowed the smoke, however, to rise directly into the main flue when the fire was first lighted. The interior of the grate was entirely lined with hollow fire-bricks, and the front part of the grate was pro- / p \ 4 s... Fig. 71. Ventilating Fire-Place. From Peclet. vided with openings arranged to correspond with the construction of the air flues behind, and also to present a highly ornamental appear- ance. The fresh air warmed in the hot-air flues formed of fire-bricks passed through these openings into the room. This hollow brick interior was heated by the fire resting against the bricks and by the smoke passing around them. - The objections to this fire-place were, that the descending flue as here constructed would be liable to smoke, and would quickly become clogged with soot, to remove which would be difficult, especially in the lower corners, where it would soonest condense. Another serious objection was the liability of the hollow The Open Fire-Place. ig A A e A e E - \ / ff} From Peclet. Fig. 72 Plan of Ventilating Fire-Place. 100 ___ | as | Cos 9 | Ill - P | M Fig. 73. Taylor's Firg-Place. 56 The Open Kire-Place. bricks to become destroyed by the action of the fire and disturb the whole arrangement. - This might be partially removed by the substi- tution of iron for brick, but such a substitution would involve diffi- culties of other kinds. - On the whole, the deficiencies were conspicu- ous enough to prevent its making a permanent impression, and it now appears to have become forgotten. . f M. Joly, in his "Traité du Chauffage et de la Ventilation," says, "When we make a careful examination of our open fire-places as we actually find them, the first thought which strikes us is, < How absurd they are!' They are indeed nothing more than excellent producers of dangerous draughts, and it is particularly to them that applies the famous proverb, - * St le vent souffle sur toi au travers d'une fente, Fais ton testament et mets ordre a ta conscience." 1 «The second thought is this: Why not take advantage of the heat at the point where it is most intense, that is, at the top of the fire- place? Why cause the smoke to f enter the main flue at a height of 0 t “I __________ 7 gs if___________ p meter .70 from the ground, rather . - than at the height of 1 meter? Why s not utilize first all the radiant heat, I t i and then by means of a damper in if the smoke-flue just over the fire (Fig. | 74), when the fire is lighted and the I [33 draught established, why not, as in J ; L L;i the Russian and Swedish stoves, turn % e 77 the smoke into one of the idle piers ie bors " _._ under the mantel, converting it into a Fig. 74. Suggestion of: Smoke Cir- 5 elation. reversed smoke-flue, to lead the smoke under the hearth to the base of the other pier, through which it again rises to the mantel and returns to its starting-point before entering the flue? Why not bring all this smoke in contact with fresh air introduced from the outside, and entering the room through the fresh-air registers, as shown at the right and left of the mantel? This would be more expensive than our ordinary fire-places ; but does the fuel that one burns cost noth- ing? Do we derive from it all the advantage of which it is capa- ble? " 1 If through a crack the draught you feel, Settle your conscience and make your will The Open FirePlace. f 5T VENTILATING STOVE FIRE-PLACES WITH FRESH-AIR CIRCULA- TION. We now come to the iron fire-place with direct or straight smoke flue and circulating air flues. Fig. 75 represents the fire-place of M. Leras, professor of physics at the Lyceum of Alengon, France. The fire- place is very shallow, and consequent- ly a great amount of radiant heat is obtained. The fresh air circulates first under the ta hearth, then behind, the back Sy S and sides of the fire-place, and { § C finally escapes into the room through the register at the sides of the mantel. - The fire-place opening is covered with plates of polished copper to increase the radiant heat. This fire- place would seem difficult to repair when out of order, and liable to smoke on account of its incorrect form. The chimney-throat just above the fire is too large, and the back of the fire-place retreats above, where it should ad- vance. -The upper part of the flue shown in the figure in- % / GG W F p YF 7 # # /// L L i | \I mm | Fig.:78. al U IH P Li i B \ f a 1m. itl | Alllt‘ fil‘ifli “turf; ttr KN Fig. 76. Fig. 77. creases in size suddenly in the section where the iron flue enters the 58 The Open Fire-Place. chimney. This sudden increase would be unnecessary except as a transition from an oblong to a square flue. Figs. 76 and 77 represent another device with a better section of the flue. Under the hearth is a shallow rectangular case of sheet- iron communicating with the external air. Upon the rear part of this box are fixed a number of bent tubes for conducting the air from it to the fresh-air register above the fire. The burnt air passes be- tween the tubes before entering the brick flue, and warms the fresh air in its passage to the room. Fig. 78 gives in section a fire-place with the tubes for fresh air horizontal instead of perpendicular. This arrangement is less effective than the preceding, in which a draught of fresh air into the room is produced in the tubes by the height of mms l $ i *\\ \ al \| \ Nt Fig.'78. the column of warm air in them independently of the chimney draught. With horizontal tubes no such independent draught exists. The ap- paratus represented in Figs. 79, 80, 81, and 82 consists of a sheet- iron open stove fitted into the opening of a fire-place over a fresh- air inlet situated under the hearth. A register opens into the room from the upper part of the stove, through which the warm air enters. The stove consists of two sheet-iron boxes, one inside of the other, so as to leave a space between them for the circulation of the fresh air. The iron smoke flue is furnished with a damper at its junction with the stove, which is its proper place. The cheeks of the iron case are pierced with small metal plates, which extend into the fire and into the air spaces between the two cases. The outside air enters through the fresh-air channels, rises, and comes in contact with the ends of the metal plates heated by the flame at the opposite ends. It then enters the room through the register just above the fire. The appa- ratus, considering its complication, is feeble in heating power. The heating surface added by the plates is too small to justify the out- lay; moreover, the spaces between them would quickly get clogged with soot, and to clean them is exceedingly inconvenient. a" Hemet n The Open Fire-Place. 59 If these plates were omitted, as shown in Fig. 83, a better form of ventilating fire-place would be obtained Fug 80. Section Fig. 82. The fire-place of Fondet is represented in Figs. 84 and 85. It is composed of two horizontal cast-iron cylinders united by a number _of small upright prismatic tubes such a way that the smoke can NLT \\\\ pass between them before enter- SSS ing the chimney flue, as shown by the arrow in the section. These f as A ~ 38 tubes, which thus form the back b 1 \ I I of the fire-place, connect with the fresh-air inlet duct at the ° lower end, and at the upper arranged in rows, diagonally op- § posite and behind each other, in s £ \ \. \\ with the warm-air registers at § the right and left of the mantel, d fag as shown in the elevation. The § 7k 3 t fresh air circulating through them 1,( H< y is warmed by the fire, and then (K / / | thrown into the room through the registers. - The soot is re- moved from the outsides of the S ' small prismatic tubes by means t of a thin scraper passed between §\ N \ them. ‘ ; : f Fig. $3. This apparatus is now one of the most extensively used in Paris, and gives the greatest satisfaction. f L 60 The Open Fire-Place. It is, however, open to the objection of obstructing passage into the AJ hon wo moe our ww w am on sal Fig. 84. Fondet's Fire-Place. chimney flue in a manner which renders the removal of the soot from the latter quite difficult. To obviate the objection, Cordiér modified the back so as to render it movable. During the sweeping of the chimney the back can be moved to the position shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 86, thus entirely opening the mouth of the chimney. In other respects the oper- ation of this apparatus is like that of Fondet. Fig. 87 shows it in perspective. Fig. 88 shows the movable back, with the collars on the right and left of the upper horizontal cylinder to shut over the ends of the same when in position, for the purpose of keeping out the soot. 'The upright tubes in the Cordier fire-place are larger than in that of Fondet, and present more heating surface. At the same time they are less easi- ly burned out. To increase their durability, however, we mus mes mee ous ame mos ose &" > UJ FRESH AIR. 486. t From Bosc. ws ae we == s -= *~ - Tassage Tor S Section of Cordier's Fire-Place. The Open Fire-Place. 61 the small perforated shield (Fig. 89) is fitted to the front of the tubes to protect them from the immediate contact of the fire and fuel. Fig. 90 shows the fire-place back in profile. __ According to M. Bose, a French architect and writer on heating and ventilation, the calorific power of this apparatus is much greater than that of Fondet. He gives the results of some experiments 9, C3 4C || - \\ e TJ 31 --A AM 1’: E & c= "> ~T e J S i GJ M i Mat $4 ~o ~ /M A4 bes & * 4 ma Fig. 88. Back of Cordier's Fire-Place. From Bosc. L1 se Mea \\___ Fig. 87. Perspective View of Cordier's Fire» Place. From Bosc. Fig. 90. made by the Central Society of Architects, Paris, to show this. The experiments were made in a room, he says, containing about fifty-four cubic meters of air. At the moment of lighting, the ther- mometer stood at 17° Centigrade. Nine kilograms of wood were burned, and at the end of two hours the thermometer stood at 309, showing an increase of 13°. A similar experiment, made a few days afterwards in the same room with one of Fondet's better-known fire-places, gave, in the same time and with the same amount of wood, an increase of only 7° instead of 183°. In Fig. 87 is shown, behind the mantel, a portion of the smoke 62 The Open FKire-Place. flue made large enough to contain a number of small fresh-air tubes. By this means a still greater amount of heat may be extracted from the smoke before it enters the brick flue. But the upper enlargemert with enclosed air tubes does not form a necessary part of the appa- ratus. It is objectionable, as well on account of its costliness and complexity as on account of the difficulty of cleaning or making repairs. E y, The Lloyd fire-place is represented by Figs. 91, 92, 93, 94, and 95. Two strips of sheet-iron, bent as shown in Fig. 94, are fastened to the back of the fire-place, of which Fig. 92 gives a [7 horizontal section, and make the fresh-air flues shown in Fig. 95. These two side flues are con- nected above the fire-place with a cross tube square in section (Fig. 91). The fresh air enters behind the fire-place, circulates below, on each side, and above the stove, and enters the room just over the mantel at the back edge of the re shelf, as shown in the vertical section (Fig. 91). This fire-place is to be highly recommended on account of its extreme simplicity. - But the ra- diating surface of its heating flues being small, compared with those of Cordier, Fondet, Joly, Peclet, Descroizilles, and others, it is corre- spondingly deficient in calorific power. In com- mon with all the above-mentioned fire-places, it Fig. 91. Lloyd's Tubu- is objectionable in bringing the air into immedi- lar (NS, léce. From ate contact with highly heated iron about the f grate and burning fuel. For the purpose of de- riving the utmost advantage from an § T777IH open fire, the radiant heat of the fuel, 7 W/ which, on account of its preciousness % (from a sanitary point of view), might R be called "golden" heat as distin- > guished from the ordinary heat of con- vection, should be made the most of. f To this end the back and sides of the ark" grate or fire-place should be constructed of the best radiating or re- flecting material, avoiding the metals. Fire-clay, tiles, or soapstone should be sought. The conducting materials may be used in places comparatively remote from the fire, whereby the waste heat of the smoke may be saved without danger of burning the air. Or, in other words, the conducting materials should be used higher up above the points available for radiation. Mr. Lloyd placed a strip of metal on the mantel just in front of the warm-air entrance, with the idea that it was necessary in order to deflect the current upwards as it entered, and thus prevent hori- zontal draughts. Such a deflector is, however, an unnecessary com- plication. The direction of the air current would be influenced chiefly by its gravity or temperature, and, if warmer than the air of the ATT} The Open Fire-Place. 63 room, would rise at once to the ceiling; if colder, it would fall to the ground without much regard to the trifling impediment offered by the deflector. This would be as powerless to influence the general direc- tion of the air current, as would be a stone at the bottom of a river ~ . | Fig. 93. Fig. 94. Lloyd's Tubular Fire-Place. From Tomlinson. to counteract the laws of gravity by which its course was determined. The action of this fire-place when first introduced is thus described by Mr. Lloyd : - « The complete and agreeable change in the character of the air of the room was at once apparent to every one; and instead of the room being barely habitable in cold weather, it was found to be the most comfortable in the house. This stove was fixed at the latter end of December, 1850, and has been in use ever since without the slightest difficulty of management, and with entire satisfaction to the inmates of the house. During the first winter careful observations were made on its action, and the results are in many respects remarkable. Within an hour after the fire is lighted, the air issuing from the air- passages is found to be raised to a comfortable temperature; and it soon attains a heat of 80°, at which it can be maintained during the day with a moderate fire. The highest temperature that has been attained has been 95°, whilst the lowest on cold days, with only a small fire, has been 70°. The result of twenty observations gave the following temperatures: On two occasions the temperature was 95°; the fire was large, and the door of the room was left open so that the draught through the air-tubes was diminished ; on five occasions the temperature was below 80°, averaging 75°; the remaining thirteen gave an average of 80°. The mean temperature of the room at the level of respiration was 61°, while the uniformity was so perfect that thermometers hanging on the three sides of the room rarely exhibited a greater difference than 1°, although two of the sides were external walls. As might be expected, there was no sensible draught from the door and window. On observing the relative temperatures of the inflowing and general air of the room, it appeared that there must be a regular current from the ceiling down to the lower part of the room, and thence to the fire. The inflowing current, being of a temperature nearly approximating to that of the body, was not easily detected by the hand ; but on being tried by the flame of a candle it was observed to be very rapid, and to pursue a course nearly perpen- dicular towards the top of the room, widening as it ascended. It was also noticed that the odor of dinner was imperceptible in a re- markably short time after the meal was concluded. In order to trace the course of the air with some exactitude, various expedients were made use of. It was felt to be a matter of great interest to ascertain if possible the direction of air respired by the lungs. The smoke of 64 The Open Fire-Place. a cigar, as discharged from the mouth, has probably a temperature about the same as respired air, higher rather than lower, and was therefore assumed to be a satisfactory indicator. On its being re- peatedly tried, it was observed that the smoktj, did not ascend to any great height in the room, but tended to form itself into a filmy cloud at about three feet above the floor, at which level it maintained itself steadily, while it was gently wafted along the room to the fire-place. In order to get an abundant supply of visible smoke at a moderate temperature, a fumigator charged with cut brown paper was used. By this means a dense volume of smoke was obtained in a few seconds; and it conducted itself as in the last-mentioned experiment. On discharging smoke into the inflowing air current, it was diffused so rapidly that its course could not be traced, but in a short time no smoke was observable in the room. - Another experiment was made with a small balloon, charged with carburetted hydrogen gas, and balanced to the specific gravity of the air. On setting it at liberty Zromt ZlevaRon Section. 1 --- R Rzzufth Riguaten: Fig. 96. near the air-opening, it was borne rapidly to the ceiling, near which it floated to one of the sides of the room, according to the part of the current in which it was set free; it then invariably descended slowly, and made its way with a gentle motion towards the fire. The air has always felt fresh and agreeable, however many continuous hours the room may have been occupied, or however numerous the occu- pants. It is difficult to estimate the velocity of the inflowing cur- rent; but if it be assumed to be ten feet per second, there would pass through the air-tubes in twelve minutes as much air as will equal the contents of the room. And as it appears that the air so ad- mitted passes from the room in a continuous horizontal stream, carry- ing with it up the chimney vitiated air from the lamps or candles, and all vapors rising from the table, it is by no means surprising that The Open Fire-Place. 3 6 the air should always be refreshing and healthful. Since this stove has been fixed, others have elsewhere been fitted up on the same prin- ciple, and have been found to exhibit similar satisfactory results." 1 We give in Figs. 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, and 101, plan, sections, and de- tails of the fire-place of Joly. It is unquestionably one of the best of its kind known. It is easy to set, easy to repair or clean, and easy to manage; simple in construction, effective in action, unobjection- able in appearance, and equally suitable for any kind of fuel. The fresh air enters under the hearth through a proper duct, and passes into the hot-air chamber behind the cast-iron shell forming the back of the fire-place. Within this shell are placed :> either andirons or a grate, according as wood or coal is to be burned. A frame Fig. 97. - and damper at the chim- ney throat regulate the size of the opening. The t&----"! ) «fresh air passes under, be- K C fi—fihind, around, and above the x shell, and enters well heated Fig. 98. _ through the registers at the right and left under the man- tel. M. Joly has given am- ti x. t--a«---I ple foom for the fresh air, in Jaccordance with the correct # principle of supplying an am- Fig. 99. ple quantity of air warmed yom to a moderate degree, rather than a small quantity raised to a very high temperature, ealO9: unduly dried and perhaps burned. An ordinary sliding blower is attached to the front face of the fire- place, for the purpose of in- creasing the draught when desired. In order to utilize the heat of the smoke as far as possible, a drum is placed . above, and by an ingenious arrangement of slides the / /y4 smoke may be made to pass PPP to the right or left at pleas- ure, or to suit the position of the brick flue, as shown in Figs. 98 and 99; or, again, it may be made to pass on both sides, as is shown in the upper- most cut. Figs. 102, 103, and 104 represent the fire-grate recommended by PVR LTZ Fig. 101. 1 Francis Lloyd's Practical Remarks on the Warming, Ventilation, and Humidity of Rooms. London, 1854. 66 The Open FKire-Place. ' the English Commission appointed for Improving the Sanitary Con- dition of Barracks and Hospitals. This apparatus, sometimes called the Galton Ventilating Fire-Place, though simple, combines the advantages of many of those just described, the heat-radiating ribs or flanges of Joly's fire-place, the splayed sides of Gauger and Rum- ford, the contracted throat, and at the same time furnishes us with an example of the use of a non-conducting, power- fully radiating material for fire-back and immediate contact with the fuel. The grate is placed as far forward in the room as possible. The hearth is made of plate or cast-iron. The grates are of three sizes, according to the cubic contents of the room to be heated. A grate with a fire-open- ing of about 40 centimeters is for a ; room of about 150 cubic meters ca- pacity; with an opening of 45 centi- meters for 250 cubic meters; and with an opening of 55 centimeters for 350 cubic meters. Beyond this, two or more grates are required. Between the fire-clay lump and the iron back of this grate is a half-inch air space to admit a supply of heated air to the fuel, and secure a more perfect combustion of the smoke. This grate is easily cleaned or repaired, the front being secured by screws, which can be taken out when required, and thus render the interior and air chambers accessible. In this fire-place fresh air is heated only in the immediate neighborhood of the grate, but Captain Galton, in the appendix to his book on the Construction of Hospitals, recommends extending the available heating surface of the smoke- flue by carrying it through some fresh-air flue. This plan was adopted in the Herbert Hospital in the manner shown in the preceding Fig. 68, where the fire-place is in the centre of the ward, and the chimney consequently passes under the floor, as shown in section in the figure. The flue is placed in the centre of a square fresh-air flue (also shown in section), which supplies the air to be warmed by the fire-place. By this means a heating surface for the fresh air of about four square meters additional to that of the fire-place is obtained. The smoke- flue need not, of course, descend as in the Herbert Hospital. Instead of attempting to warm the fresh air before it has reached the ven- tilating fire-place, which involves a descending smoke flue, this air Fig. 102. Fig. 104. From Douglas Gaiton. The Open Fire-Place. 67 may be first passed behind the fire-place and then caused to cireu- late around the smoke-flue. The smoke then passes off without reversion. The manner in which it may be ac- complished is shown in Fig. 105, and in this form of chimney we find the true principle of the ven- tilating fire-place. The radiant heat of the fire is increased by the fire-brick backing, while the heat of the smoke is utilized for a considerable distance up the flue, the fresh air being warmed in a chamber remote from the burning fuel. The fire-place stands well out from the wall. The fresh air enters behind and below the grate, and enters the room near the ceiling well warmed. Figs. 106 and 107 show the plan of this fire- place, the first designed with a grate to burn coal, and the second with andirons, and recessed deeper, to burn wood. This apparatus is simply a modification by General Morin of that described by Peclet in 1828 (Fig. 108), in which the fresh air passes through a tube, while the smoke sur- rounds it as it passes up the brick smoke-flue. This system is inferior to that of General Morin, inasmuch as a greater proportion of heat is lost by absorption in the surrounding brickwork. The ascent of the smoke, moreover, is more difficult on account of the obstructions offered not only by the rougliness of the brickwork, but | by the presence of the fresh-air flue, whereas in Morin's chimney the round iron pipe furnishes a smooth passage of a form the most favorable $ possible for the ascent of smoke. Fig. 105. In 1832 Captain Belmas, in the Mémorial de l'Officier du Génie, speaks of a chimney similar in principle to that of Peclet. Finally 7 77 2 a JHU Fig. 106.- From Bose. Fig. 107. From Bose: Douglas Galton applied the same principle, very slightly modifying the form, in heating the English barracks. : According to General Morin, these fire-places were designed to utilize more effectually than the common forms the heat given out by the fuel by introducing a considerable quantity of fresh air. warmed to a moderate degree, to replace that which has passed up the chim- ney, and also to reduce the amount of cold air entering from the a_ oss § 0 S F 68 The Open Fire-Place. outside through the cracks of the doors and windows. © But while," t first proposed drew in but a small quantity of fresh air, scarcely equal to one tenth of that passing out through the chimney, and raised it to temperatures of from 90° to 110° C. (about 200° to 250° F.), and often more, the forms devised by the ingenious Cap- tain Douglas Galton for the fire-places of English barracks have furnished a very sat- isfactory solution of the problem, as has been proved by some experiments made with two fire-places of this kind at the Conservatory of Arts and Trades. Observations show that the amount of air admitted to the room at | the ceiling through the fresh-air ducts at 26° psy ||| C. (about 80° F.) differs but little from that ma? ' passing off up the chimney, so that the ad- R mission of cold air through the doors is al- most prevented. This introduction of warm 777, Ip: 4 sm: n and Fig. 108. From Peclet. air, in addition to the warmth produced by the ordinary radiation from the fire, increases its heating effect, which be- Sp sn comes as much as thirty- - 7 five per cent of the heat 2/1—‘5. produced by the fuel, T while the common forms 7/4 of fire- place give but g/ Z twelve or fourteen per cent, and those supplied AN with Fondet's appara- Waa "L7" tus but about twenty per PHN £4 cent." 4 : 4 Nevertheless, the ## Galton fire-place is but | G ¢ little known, and sel- // dom to -be found in act- % 4/4 ual use. Bose lays its Fig. 109. failure to the difficulty of removing it when worn out, and to the unusual amount of space 1 Annales du Conservatoire, 6e volume, 1866. The Open Fire-Place. 69 it requires in the chimney breast. «*This kind of chimney flue," he says, "requires too much room, and cannot be used in our mod- ern constructions where it becomes frequently necessary to carry up eight smoke-flues in a \\\5 - wall four meters long." S / The same objections are i F urged by Joly, who says, f é «"It is always necessary Zx/fiy/x///% to provide access to these double flues for the pur- 7/5 pose of cleaning or re- Cs 5,4 pair, and if they are built ¢ in the walls, the space é 2 required for the twenty-O ~-T~*~~~** 77f five or thirty flues of an é ordinary house would be ¢ enormous. On the other hand, what an effect these fi/ double envelopes would LF have in our apartments £2; if concealed behind mov- able cases subject to ex- pansion and contraction under the influence of the heat ! The principle is good for barracks, but why not here simply leave the flues exposed to view ?" It may be further objected that the actual saving of heat by the use of such an arrangement is still too limited, although, according to General Morin, it is even greater than with the apparatus of Fondet. A \\ Sn FP m . Fig. 110. VENTILATING FIRE-PLACES MANUFACTURED IN THIS COUNTRY. Figs. 109 and 110 represent in plan and section an excellent form of ventilating fire-place made in this country. It is similar in principle to the Joly fire-place, but is in some re- spects superior to the French example. The back of the grate is lined with fire-clay, by which the radiation is increased and the iron pro- tected. Instead of the ribs or gills cast on the outer surface of the Joly grate for increasing the radiation of the iron in contact with the fresh air, we have here a jacket of corrugated sheet-iron fitting closely around the grate. This is an ingenious substitute for the fixed ribs, and has the advantage of economy and compactness, while it serves at once as a radiator and as a series of hot-air flues con- ducting the fresh air upwards, and retaining it in close contact with the iron back. j © Above is a drum like that of Joly, but better located, inasmuch as 70 The Open FKire-Place. . 2 7 Z| TF 7 " E // f '1'>:‘>l'|’ [PT 4 1g " HEW 2 //% /4//459 % 2 8C WA: \ / N Ss: §. $-- /\ s x § -~ -~---I N me mone mmo mons mag Nes mmm rs & \\\§ | ut #222 TP #2z Zr FPA | [ (1 [IT (L7, 7: Somme soma: :a wen ; "Aue mey it is farther from the flame, and is thrown back, so that while it allows the fresh air to impinge upon its lower surface as well as upon its sides, it throws the fire-place forward into the room where its radiation is more effective. The drum is also provided with a corrugated iron jacket. The air is admitted into the room either through a regis- ter placed in the projecting iron hood just over the grate and under the mantel-piece, and forming part of the port- able fire-place, or it may pass up the fresh-air duct sur- rounding an iron smoke-flue, to the ceiling, where it may be admitted, as in the Galton fire-places, through a register near the cornice. It may be used therefore either with or without the double smoke- flue, and the warmed fresh air may be conducted into rooms above as well as into that con- taining the fire-place. Figs. 111 and 112 explain the man- ner in which this is done. A novel and useful feature in this fire-place is the sliding blower or blowers of iron em- bellished with transparencies of mica slate, so constructed as to slide back into gas- tight pockets. These gas- tight pockets afford, it is claimed, additional security against the leakage of gas into the-air heating chamber. The blowers, one above in front of the grate, and one below in front of the ash-pit, may be wholly or partially opened. Ample space is left behind the fire-back for the intro- duction of earthen jars or other devices for evaporating water, or a regular furnace The Open Fire-Place. T1 evaporating-dish may be A used, with ball-cock and P | supply-pan outside. The ‘ cost of this fire - place; oon \ which is called the ©" Fire- "WW8; Swag wn 8a fees ) OQQ‘ O o O O i XXI 29.0. Ss Place Heater," is adver- =---==-- tised at from $45 to $50.1 Much of the success of these ventilating fire- places depends on intelli- gent setting and care in following out the direc- tions given by the manu- facturers. - The fresh-air ducts should have an area equal to that of the smoke-flue, in order that all the air passing up the chimney may be drawn from that source, and not be compelled to enter through doors and win- dow cracks. The writer has used this fire-place in one of his office rooms during the. winter, and made the following prac- tical tests as to its heat- ing and ventilating pow- ers. The room is the same in which the ex- periments on the old fire- place represented in Figs. 1 and 2 were made, and measured 6 by 6 by 3 me- ters (about 20 by 20 by 10 feet). The old fire-place was removed and the ventilat- ing fire-place put in its place. We have seen by our experiments with the ordinary fire-place origi- nally used in the office that the combustion of three kilograms of wood served to raise the general temperature of the room but 1° C. Although the yn mate y -- WWWWW EF LU\ 8 x 8 HOT AIR N gsMOKE Sm VENTI S . sss sss y Sa alae. AAAI ewer l afatsts SS 8 x 12 HOT AIR 1 Manufactured by the Open Stove Ventilating Company, New York. 12 The Open Fire-Place. outside air stood as high as 13° C. above freezing, it was still 6° be- low that of the room when the experiment was begun, and as there was no furnace in the building, the air to supply the draught was obliged to come in unwarmed from the outside, and was sufficiently cold to combat successfully the heat of the fuel, of which we found only six per cent was utilized, the remainder, or ninety-four per cent, passing away up the chimney to be utterly lost. EXPERIMENTS WITH THE ® FIRE-PLACE HEATER." The first of our experiments with the ¢ Fire-Place Heater " were made on the 1st of January, 1879, when the external air stood at 0° C. At the beginning of the experiment, the thermometer in the room stood at 11.25° C.; four kilograms of dry pine wood were burned. At the end of half an hour the mercury had risen to 15.50° C., and from thence it began gradually to fall as the fire went out, until at the end of an hour it stood at 15°. The fresh air was conducted to the back of the heater through a brick flue opening to the outer air under the window. It entered the room warmed through two open- ings just under the mantel, right and left, over the heater. The following table gives the result of the test: - TABLE III. § [3 (Best 13: |g: | -s !s § |G (if lic 14, aig] | 7 3 |3 lif lif if ii )i. lg 4 ewe} T © B & o f ea ol a so | & | 93 sa | $= J .= "E ES E 22 A t a a 5 1%§ !$ ga. Ba [s & |.: £ $ A _ 12... aa ~s 5, |/'€ " a S A € (illi }; (if Bf if) ip) Id Remarks. - | Time. o [pS |2.58 4 2 | n & 3 2 2-8 2 $4 | 42 | < h | 24 | t¥ tea o Slik ) 4 if Arm t. 2 k-é & P & a s) |S 3 m z C 3 o Aq 3 o Ga p I |O C "# mm m "C =I A 5 2 R88 38.85, fa 431 '. 1%. .) 23 g Ai ) 8% | 44 | 4g § |$2)$28) 223) #323 ' a. 1 "$2" | 34 a lat em s§ | sm | A% | 43 § 34 | TR | fo | $24 Es E m ) y & O Fed EQ J 2 83 | 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Fire lighted ; 2) 1.00 ‘11.25° 1°, 2?) ~: 72 90 +07 1,17. 83.88| 2.34 kilograms on. 5 (12 10 8 99 84 | 1.M} 1.00 13.40] 8.12 f i 10 '13 20 | 0 !> ~ 100 96 | 1.35 1.25! ' 27.00] 11.25 Third kilogram 15 (18.50 | 80 | 10 94 96 | 1.237; 1.25) 88.10] 12.60 put on. 20 (14.50 | 31 | 183 96 96 1.80] 1.25 40.30] 16.20 25 |15 82 | 13 | 100 90 | 1.85 1.25)" 48.201 16 20 80 [15.50 | 82 | 14 | 102 06 | 1.8909] 1.2 43.50] 17.50 85 |15 82 | 14 96 96 | 1.301. 1.25 41.60] 17.50 f 40 |15 82 | 14 96 96 |. 1.80}. 1:25] 41.60] 17.50 Fourth kilogram 45 (15 82 | 15 96 96 1.80] 1.25) 41.60) 18.70 put on. 50 |15 32 | 14 90 90 1,20] 1.17. 38.70| 16.80 55 (15 Sl | 10 90 90 1.20) ~ 1.17 87.50| 11.70 2.00 |15 80 8 85 90 1.17} 1.17) :805:101.90-88 16.41} 15.77) 445.48|175.77 5 6 5 5 82.05) 78.85) 2,229.90|878.85 The Open Fire-Place. f 78 The table shows us that three kilograms of wood burned in this fire-place raised the temperature of the room 44° C., or over four times as much as the same amount burned in the ordinary fire-place accomplished. The heat saved from the back of the fire-place was sufficient to raise the temperature of 2,229.90 -|- 878.85 == 3,108.75 cubic meters of air 1° C. Or, since one cubic meter of air weighs 1.3 kilograms, 3,109 cubic meters would weigh 4,041.7 kilograms, and the specific heat of air being 0.24, we have 4,041.77 X 0.24 = 970 heat units saved. Add about g; for heat still remaining in the back and sides of the fire-place at the end of the experiment, and we have a total of about 1,000 units of heat saved by this apparatus in every 4 kilo- grams of wood. If we assume as before that 1 kilogram of our dry wood yielded 3,590 units of heat in the process of combustion, 4 kilograms would have yielded 14,360 units. Therefore, our 1,000 units saved would be equivalent to 7 per cent of the whole amount of heat possible to be obtained from the fuel. Add 6 per cent for that due to direct radi- ation, and we have 13 per cent utilized, or over twice as much as was obtained from the ordinary fire-place. With coal the amount of heat utilized would be 7 -|- 13 = 20 per cent, or the same as is ob- tained from the apparatus of Fondet, according to the calculations of (General Morin. _ If, in connection with this heater, the double flue of Belmas or Galton is used, as is recommended by the manufact- urers, the saving may be 5 or 10 per cent greater, making a total of 25 or 30 per cent. In order that the conditions under which this heater was tested might be as nearly as possible the same as those attending the test made on the old fire-place recorded in Table I., another experiment was made later in the season, when the ther- mometer of the external air stood at 13° C. The air of the room was raised by the combustion of 3 kilograms of wood from 17° to 219, or again, 4° C., and in all the experiments the temperature in all parts of the room was very nearly the same. The entrance of cold currents through door and window cracks was almost entirely avoided. The movement in the air was imperceptible, yet the venti- lation was perfect, and no disagreeable odor was perceptible for any length of time, even after the room had been filled with mechanics and laborers. We see by columns 7 and 8 that there passed into the room a ventilating current of warm air at the rate of over a cubic meter a minute from each of the two registers, making together in the hour over 160 cubic meters. This air was at no time heated above 32° C., and averaged about 22°, -a mild and pleasant tempera- ture. A test was also made at the top-of the chimney to ascertain "the temperature of the air as it issued from the mouth. The thermom- eter rose as high as 82°, and then began to fall. By Table I. it will be seen that the -temperature with the old fire-place rose to 84° and 90°. The difference by this test was, therefore, apparently unim- portant, though a careful measurement, with the anemometer and 73 The Open Fire-Place. thermometer, of the heat units thrown out would have shown a saving corresponding with that de- tected below. Fig. 113 gives a sectional cut of another fire- place manufactured by the same company. This apparatus consists of a double stove, the inner one © being used to hold the fuel and carry off the prod- QA ucts "of combustion, and the space between the inner and the outer serving to warm the fresh air to be introduced into the room. If a blower be used over the fire, the open fire-place is converted f into a close stove or furnace, with fresh-air flues, fe s: ete. It is unquestionably one of the most satisfac- tory stoves known in this country, designed for combining health with economy. THE DIMMICK HEATER, We now have manufactured in this country another excellent ven- (ltll'l’lHtllV nw, mflflfllflm ME Fig. 114. tilating fire-place, called the Dimmick Heater, of which Fi igs. 114 and 115 give perspective view and vertical section. The Open FKire-Place. ; 75 The principle of this heater is the same as in the apparatus rep- resented by Figs. 76 and 77. It has, however, this advantage over the latter, that the upright fresh-air tubes are joined together so as to form an air-tight fire-back, and enter a common hot-air chamber directly over the flame, having its lower side inclined at an angle with the back [\\ so as to reflect the heat into the room and _ |\\fMWIMA z'nfigggrsn throw the flame forward. This arrange- | ment of the tubes and hot-air box gives the fire-place a more desirable section for radiating heat. As for the artistic effect of the exterior, none of the ventilating fire-places heretofore represented have much to claim, and in the present case it is possible to conceive of a form more pleasing than that represented in our cut. But a slight modification in the treat- ment of the hood would probably be sufficient to remove all objection on the score of appearance. The fresh air, after having been heated in the tubes and box, is either conducted inmediately into the room through reg- isters opening under the mantel, or it rises in a double flue to the ceiling or to the rooms above, as shown in the sec- tion (Fig. 115). \ fd In order to make an accurate test of the Wb. c heating power of this fire-place, the writ- Quid Sails \ (31- had gne placed liln die Eogm in which &, \\\ the previous experiments were made, *** p mama and obtained the following results: - § Fig. lis. ...... FFR FPF HOT AR EXPERIMENTS WITH THE DIMMICK HEATER. The heater was set out in the room in front of the mantel, and the fresh air conducted through a brick flue direct from the outside to the iron chamber under the upright tubes. The heated air en- tered the room through two openings perforated in the upper hot-air box over the fire already described, one at the right, having an area of 40 square centimeters, and one at the left, having an area of 104 square centimeters, and it was assumed that the volume of the fresh air given out by each was in proportion to the size of the opening, while the temperature was the same. The observations were made upon the right-hand opening. In order to protect the thermometer from the direct radiation of the iron, a brick flue was built around this opening and carried outwards horizontally about eight inches, and thence upwards about a foot, so that a thermometer hung in the upright portion of the flue would indicate with greater accuracy the temperature of the hot-air current and not be greatly influenced by radiation from any outward source. 76 f _The Open Fire-Place. At the time of the experiment recorded in the following table, from nine to eleven o'clock in the evening of April 11, 1879, the outside air stood at 4° C., and the air in the room at 16°. The anemometer was again tested in a current of air of known velocity, and found to be accurate. The allowance to be made for friction was recalculated, and found to agree with that made in the previous tests. Three kilograms of dry pine wood were burned, and the amount of ventilation effected and heat saved by the apparatus is shown by the following: - TABLE IV. 4 g a=. B & A # 4 $& 2i¢ Js ... 28 sag | 4g pel [e] 5 g o & L4 by g fly E 05 se 20 m o é Fe: g "2 $ -d &ri ; 's € a/ 2 A P & t g # Time. g a | o % F 3 Be a? $ A% General Remarks. isallil sf lifff) f §§f | pi | og cee ASG $5) 6s offf §58 | 34 308 B 8 a. A8 B t 3 > > 3] S 1 2 3 4 5 6 i 8.50 16 al % b2 |} 12° C.: 18. |-.0723 go 0-6 Fire lighted. 53 | 14 18 |.072 10 0-7 54 | 16 28 | .072 12 0.9 55 | 18 25 #1. 14 1.4 56 | 20 39 . 136 16 2.17 b1 | 25 40 13 21 3 DS | 29 42 .168 25 4.2 59 45 .180 34 6.1 9.00 45 51 . 204 51 10.4 Second kilogram put 1 | 50 52 20 46 11 on. 2 | 55 53 20 61 12 8 | 60 54 31 56 13 4 | G65 55 22 61 14 5 70 67 . 228 66 15.0 6 71, 01 228 78 16.6 7 |} 88 57 228 79 18.0 8 | 88 58 | .23 84 19 Third kilogram put 9 90 60 . 240 86 20.6 on. 10 |- 98 63 . 254 91 22.9 11 | 101 64 .24 97. 24 12. | 108 66 264 99 26.1 13 | 108 70 | .27 104 28 14 | 112 72 . 288 108 81.1 Fire begins to de- 15 | 116 70 | .27 112 30 cline. 16 | 118 68 -26 114 30 17 | 120 66 . 264 116 80.6 189 |: 1231 63 252 217. 20.5 19 | 120 62 225 116 28 1B (§ §) |f |f 24 14 9 33 11113 gig 2240 112 26.37 9 <~29 112 26 24 | 115 58 92 111 25 25 | 112 57 228 108 24.6 No more flame The Open FKirePlace. TT TABLE Iv. (Continued.) 1 2 8 4 5 6 4 26 | 108 56 2p) 104 3 r-) 107 55 103 22 28 (105 54 -21 101 29 | 108 54 .216 99 21.4 80 | 100 53 +21 96 20 pal 99 52 20 95 19 32 96 81 +20 92 18 83 | 93 50 19 89 17 84 | 91 49 19 87 17 f 85 | 89 49 | 102 | 9.27 85 16.3 | 801.1] Cinders turning 40 80 42 168 fe! (6 12.3 [t black. 45 70 40 15 § 66 10 55 | No more sparks vis- 50 | 65 37 14 s 61 8 45 ible ; ~cinders all 55 57 34 19 .6 538 . 40 black. 19.00 | 50 SI -| A3 | .6 46 & | 30 45 8 11 5 41 4. 22 10 40 25 100 .0 86 3.6 20 15 | 88 25 10 | ' .5 34 2 15 20 35 25 09 4 31 2 10 20 | 88 24 08 4 29 2 10 80 | 31 23 4T .8 27 2 10 835 | 29 23 06 <3 25 2 10 40. 1.27 20 O05 | .2 23 1 8 45 | 25 20 05 y. 21 1 T 50 | 23 20 05 2 19 J g 4 8 2 1 0-9 16.4 1,180 NoTE. - Results obtained by calculation are indicated in heavy figures. This table shows us (column 6) that the heat saved from the back of the fire-place and issuing with the air through the right-hand open- ing of 40 square centimeters area was sufficient to raise the tempera- ture of 1,180 cubic meters of air 1° C. The other opening, having an area of 104 square centimeters, must therefore have given out heat sufficient to raise 1,180 X {## = 8,068 cubic meters of air 1° C., the two making a total of 8,068 -+- 1,180 = 4,248 cubic meters. Since, as before, 1 cubic meter of air weighs 1.3 kilograms, and the specific heat of air is 0.24, we have 4,248 X 1.38 X 0.24 = 1,825 heat units saved by this apparatus in every 3 kilograms of wood. Assuming that the 3 kilograms of wood here used yielded 10,770 heat units in the process of combustion, our 1,325 units saved would be equivalent to #;,3%%", = 12 per cent of the whole. Add 6 per cent for that due to direct radiation, and we have 18 per cent for the total amount of heat realized from the fuel, or just three times as much as was obtained from the ordinary fire-place. With coal the amount of heat utilized would be 12 {+- 13 = 25 per cent, or 5 per T8 The Open FKire-Place. cent more than is obtained from the apparatus of Fondet, according to the calculations of General Morin. If, again, in connection with the Dimmick Heater, we use the upright double flue as shown in the sectional cut, the heat realized is increased 5 or 10 per cent, making a total of 30 or 35 per cent. It therefore appears from these exper- iments that the calorific power of the Dimmick Heater is somewhat greater than that of the * Fire-Place Heater." But, whereas the lat- ter threw into the room during the combustion of 4 kilograms of wood, as shown by columns 7 and 8 of Table III., 82.05 {+- 78.85 == 160.90 +- (g; x 160.9) = 169 cubic meters of air heated on the average to a mild temperature of 22° C., and at no time exceeding 32° C., the Dimmick Heater supplied only 16.4 {- (g, X 16.4) =17 cubic meters through the right-hand opening, and 17 XK {% - 44 cubic meters through the left-hand opening, or a total of 61 cubic meters during the combustion of 3 kilograms of wood. Or for 4 kil- ograms 61 +- 4 (61) = 80 cubic meters heated during 20 minutes of the time up to 100° C., or the boiling point of water, and at one time as high as 121° C. By using a fire-clay back in front of the cast- iron tubes, and by either increasing the size of the fresh-air passages or else allowing the fresh air to circulate behind the tubes as well as through them, the heater might be materially improved, and a still greater percentage of saving obtained. This improvement might be made in setting, without altering the castings. The cold air en- trance pipe shown in Fig. 115 should be increased in size, and should receive the air behind as well as under the upright pipes. It should be provided with a simple damper to diminish the supply of cold air at pleasure to correspond with the ventilation required or the amount of fuel burned. The air passing up behind would then serve not only to lower the temperature of the pipes themselves by extract- ing some of the heat which would otherwise pass off, by absorption, into the brickwork, but also to diminish, by dilution, the heat of the air issuing from their tops, and improve the ventilation of the apartment by introducing into it a larger volume of air heated to a lower temperature. - Even as it is, it ranks as one of the best and most powerful ventilating fire-places of its kind yet known to the public. It is advertised atfrom $40 to $50, with $10 extra for flue to carry heat to ceiling or to story above.! The above Tables III. and IV., although records of single experi- ments, are representatives of a large number made to verify each other. The tests were made with such care that the results were closely similar where the amounts of fuel burned were the same, and its hygrometric condition the same, i. e., containing about ten per cent of water. Where larger quantities of fuel were burned, the saving of heat would vary in proportion, on account of the varying absorption of heat in the walls of the heaters and in the brickwork. - There should also be a slight variation, for the same reason, between the calorific power of the heaters themselves, corresponding to variations 1 It can be had of the Dimmick Heater Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. The Open Fire-Place. f 70 in the amounts of fuel consumed, because of the different methods of setting, and of the presence or absence of a fire-back inside the iron case of the stove. In order to ascertain these differences, as well as to test more fully the accuracy of the results previously obtained, careful experiments were made on two successive evenings, on the Dimmick Heater, and on the Fire-Place Heater. These two heaters may be taken as types of the various kinds of ventilating fire-places heretofore described, and their calorific power once accurately obtained, we have a gauge for the rest. These may be divided into two classes, the first having hot-air cir- culation tubes, and the second having a radiating drum above the fire and a smooth or ribbed shell for its fire-box. - The Dimmick Heater represents the first, and the Fire-Place Heater the second class. The experiments were made under similar conditions with those previously made, but burning in each case eight kilograms of wood, instead of three. Most of the experiments herein described having been made after office hours, the liability to interruption was avoided and greater accuracy assured. Great care was taken to protect the thermometers by plates of glazed tile from the direct radiation of surrounding objects likely to affect them. The experiment recorded in Table V. was made on the Fire-Place Heater ; that in Table VI. on the Dimmick Heater. In the former the size of the left-hand register was slightly enlarged beyond what it had been in the previous experiments, measuring in this 150 square centimeters in area and in the previous only 140 TABLE V. i § lus § 5 § | $4 \ 8 sf | -we |wk | w2 | «Z 23g € Y {$81 . fi ) 2 ) " 2° o | 2g / $8 Gei) ER:) 256 5a 3 Slig P{ |f fff f fi #1 |:3 g | as | ad 43 | 48 | E8 ha lfs.] 22 BRITE - A l 3 1 2 8 & 5 6 T 9.05 16° 18 «072 89 | Fire lighted. 10 20 . 25 ~10 7. a. 1a | 15 30 80 12 17 6.5 | Second kilogram put on. 20 64 38 15 61-_ 20.9 | .25 78 45 "38 65 51.4 | Third kilogram put on. x80 | 107 54 .22 94 82.1 | 25 | 116 54 ~ 22 103 109.8 | Fourth kilogram put on. 40 | 128 54 . 22 115 119.4 | 45 | 137 55 ry 124 1294.2 | Fifth kilogram put on. 150 | 145 55 .22 1832 142.0 | 199 |- 148 565 . 22 187 147.7 | Sixth kilogram put on. 10. 156 55 . 22 143 154.9 | £05 | - 156 54 . 22 143 157.2 | Seventh kilogram put on {10 ! : 164 55 . 23 151 163.0 | Eighth kilogram put on. 15 166 55 . 22 158 166.0 -| 20 | 168 55 22 155 169.5 25 | 168 55 22 150 169.5 80 | 158 5T 22 145 165.0 85 | 140 48 "19 127 159.5 /| 40 | 108 36 14 95 120.5 45 98 35 «14 85 66.5 50 93 85 14 80 59.5 55 92 85 »14 79 56.0 11. 85 30 12 T2 55.5 05 70 80 A2 57 43.0 10 60 30 12 47 34.0 15 58 21 A2 45 28.0 20 50 21 08 37 14.5 25 40 20 08 27 10.5 80 35 20 08 22 8.5 85 80 20 08 17 6.5 40 25 20 08 12 4.5 45 20 20 08 7 8.0 50 18 20 08 5 2.0 55 18 08 5 2.0 12 18 20 08 5 2.0 05 16 20 08 3 1.0 10 16 20 08 Bj 1.0 15 16 20 08 8 1.0 20 16 20 08 2 -8 2645. 82 The Open FKirePlace. By Table VI. we have an equivalent of 2,645 cubic meters raised 10 C. for the opening of forty square centimeters area, fund 2,645 x {A= 6,877 cubic meters raised 1° C. for the other opening, making a total of 9,522 cubic meters. This is equivalent to 2,971 heat units, making a saving of thirteen per cent, or one per cent more than was obtained by the previous experiment recorded in Table IY. Fig. 116, redrawn from Johnson's Encyclopsedia, represents a ven- tilating fire-place exhibited in the Enghsl} Departmept o.f the Cen- tennial Exhibition of 1876. -It is very similar to the Dimmick Heater in principle, though widely different in the appearance of the exterior and in the manner in which the heated air is introduced into the apartment. - These two fire-places are not provided with set blowers, as is the case with the Fire-Place Heater, and with the various forms of the Baltimore Heater, so called. In the Fire-Place Hegtgr a fire may be kept over night by replenishing with fuel before retiring .and leaving all blowers wide open and the base draught damper slides closed. If it be desired to put out the fire altogether, the lower sliding-blowers and the base draught damper should be shut and the upper blower slide left wide open. On the. other hand thq fire may be made to burn out slowly where the chimney draught is strong, by shutting all blowers. There will be sufficient inflow of air through crevices to burn out all fire be- fore morning. Thus the fire is quite under control, and may be regulated to suit any con- dition by properly. adjusting the blowers and the sliding dampers in front of the base of the stove. When these blowers are closed the Fire- Place Heater is somewhat sim- ilar in exterior appearance to the Baltimore Heater, but more inviting - looking for private houses as having less the ap- pearance of a furnace in the arrangement of the blowers. The Baltimore Heater is said to have been invented about thirty years ago by Latrobe, and was for some time called the * Latrobe Heater." . It is now manufactured by different firms under various names, prominent among which are the " New Silver Palace" and ) Johnson's Encyclo. the " Baltimorean,'' made b e f RedrawnpfgeodTa.J°h f 4 Bibb & Son, of Baltimore, Mdz the " Lawson's Fire-Place Furnace," manufactured by Fuller, War- The Open Fire-Place. 83 ren & Co., of Troy, N. Y., and the " Sunnyside Fire-Place Heater " of Stuart, Peterson & Co., Philadelphia. These heaters are really nothing more than small furnaces, set in an ordinary fire-place under a mantel. - They have regular swinging furnace doors, provided with transparent mica panels arranged in tiers over each other like the windows of steamboat staterooms. They have, however, this great advantage over the ordinary furnace, that though they cannot be con- verted into an open fire-place at pleasure by simply sliding the blow- ers into side pockets, they nevertheless furnish direct radiation in that part of the house where it is needed and healthful rather than in the cellar where it is worse than useless. These heaters are pro- vided with double flues to utilize the heat of the smoke in the man- ner already shown in Figs. 111, 112, and 115. Figs. 117 and 118 show a Yankee method of treating the Gal- ton flue in a "tasty '' P manner. _ The outer [IW p pipe takes the form t of '* an elegant stove," */ } and is placed in the f/f fI room in front of the fire - place which is ||} |/ built for ornament and ""closed up nice- &= ly with a sereen."" With all its tastiness, | what a cheerless and uninviting effect is fim produced, and how false the treatment & t both artistically and mss." trot (r | U = economically ! In one sense the design is true; the heat is gen- ! _ W erated by a stove bee mm UT low and by a stove || fl“! above it is repre- U sented. - But in every || | other sense it is false. Til};l}immilil I The envelope has the => form of a heat-gen- erator without per- forming its functions of consuming fuel or producing ventilation, and the fire-place is a sham of the worst kind. Practically this treatment is in every Fig. 117. respect contrary to the correct principles of heating, and the venti- 84 The Open FKire-Place. lation of the room is by it reduced to a minimum, notwithstanding the deceiving presence of the fire-place, even when unscreened - 'F'he radlator, instead of warming fresh air from the outside on its entrance, as it should, simply creates a feeble current in the neigh- UNI IWIUM T8 dol Ult) a ilt ”I, "ly (in; Mk, CB |M J 11W" @ | W) “Iv , I t | I 1 ( ; \ \ & 7~P7711 i (ss ull l%““t t [H || “I, “HUME“? a 1M M ce ||] 4 “er i |. (I | - ) | Ul t \\\\ ”ll/l H" l “‘ an au aol ll]! y, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ gz::~-\\\\\,,,I “I, M (ak || .less sm}. os -t&\\m\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ I I= -a 4" | Lr J| \\\ } Anto \\\\\a\\\j@ §\ | II \| C) \§\' | iv \\\\ set jWMWWWWVWWWWWWWWW n sis. om. WM r“jl"‘|“,EH?|JM .- ® JNW'JWI ( ~ Q? 15335 3 WE”; 3 W I.“ 1. I!!! ® | $ I i, Mm'ldhr S| Tito | ""'l'i‘|; \ Sas 21,1 S if t l’iljl | lllf; [NIH Lh -- \ \ ' I | “M———1 es:, '; ( H “u ml --f } ’ [1] || y I | f M | wfl" (}‘h' ”HI! \\\\\—\\\\X\\\ Fig. 118. borhood of the stove itself, without changing the air of the room, and what fresh air will find un welcomed entrance must squeeze itself in through door and window cracks, contraband, and do what mis- _- chief it can in revenge for its cold reception before it is hustled out The Open Fire-Place. f 85 again through the fire-place opening. Hence no proper ventilating draught is produced by this fire-place, and the imitation stove, having no fire of its own, is even more absolutely hostile to ventilation than the famous anti-ventilat- ing German porcelain stove it- self. It is worse than the ordi- nary stove, because it is neces- sarily hermetically sealed for the sake of the draught in the range below. JACKSON'S - VENTILATING FIRE-PLACE. We come now to a form of ventilating fire - place which combines to a remarkable ex- tent the desiderata heretofore set forth, and at the same time presents a most pleasing ex- ternal appearance. In the front elevation (Fig. 121) we see apparently nothing more than the usual open fire-place with a frame decorated in a taste- ful manner.. 'The fresh. air enters the room through the open-worked top of the frame at F. The section (Fig. 119) shows us the manner in which this fresh air is warmed. It enters the lower chamber B B through the register A, where it is partially warmed before it rises to the chamber surrounding" the Fig. 120. Plan of Chamber D, directly over the Fire, with Top Plate broken away showing Flues. . back and sides of the fire-place. Thence it enters the chamber, D, where it plays around the short tubes forming the chimney throat, The Open Fire-Place. Time : Evening of July 10, 1879. jet TABLE VII. g $ $ 5 ag | £ i. 14 | i_ ® j a 2 s pARM |- .g 3 3 #4 | A rise e 8 % 1B t a 3 $2 Iw & Bus 3 a S § | ag w | 58 3 Remarks. L . 38. $3 "59 .2f | 8 #» B in s 3 o 8 88 5'9’ E $o. pL. #g g! :. < 2 m 9 & $ m _| 28.8. - 3 & an £4 4 2 SS ga- |. 2.8 5 x - a = < E 4 5 6 7 8 0 0° 0 . 4 1 4 4.8 | Fire lighted. .8 9 11:8 18.6 | Full blaze. 1,1 21 99.5 | 109 2d kilo. put on. 1.1 87 180.4 | 198 I. 1 60 259.6 | 260 8d kilo. put on. 2.1 65 S0Y1t.9 | £00 C 2.5 70 T6r.0 | I57 2.5 T2 836.8 | 840 Fire declines. 2.2 69 788.83 | 788 Fire out. 2.0 61 670 780 2.0 55 602 660 TTL 50 425 \ 1-7 46 891 L 40 857 1972 171 3283 | J.7 31 207 ) 371 29 212 ] 1:7 27 240 1.6 25 200 1184 1.9 24 190 | 1;:0 22 170] 1.6 | 20. ! 10] 1.0 19: 140 | 15}. af ~!] 190.8. eos 17:0 15 110 | 1.4 14 100 ] 1:8 13 85 1.2 12 70 1.2 12 65 396 |. 60 1.2 1 50 ] f |; 10 - | "48 ] 1.1 10 45 | 11 9 \| ap ;. | 256 AA 9. :| :4o | 11 § ! 8s} 1.0 s 1.0 7 830 | 1.0 50 | 88 l | iy 0.9 6 | 85" 0.8 5: -| 28} 0.8 + | 181 0.7 4 13 0.7 8 10 0.6 3 8 | 0.6 2 6? 144 0,0 1 4 0.5 1 2 I 0.5 1 o 9671 The Open Fire-Place. F & PSP" +11th: Fig. 13}, and passes thence through the perforated frame above described into ws the plan of the grate and the ap- the apartment. Fig. 122 sho vee L/ x I \ hs {o \ Aso K / I ."r\§ N \\ $\/’ B % s hay ; "v\:\ > ~ §,\‘, \ \\\ . ~ §z§z \ of K U [ AY t," 22a & ar U 5&6 $11 S $#2 f§\>\s\\\\\.\\*}s\w>.\\.\>\,v>w“,~\\.\,\\\,\\\\\,\\s\.\.\?~\,\\“\“ww“.‘> SY p Nay en" Fig. 122. Plan of Chamber B, directly under the Fire. paratus for shutting off the fresh-air supply. This latter consists simply of a disk of iron rotated by a lever so as to close wholly or The Open Kire-Place. 8T in part the mouth of the fresh-air duct shown in section at A. Fig. 120 shows the small smoke-pipes in the chimney throat with the fresh-air chamber surrounding them. Table VII. shows the heating power of the Jackson Fire-Place. Before lighting the fire the anemometer at the register was motion- less, showing that the air was stagnant, and the ventilation nothing, or at least imperceptible, inasmuch as the doors and windows were tightly closed. The moment the fire was kindled a current of fresh air set in, and in a few moments became powerful enough to blow out the light of a candle held in it, and warm enough to melt the wax. As will be seen by the table it poured into the room at the rate of one hundred and thirty-eight meters a minute, heated nearly to the boiling point of water. Indeed, so great was the heat that the metallic part of the anemometer held in the current soon became too hot to touch, and showed that where hot fires are needed the mantel-shelf used over these fire-places should be constructed of terra-cotta, marble, or some incombustible material, in order to avoid danger of destruction by the heat. In order to render the tests more reliable, a wooden box or flue was built around the fresh-air inlet register, to collect the air and conduct it outwards and upwards so that the thermometer placed in the current would be protected from radiation from the fire-place and other external sources. The air thus collected entered the room, of course, in a stronger current than it would otherwise have done. By the combustion of 3 kilograms of wood enough heat was saved to raise the temperature of 9,671 kilograms of air 1° Centi- grade (supposing the air at 0°, 20°, 409, 60°, 100°, weighed respec- tively 1.3, 1.2, 1.1, 1, and 0.9 kilograms per cuble meter). This is equivalent to 2,821 units. The wood used in the experiment con- tained 9 per cent, by weight, of water. Allowing for perfectly dry wood 4,000 units, our wood would yield .91 X 4,000 = 3,640 units per kilogram, and for 83 kilograms 10,920 units. But to evaporate the .09 of water contained in the wood would render latent (581 -|- 75) X 3 x .09= 164 units of the heat generated. This should therefore be deducted from the 10,920 units, giving an available power of 10,756. In the above equation 531 represents, according to Despretz, the number of units rendered latent in transforming 1 kilog. of water at 100° Centigrade to vapor under ordinary atmospheric pressure, and 75 represents the number of units required to raise to the boil- ing point the temperature of 1 kilogram of water from 25° Centi- grade, which was the temperature of the outer air and of our fuel at the beginning of the experiment. The amount saved, 2,321 units, was therefore %%, = 21 per cent of the total available heat generated. Add 6 per cent for that obtained for direct radiation, and we have 27 per cent utilized. Adding, as before, 5 per cent where the upright iron flue is added, and we have a grand total of 32 per cent obtained by the Jackson Fire-Place. The Open Fire-Place. 89 Few persons realize the extent to which kiln-dried wood reabsorbs the moisture expelled by the drying. The wood used in the experi- ment had been kiln-dried, but had again absorbed from the atmos- phere 9 per cent of water. A portion of that used was cut up into small pieces and weighed. It was then redried and weighed again. The drying was conducted in an air bath maintained at a tempera- ture of 150° Centigrade. Before drying the sample weighed 36.155 grams, and after drying only 33.169 grams, showing a loss of 2.986 grams, or nearly nine per cent of the whole ; or, in other words, that the kiln-dried wood used in our experiment had. reabsorbed 9 per cent of water from the atmosphere. In testing the wood used in the experiments on the Dimmick and Fire-Place Heaters, the sample, weighing 22.683 grams, lost, after drying for twenty minutes in air heated to 150°, 3.097 grams, or thir- teen per cent of its weight. A further exposure for three hours to the drying heat reduced its weight only twenty-two ten thousandths of a gram, so that the wood might then be considered as practically dry. The sample was then exposed for a week to the air of the house, and again weighed. It was found to have regained the greater part of the water expelled by the drying. It weighed 21.33 -|- grams, showing a gain of 1.774 -|- grams, or seven per cent of its weight. The rapidity with which kiln-dried wood, when fresh from the kiln and very dry, absorbs moisture from the air was shown in the process of weighing our samples. When placed on the scales immediately after drying it was found to gain two or three ten thousandths of a gram per minute. These experiments on the dryness of wood show how much the calorific power of the material is affected, not only by the method of preparing it, but also by the time it has stood exposed to the air after drying, and even with the condition of the atmosphere at the time of its use. The kiln-dried wood tested showed a variation of 8 per cent in the amount of moisture it contained after drying. In _ other words, its available calorific power varied between 4,000 and about 3,600. Hence the importance of knowing the hygrometric condition of our wood before making our experiments. Hence, also, the economy of seeing that the wood we buy for fuel is perfectly dry. These experiments were made in the laboratory of Mr. W. E. C. Eustis, whose liberality in offering me the free use of a set of scales of unusual delicacy, and other apparatus needed, I take this occasion gratefully to acknowledge. In another experiment made on the Jackson Fire-Place quite a strong breeze was blowing into the fresh-air duct from the outside, so that the anemometer recorded an entering current of 70 meters per minute before the fire was lighted. This outside pressure of course increased the effectiveness of the heater, and the saving amounted to about four per cent more than when the air outside was still. This test was made on the very warm evening of June 25, from nine to twelve o'clock, the thermometer outside standing at 25° C. (779 F.). _ In winter, when the difference between the outer air and that of the flue is lower, a greater saving of heat is realized from any of 90 The Open Fire-Place. these heaters, but the experiments lose in accuracy, partly on ac- count of the difficulty of measuring the temperature of the inflowing fresh-air current at the beginning and end of the experiment. The thermometer is influenced by radiation from the surrounding objects in the room, from which it is, of course, impossible to protect it ab- solutely. -If it were possible it would indicate a temperature of over a hundred degrees below the freezing point of water, the temperature of celestial space being, according to Pouillet, as low as-150° C. Only an approximate degree of accuracy can, therefore, be expected, and it is greatest when the temperature of the room is nearest that of the inflowing air currents, as is the case in summer. The Jackson Fire-Place is at present manufactured in two sizes & & - Eve Re \‘\\\\\\&\ Q ? || R& i §§\\\\\\\ S$ Ss GGG =_. St smu . | L_. tts. B §\\\ statu RT Fig. 123. only. - The price now (1880) of the smaller size, 80 in. wide and 32 in. high, requiring a fire-place opening in brickwork 28 in. wide, 32 in. high, and 15 in. deep, is $85, in brass ; $65 all nickel- plated or bronzed ; or $55 black, with nickeled bas- ket. Another size, made for very large rooms, is 39 in. wide, 36 in. high (outside of frame), and requires a fire-place 32 in. wide, 35% in. high, and 15 in. deep. They are to be obtained of Edwin A. Jackson and Brother, No. 315 E. 28th Street, New York. With any of the fire- 4 places mentioned herein a flue for disposing of the ashes may be constructed below the grate, as shown in Fig. 1283. 'The flue forms an ash-pit, into which the ashes fall from the grate when shaken or dumped. The ashes are then removed through the door B, in the basement at the bottom of the flue. A t<_soufllet"" pipe, 1D, has been provided, through which air may be taken from below to increase the draught, when The Open Fire-Place. 91 desired, after the principle of the Winter Fire-Place; but the soufflet, in a well-constructed fire-place, is unnecessary, and its use is only to be recommended when better construction is impracticable. In the fire-place represented in the accompanying cut, Fig. 124, called the «Franklin Reflector," the smoke circulates behind and below the fire, as indicated by the arrows, in order to increase the radiating surface of the heater. - But no fresh air is brought in contact with these surfaces, and they are not arranged in the manner best HH‘HG’JHIHI‘ Wm! W WNW NW 14 SL] \\ l“ 1M“ 1h HM |}| W tmn ”A; 1 will}! 51 g IJ es t Fig. 124. Franklin Reflector. oromo eee ieee ecient ivana ine i //’ t calculated to give out their heat. The reflecting surface over the fuel is intended to perform the double office of reflectmO‘ the rays of heat from the fire into the room, and of turning the currents of air from the room upon the fire, thus securing the greatest amount of radiation, and producing a more complete "combustion of the fuel, while it also diminishes the amount of cool air entering the chlmney flue,. The same objects were accomplished by the fire- -place of M. Touet Chamber, already described in Figs. 42 and 43, where the precaution was taken to provide openings above the reflector, for the 92 The Open HKire-Place. purpose of carrying the smoke directly into the flue when the fire was first lighted. We believe that, with certain modifications hereafter to be suggested, the Franklin Reflector may be made to combine in the form of a stove most of the advantages possible to be obtained by an open fire-place. It is manufactured by James Spear & Co., of Philadelphia. To conclude our historical sketch, we have reserved a fire-place described by Peclet in his "Treatise on Heat," and shown in Fig. && " 4 fs A / y 2 stor fang \[ Ne old $. 5 F pricy 7 m I (Pl ar -r ) | (3 ; Tes i | I sss Fig. Peclet. 125, as the best in principle, and one which, though crude and defective in form, is yet most likely to lead to important results. The principle of this device is the formation of the chief heating surface above the fire-place, and in the waste space behind the chimney-breast, rather than in the immediate neighborhood of the fire. The great advantages of the arrangement are (1), the acquirement of ample room in the waste space of the chimney-breast for the proper development of the heating surface; (2), the removal of this surface from immediate contact with the fire, by which it may be overheated to the injury of the fresh air, and finally destroyed; (3), the detachment of the air-heating surfaces from the fire-place proper, which may, therefore, be made of any form or material desired. If The Open Fire-Place. 93 the fire-place already exist it may be left untouched, except above, where it has to be connected with the air-heater; (4), the facility with which the heating surface may be reached for cleaning, repair, or renewal without disturbing fire-place or mantel; and, finally (5), the simplicity and cheapness of its construction. Notwithstanding its evident advantages, the principle was left undeveloped, and as the apparatus described by Peclet was defective it was abandoned. It was seen that the bends in the smoke-flue and the reversed course 4 esd Trt Fig. 126: of the smoke were liable to injure the draught and corrode the pipe. These difficulties were easiest removed by simply pulling the pipe out straight again, which was accordingly done at once, and all that remained was the original Galton flue. Thus the problem was solved somewhat after the manner of the Gordian knot, and the device was summarily consigned to oblivion. Thus it is that the fire-place of to-day stands in practice nearly as it did at the time of Gauger. The English, whose national fondness for the old open fire-place ought to have led them to study its utmost development, seem, with their characteristic slowness to adopt new and foreign methods, to have stubbornly refused to follow any other course than that laid out for them by Rumford. 94 The Open Fire-Place. The Germans are satisfied with their porcelain stove. The French have been so busy working up the Gauger fire-place that they have not yet thought of looking behind the chimney-breast to reflect upon the waste of useful space; and the Americans have been too busy with everything else to give the subject any thought at all. § The fire-place given in Figs. 126 and 127, for instance, just brought out in England with éclat, indicates the tendency in that country. A correspondent of the London Times of January 830, 1877, writes of this form of fire-place: it "" has excited much attention, for I have received in two days more than two hundred letters on the subject, e , $CC o o aaa 3 . D Z ~ \ j u a to which printed replies will be sent in a few days. Many of these letters are from hospitals, public schools, military and other public institutions," ete. Yet they are nothing more than a modification of the Rumford grate, and yield, at the utmost, but from 5 to 15 per cent of the heat generated by the fuel, while they retain all the radi- cal defects of the ordinary fire-place. Constructed upon a principle quite the reverse of that of the Franklin Reflector, they are set high, and are in form high, narrow, and shallow, instead of low, broad, and deep. They have the ad- vantage of heating the floor better for being set high, and occasion less dangerous draughts around the feet. Their shape is favorable for the slow combustion of coal, and for radiation ; but they are not The Open FirePlace. 95 suitable for burning wood, since their depth is not over 4% inches from back to front at the base, and 54 inches at the level of the top bar. The floor of the fire trough is of fire-brick, and not of grating, so that air passes into the fire through the front of the grate, and not under it. This causes the coal to burn slowly, and each coal glows on the side toward the room. Coke, with a small admixture of coal, may be burned in them, instead of coal alone. The Englishman, proud as he is of his careful arrangements for domestic comfort and luxury, is outdone in this most important par- ticular even by the inhabitants of distant Asia. The Persian enjoys his pipe before an open fire-place as much more rational in construc- tion as it is more pleasing in appearance than the comparatively miserable object now receiving the commendation of the civilized Briton. The picture at the end of this chapter shows us a cheerful fire sparkling like a gem in a casket so high and ample that its radi- ating power is utilized to the best advantage, while the hood and sides serve the purpose of a stove in heating the surrounding air and objects by convection and radiation. The direct rays of the sun are necessary to the complete develop- ment of animal life, and the great difference in the amount of radia- tion of solar light and heat in the various parts of the globe causes a marked difference in national character. - Where the sun cannot be enjoyed, or where its rays are feeble and insufficient, the open fire- place becomes its natural substitute, and so long as our physical na- - tures remain the same, so long will the open fire be cherished as a priceless boon and companion. It is a provision of nature that there shall be a wide difference be- tween the temperature of our bodies and that of the air about us ; and we find that the greater that difference, within certain reason- able limits, the more energetic and vigorous is the action of all our animal functions. - Air entering our lungs at a low temperature near freezing point, does, as we have said, twice as much work in purify- ing the blood as the same amount of air entering at the temperature of our bodies, and in winter with the warm rays of the sun striking us we feel twice as vigorous as we do in summer, when the air is hot and suffocating. When a room is warmed by an open fire the walls are warmer than the air, because radiant heat has the remarkable property of passing through air without raising its temperature. Thus the oc- cupant breathes air refreshingly cool, while the walls, being compar- atively highly heated, do not absorb his animal heat with inconveni- ent rapidity. Nevertheless the outside air must be tempered to a certain extent before entering the room to avoid the danger caused by cold currents striking our bodies, and it is the object of the vent- - ilating fire-place to temper this incoming air to the proper degree, without waste of fuel or labor. We have reviewed the progressive steps already made in this di- rection up to the present time, and we find the utmost that has been accomplished, to our knowledge, by any form of fire-place, in the way of utilizing to good advantage the heat generated by the fuel, 96 The Open Fire-Place. has been a saving of from 30 to 40 per cent, applied rarely to the best advantage in preparing and distributing the fresh air for our use. At its best, it is looked upon as a luxury too expensive for the poor man to enjoy. Under the assumption that the element of waste- fulness is a necessary condition of its being, he turns, as his only re- sort, to the closed stove. The efforts of the inventor are therefore directed to increasing the economy of the heater which is used where the value of economy is best appreciated, to the neglect of the open fire-place which he has been accustomed to look upon as incurable. It is the duty of those who entertain a contrary opinion, and who have the facilities for putting their views in a practical form, to con- tribute the results of their investigations to the general fund. Small as may be the value of individual results in themselves, they may yet serve as suggestions from which, in other hands, valuable fruit may spring; and little as we may expect to receive from any single contributor, yet the labor of many working together, in the light of past experience and with the aid of the advanced scientific and me- chanical knowledge of the day, may, before long, be sufficient to con- vert the open fire-place from an expensive, troublesome, and even dangerous luxury enjoyed only,by the few, into a source of health, comfort, and economy for all. gras r erreaes ”V P24 yy AP X P3355”: I eon $s ,‘!,1fJ/d' Ad NH ""’ rd"; PA OLA ”fl/fr Pee AXD " +" ~4 HHM Cy =x t= (C= U A A A A t at (4 F H f A s -s l/TVN‘T‘- " L und i Cg/y" * s RS ish gl XxI m odern f In PLATE s g R3 2 as . to" #eroo nin i Eres? OB -| re- F ilt i ageot, Fire-place bu From Sauv jon. 'at D a "ogué, + Ras ;vA. cale a jet _H h century de nt 99 ghtee ance he Hotel e el in t ing of th de Fr inn o 3 Fire-place _- the begi i I M) I ' II} - Ml Ham's” 1. . m hm 1 | at W M “l F t “Wit’fl'fllw,qj, eu 's] BHHWW Il It” PEATE XXI. w -: an { A ss s a the h a smok m of A use 0 ous l j ing-roo 7 the smoking-ro« _- From the "Ene ace in pla £ M 1 d' Arch yelope tecture. i ie d a p. aris. s WT , Chan al | it i A> ® == = = f er=-ay # sa Sef Z # LmryWAfiWOV NX PLAYVE V611: f ural tect i x the Palace“ of: filles," in al ts > o f <4 43. ~ fed . fuml D > o O f m. G 3 From e of Louis XV. ag s a P ZCS TETE E G Poin nld ioe ngoni c wnin / & NMIT NTMI ] ] IL cer- 7 7 1 atrayemcray evenly eaevreurmyr tent sero < {lgfié‘&)a fig ass c s lealfifi Cama ts, Terer $ ro foo Serie} an? 5, LNS s I) acme e emini x ararance) ment A f l mes? v.27: Sef fere PLAYTE XXIV. ibited at the Paris Ex i % [2g ¢ o fos TPM r =/ C4 pa P4 x> re-p ce fi ssan Hem ai Nie al & 2.9 at I Tapas PLAYFE XXV. PLATE (XXVI. Fire-place in a house in the Rue de Berlin, Paris: L. Dupré, architect; A. Millet, sculptor. The fire-place is built of stone with facings of red marble. The sculpture on the frieze is in bas-relief, in white marble, and represents Winter. > The total width is 1". 90, and the height to the top of the pediment is 2%. 40. Its cost was 6,000 francs, made at Paris. From the * Revue Générale de I' Ar- chitecture et des Travaux Publics." César Daly. 1872. Vol. xxix. XXVI PLATE PEATE XXV IL. Fire-place in the grand drawing-room of the Bishop's palace at - Beauvais, France. By Mr. E. Vaudremer, diocesan architect of the city of Paris. From the " Revue Générale de l' Architecture et des Travaux Publics." , R \ \ R / u ae PLATE XXVIL The Open Fire-Place. 97 CHAPTER HI. SUGGESTIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE OPEN FIRE-PLACE. Ir we were to see a tribe of savages sitting astride of locomotive steam engines, and, in their ignorance of the application of steam, using them as we do ordinary carriages dragged about by horses, we should be inclined to turn up our civilized noses and smile at the ex- hibition of simplicity. But if when these savages learned how a single engine, with its strength properly applied, was capable of doing the work of the entire tribe, they should, instead of applying steam to the engines already built, continue to use them only as car- riages, and build others to act as motors, we would have before us an example of extravagance and folly only equalled by our own in our method of heating. We fill our houses with open fires and use them only as radiators, although we know that the heat of a single one properly applied would 'be: capable of doing the work of the entire house:. Instead of applying furnace pipes to one of the fire-places already built, we con- tinue to use them only as radiators, and build others down cellar to act only as air-heaters. If the savage condescended to criticise he would have the right to say, " With all your boasted civilization you are even more barbarous than we, because, while it is true that we lose the motive power of our carriages, we are still able to use the carrying power of our mo- tors. You, however, lose both the smoke heat of your upper fur- naces and the radiant heat of your lower ones .'' We have shown that open fires as they are now used are incapable, without external aid, of properly heating our buildings. The air supplying the draught must, by some means, be moderately warmed before it enters. - It should not be as warm as the walls of the room, nor cold enough to occasion discomfort to the occupants. -This prep- aration of the air is usually effected by a furnace in the cellar, and the result of the combination of furnace and fire-place is, under proper conditions, and with all precautions taken against gas," satis- factory except from the one stand-point of economy. With it every desideratum given in our description, at the beginning of these articles, 1 It is probable that the use of steam for heating this fresh air will become much more general, and that in cities and towns steam pipes like gas, drain, and water pipes, supplied from a central source, will take the place of furnaces. Any improved form of apparatus for heating air by steam will assist, but can never supplant, the open fire-place. * 98 The Open Fire-Place. of ideal perfection may with care be obtained, excepting the first and all important consideration, " that all the heat generated by the com- bustion of the fuel be utilized in heating and ventilating the house, and that the combustion of the fuel be complete." To satisfy this condition it is evident that the furnace and fire-place must be com- bined in one apparatus, for it is only in this way that a single fire can do the work of both. How this combination can best be effected, and what sanitary and pecuniary advantages may result therefrom, it is the object of this chapter to inquire. In our historical sketch we have shown to what extent and by what steps the work has been advanced up to the present time. It reaches its fullest development in the fire-place described by Peclet, Fig. 125, but excepting in this we find no evidence of an attempt to - give the air-heating surfaces an extension in the slightest degree pro- portionate to the size of the grate or to the amount of fuel consumed, or to adapt the improved methods and forms of the hot-air furnace to the new conditions imposed. - 'The air-heating surfaces are small and insignificant compared with the size of the grate, and are confined in most cases to a very small area in the immediate neighborhood of the fire. In the Dimmick Heater, with a grate surface of about a tenth of a square meter, we have a radiating surface of scarcely a square meter, or about ten times the grate area. In the Fire-Place Heater,! the Jackson, Joly, Fondet, Cordier, and other similar heaters, the proportion is the same, or but little greater. Yet in our best modern furnaces it mounts to from thirty to two hundred times the grate area. f The Sanford's Challenge Furnace, No. 40, for instance, to take an American example, has a heating surface of seventy times the grate surface. According to Bosc, the proportion should be one hundred and sixty or one hundred and eighty to one, and accord-. ing to Morin, from one hundred and eight to two hundred to one, though in American practice it is seldom over fifty to one, with a heating efficiency of perhaps sixty or seventy per cent of the total heat produced by the fuel. The Peerless Furnace (No. 16), with a grate area of 0.13 square meter, has an air-heating surface of 6.7 square meters, or fifty-one times its grate surface. The Chilson (No. 8), the Golden Eagle (No. 8), the McGregor (No. 4), and the Soap- stone Furnace (No. 18), have respectively, according to measure- ments made by the writer, heating surfaces of forty, fifty-six, thirty- one, and seventy-four times their grate surfaces. Our ventilating fire-places, then, should have a much greater air- heating surface than has heretofore been given them, if we would obtain from the fuel the greatest amount of heat possible. In a furnace all the air which enters the fire-pot is brought into 1 The jackets surrounding the heater add considerably to the heating power, but can- not, of course, be included in the estimate of direct heating surface. 'They correspond to the casing of a furnace, and might be extended ad libitum. The Open FirePlace. : 99 close contact with the fuel by the position of its entrance below the grate. The amount of air entering the smoke-flue is, therefore, but slightly in excess of what is actually required to support combustion, and its temperature is correspondingly high. But with an open fire a greater amount of cold air enters the flue, and its temperature is lowered in proportion. It may, therefore, reasonably be asked if this cool air from the room would not so much diminish the heating povslrer of the flue as to render its development into a complete furnace useless. This first and most important consideration should be carefully looked into before we proceed further, and any conclusions reached by reasoning should be tested by actual experiment. Theoretically. Wood perfectly dry requires for each kilogram burned, say, ten cubic meters of air, developing, say, 4,000 units of heat. The temperature of this air as it leaves the fire would therefore theoretically be 5-1 %%; = 1,282° C., which is about the melting point of steel. So that a certain quantity of air beyond what is absolutely demanded by combustion is necessary to prevent the destruction of the furnace. Were twenty cubic meters of air instead of ten used, the temperature of the air would be 641° C., or sufficient to raise iron to a dull red heat. In an open fire-place with a contracted chimney- throat tested by the writer, a little over thirty-five cubic meters of air per kilogram of wood passed up the flue, and its temperature, as tested by a chemist's thermometer placed in a hole perforated in the flue for the purpose, rose somewhat above 300° C. In another fire-place hav- ing a larger throat, much more air entered, and the temperature of the smoke in the flue could not be raised above 200° C. with the same quantity of wood burned one kilogram at a time. But with a throat contracted still more than in the first fire-place, a still higher temper- ature of the smoke was obtainable, showing that by regulating the size of the chimney-throat, any temperature of the smoke may be easily obtained up to four or five hundred degrees. When hard coal is used for fuel a good draught is necessary in order to produce a combustion of the requisite rapidity to heat the house. When the feed-door of a furnace is left open, this draught may be insufficient where hard coal is used. But where soft coal or wood is used, as is generally the case with open fires, no difficulty is found in obtaining ample heat with the feed-door standing open. In an open fire-place the chimney-throat corresponds with the feed- door of a furnace, and it is this which regulates the amount of cool air entering the chimney, and not the size of the fire-place itself. When this throat is small, the hot products of combustion will fill it to the exclusion of the cold air from the room, and the temperature of the smoke in the flue will be high independently of the actual size of the fire-place. $.. It must be borne in mind that the flues of a furnace do not heat the fresh air by radiation, but by convection or contact of air. With radiation the higher the temperature of the heating surface the greater the proportion of heat given out for each degree's difference 100 The Open HKire-Place. between the heated body and the surrounding air. But with convec; tion, accordmcr to. the researches of Dulonov the yield per; dearees difference,is,; for, all practical purposes, 1rrespect1ve of the absolute temperature of the heated body, or of the difference of temperature between. the heated body and the air in contact with it. With a radiant body -at a clear red heat of 1,015° C., the amount of heat transmitted per meter per hour for each decree s difference is about - 300 times that transmitted at 100° C., and at a bright white heat of 1,415° C., it rises to 4,604 times that amount! The extreme rapid- 1t) with which a body 'at white heat cools down to orange and cherry red, etc., indicates that at high temperature the loss of heat is ex- ceedmflly great. With convection, however, the difference in the loss of heat per i degree is comparatwel} slight. Supposing that with the heated body at 0° C. and the air at 15° C., the loss by contact or by radiation were 1, at 250° C. it would be by contact only 1.9, while by radiation it would be as high as 3; at 3109, 610°, -1,015°, and £ 415° the loss by contact would be 272. 3 277, and 2.9 respectlvely, while by radiation it would be 4, 13, 300, and 4 604 times greater respectively than at 02. There is, therefore, with furnaces no corresponding gain of heat in quantity to compensate for the loss in quality by having the heat- ing surfaces raised to a high temperature. For a given amount of fuel the same number of units of heat will be gener ated by combustion, whether the combustion be slow or rapid. But where it is rapid the products are carried away more rapidly, and the loss of heat at the top of the chimney is greater. Bernan, treating of furnaces, says : " When only a small quantity of air passes throuWh the stove, the cockle is in danger of being over- heated. Mr. Svlvebter says, ' The cockle surface should not rise above 280° (F.). Beyond this it has a tendency to injure the materials of which the flues are formed. It is also heated with less economy, since, as has been observed, the smoke will pass away at a higher tempera- ture.' The temperature of the surfaces he recommends i is, however, a great deal too high; and much of the prejudice against stoves has arisen from this circumstance. Were the surface never to exceed 130° (F.), although the size of the stove would be increased, the salubrity of the air as well as the economy of the fuel would be in- creased also."" Theoretically, therefore, the temperature of the smoke in the flue of an ordinary fire-place, with its throat properly contracted, is suffi- ciently high for our purposes, and may be regulated at pleasure. To put the matter to practical test, the writer has made numerous experiments, with the following results: - A furnace of wrought-iron was constructed for the purpose, having a radiating surface above the fire-box of 7.5 square meters, or equal to that of a Magee furnace, No. 24. This was attached to the top of an open fire-place (the Fire-Place Heater), which served as the _- fire-pot, grate, and ash-pit. The apparatus was tested alternately # The Open Fire-Place. f 101 with the feed-door (sliding blowers) open and shut. In each case three kilograms of wood, containing ten per cent of water, were burned, and it was found that nearly the same amount of heat was obtained from the flues, whether the blower was open or shut, the throat being small and the fire brisk. Sufficient air entered to keep the pipes from becoming red-hot, but not enough to reduce the tem- _ perature to too low a point. Therefore while all danger of burning or injuring the air was avoided, the heat was utilized to the best ad- vantage. Tables VIII. and IX. give in a condensed form the record of two of the experiments referred to. TABLE VIII. Temperature of the outer air, 22° Centigrade ; of the room, 22° Centigrade ; size of fresh- air opening, .05 square meter. Door C1LosED. « 1 1 o - un s | 4 [& |5) [$% } 2 $8 % P 2 a ® F E U g 1% 8 x oa t= s f g ya Y = #1 & [s 14 l888l8G | f | f {583 fe | = #4, !~ ! f ° |:s . cas aL | # sf | tq PERL S%) $ | aol g of < l 43 |f B LBG jf | -as =' } 2 Of Remarks. Sa 89 Ca) 1s FPF . 9 § (|f $08 Sut £8 | 9 4 1:33? sa 8) #2 | a € 1G. S2 f B ip iri: fi) $ | P P3. w "Ti go A E 2 PM ® c Ay 18 § >_. g": 19 1 4 8 4 (2 6 rg 8 10 §,.10 | 0 0 As #50 223°) 220 | Fire lighted. 20 |- 49 63 8 27+ |'294.83] 204.3) 28 Second kilogram. 80. | : 78 54 8 514 ;11028.8|1028.8| 24 80 Third kilogram. 40 | 83 75. :l; 4 61 . |1898 (1704 26 81 50 | 68 30. 1" 2 G1 4G "IITS ~II178 26% | 80 9 54 |»830 0) T.b BHB2 : | 728 26 77 10 | 48 27 «L.8 |,>20 | B51. |-886 26 76 20 |. 42 29. { (1.8. 20 - | 258 i.) ans 26 50 | ~37 25 148 15% |; 210 25 75 40 |- 86 25 $138 | 114% | 178 . | 196 50 | . 85 22 ¢1i1.!: 18 1 :1386. -| »150 10 83 22 1 1-| " Tl= (*125 "| "187 10. |- 32 23. % "1M |... 102 | 114 (125 6415 102 a The Open Fire-Place. TABLE IX. - Temperature of the outer air, 25° Centigrade; of the room at beginning of experiment, 26° Centigrade ; size of fresh-air opening, .05 square meter. Door OPEN. ths $ & £3 & € 8 sla ta |f SA ). , |g 1° 7% = o ta o 9 £ 2 gli |a. 14 1 ) : lisf sa. auc | tele. Rfa 87) {& |} 2 la _ 3 SW.! Tz | 8 a "g ~2 = 14 | 2 2 |7 2 § Remarks. S |. R3 | 2s sos A438 E s |& _ € #5 | | _a | $m 5| £0 2 |1 fs £ H O m o p |o9o A 2 5,4 .a > 3 €, § |f Gs) 1 | § |$2% A | &n | &g aw fEGal 54) 4 2 |§7° & |g4 ) $2 da-) L8 | s | § (fas & p o:. 4 m > a [8 1 2 8 4 i 6 5 8 10 1 27° 0 0 20 0 0 27° | 27° | Fire lighted. 42 | 49 39 1.9. 24 -| 280.7] 268.71: 29 88 Second kilogram. 52 7 5T 2.58 |. 42 | 861.0, 861.0! 80 94 Third kilogram. 4.02 | 91 78 8.9 | 66 |(2002.8]1802.5) 82 | 107 12 | 65 52 2.6 | 40 29 84 22 | B4 36 1.8 | 29 | 582.4] 582.4) 290 83 82 |= 50 34 1.1 | 25 | 450.5) 450.5) 29 82 42 | 45 290 1.4 | 20 -] 324.51 857.0, 28 82 52 | 42 27 1.34"! 17 1 284.6) 258.0| 25 5.02 | 80 21 1.0 | 14 ] 176.11 194.0 - 28 12.) . 86 21 1.0; 11 59.4) 65.3) 28 22 | 88 14 0.7 8 8.8, 84.5) 27 82 | 80 7T 0.8 5 9.0} 11.0) 27 6120 In the first of the two experiments here recorded, Table VIII., the doors of the fire-place were tightly closed and strips of paper glued over the cracks and joints of the doors to make them air-tight, the base draught damper under the grate being alone left open. The ap- paratus then formed an ordinary furnace. The air-box was small, and the register throwing the heated air into the room measured but 1533 centimeters, or 0.05 square meter, so that the heating sur- faces were only partially cooled or utilized. . Nevertheless, column 7 shows that enough heat was abstracted by what air was allowed to strike the flues to raise the temperature of 6,415 kilograms of air 1° C. This is equivalent to 1,540 units of heat. A thermometer placed one meter from the fire-place rose (column 9) 59 degrees, showing that a large portion of the radiant heat of the fire passed through the iron doors. The heat saved by contact of air amounted to 5¢4¢¢§%3 == 14 per cent of the whole. Adding 3 per cent for that obtained by ra- diation, we have a total saving of 17 per cent. The temperature of the room (column 8) was raised 4 degrees. : In the second experiment, Table IX., the doors were left open, and the apparatus formed an ordinary open fire-place, with a furnace at- The Open Fire-Place. 103 tached to its smoke-flue above. Column 7 shows that 6,120 kilo- grams of air could have been raised 1° C., which is equivalent to 1,469 units of heat, or 13 per cent of the whole. A thermometer placed 1 meter from the fire-place rose (column 9) 80 degrees. Add- ing 6 per cent for direct radiation, we have a total saving of 19 per cent. : The temperature of the room (column 8) was raised 6 degrees. All the conditions were as nearly as possible the same in both ex- periments. The supply of fresh air brought to bear on the pipes was limited, but the same in both cases. In other experiments made to test the heating power of the apparatus, where double or triple the supply of air was brought in contact with the heating surfaces, and where a proper arrangement of the fresh-air box and registers was provided, the amount of heat saved was two or three times greater than that here effected. Having found that there is neither theoretical nor practical diffi- culty on the score of the entrance of cool air through the chimney- throat in the way of our combination, it remains to see what kind of furnace is best adapted for our peculiar purposes. According to Bernan, the way in which large buildings or rooms were formerly heated, particularly for manufacturing purposes, where open fires were inadmissible, was by a sort of Dutch stove, formed of a large cast or wrought iron vessel, generally square, and set upon a foundation of brickwork, enclosing the fire, and this ap- paratus was placed in the room to be heated. But it was found to be dangerous, and a large proportion of the accidental fires which in former times destroyed many factories originated with ill-con- structed stoves. The air of the room did not move by the heated sur- face rapidly enough to carry off the heat as fast as it was produced, and the stove was consequently frequently red-hot. This great heat rendered all the adjacent wood-work very combustible, and when the stove cracked, or a joint opened, or any inflammable substance came in contact with it, a conflagration was inevitable. Moreover, close stoves do not assist essentially in promoting ventilation, for the quantity of air withdrawn from the room is only what is needed to support combustion. Morin estimates the ventilation from these to be less than seven cubic meters of air for every kilogram of coal consumed. Indeed, the circulation of air they produce in a room is so sluggish that the temperature of the room varies greatly at different heights. ®" Ruttan, whose observations were made in Canada, states that in a stove-heated basement room, over a cold cellar, he has frequently seen water freeze on the floor when the temperature of the air at the ceiling was 100°, and has often observed a difference of 41° (F.) in the temperature of the air for every foot of height in a stove-heated school-room, sixteen feet high, which was exposed on two sides to outside air at 0°." * But if a casing is arranged around a stove, with a space left between it and the stove, open below and 1 Johnson's Universal Cyclopedia. 104 The Open Kire-Place. above, the column of air within the easing will be doubly heated by contact on one side with the stove and'on the other with the casing. Being protected from the cooling influence of the surrounding air it will rise rapidly and produce a circulation in the room which will equalize its temperature. + The next step was to put the stove in a chamber by itself, ad- joining or below the 'room to be heated. The external air was ad- mitted into this chamber, warmed, and conducted by flues about the building, and the whole formed a hot-air furnace. A large amount of fresh air is brought by the casing in contact with the heating surfaces, and it strikes them forcibly on account of the strong cur- rent produced by the hot-air flues. The fresh air is generally taken from the outside, and it is in this respect, as well as in the principle of the circulation produced by the casing, that the furnace is supe- rior to the close stove, while in the loss of the advantage of direct radiation from the sides of the heater it stands inferior to it. The most important point to be considered in the construction of all basement furnaces alike is the acquisition of a good chimney draught, because of whatever material or in whatever manner they may be made, they cannot be rendered absolutely gas-tight. Even though the materials be non-porous and the joints be tight, the very openings required to admit fuel to the fire or air to the fuel may, under a back pressure, also emit gas. Whére these openings are out of sight and immediate control of the occupants; the noxious gases, often imperceptible to the senses, may en- ter the house without their knowledge; and this is the most preva- lent cause of trouble with the hot-air furnace as it is now con- structed. - It is, therefore, of the first importance with these that the draught of the smoke-flue should exceed in strength that of the'hot- air circulation pipes, whose powerful action is: shown by the 'force with which the warm air issues from the registers. © The hot-@ir flues in a basement furnace being frequently nearly as long as the smoke-flue, and the maximum utilization of the heat of the fuel, or of its smoke, being considered the grand desideratum, these hot-air flues become hotter than the smoke-flue.~ The column of air in the former being, therefore, lighter than that in the latter, the smoke or gases will rush into the fresh-air flues through any crack or joint connecting the two columns together, or they will enter the house through the feed and draught doors. The above difficulties might, however, be obviated, and absolute safety against the escape of gas be obtained, together with a com- plete utilization of the heat of the smoke, by bringing distinct cur- rents of fresh air simultaneously against the heating surfaces of the furnace at various points of these surfaces, properly located with reference to each other and entirely separated from each other. By this means a good draught might be obtained at all times, and yet the temperature of the smoke-flue be reduced to very nearly that of the outside air. ' Let Fig. 129 represent a furnace (devised by the writer) con- The Open FKire-Place. 105 structed after this principle. The fresh air enters the furnace at A, B, and C, simultaneously, but into heating chambers entirely sep- arated from each other, say at points corresponding with each floor of the house.. The hot-air flues start at A', B', and C'. The outer air entering the first chamber might lower the smoke, say, from 300° to 150°, and be itself raised from' 0° to 50°." A second current of fresh air at B, entering the second chamber or division of the fur- nace, might further cool the smoke to 759, and 'be itself raised from' 0° to 40°; and, finally, a third supply, at C, entering the third cham-, ber, might, by taking a direction the reverse to that of the smoke, re- duce the latter to or very near to 0°, and itself be raised to 40°. The average temperature of the: smoke in the chimney would, though entirely cooled at the top, be f i FHM 10A ' s00 giao |_ 1s0 j 18 | 2833 -- 825 J LL + 87:4 - 1950, This would be much higher and the velocity correspondingly greater than that in any fresh-air flue, so that the chimney draught would be good, even if the fresh-air flues were maintained at 40° or 50° throughout their entire length, and this length were equal to that of the smoke-flue. In a furnace con- structed in the manner described, [3 however, each compartment of the furnace would have only its own floor to warm, and the air flues would have little or no perpendicu- lar extension beyond what would be required to create in them the necessary draught. . The tempera- ture, therefore, of the fresh-air col- umn would [practically be that of the house, say 20°, and its length only the distance from its com- mencement at A'; B'; and Cto. the ventilator D, on the roof, 'and > consequently always less than that . of the smoke-flue. P Inasmuch as the diffusion of gases will take place even in opposition to a considerable current of air, no porous material is suitable, undér any circumstances, for the construc- tion of a furnace, since the porosity not only permits"an escape of gas at all times, 'but also serves as a connection between the hot-air and smoke columns in' cases of back draught. The joints should 'be made . Fig. 129. _ }; in such a manner that the con- », traction and expansion of the@materials cannot work them loose, how- ever long the furnace be in service, 106 The Open Fire-Place. Where metal is used, its kind or thickness has but little effect, within ordinary limits, upon its heating power; for the quantity of heat which can be conducted through the thickness of metal usually employed is much greater than can be carried away by contact of air. - But for greater thicknesses the amount transmitted by small pipes increases with the thickness. A cast-iron pipe one decimeter in internal diameter, heated oif the inside to 100° and exposed to the air at 159, with different thicknesses of metal, would lose heat per meter and per hour as follows : The thickness being nothing, or in- finitely small, the loss would be 254 units; for thickness of 2.5, 5, 10, and 15 centimeters the loss would be, respectively, 363, 472, 676, and 848 units, or in the ratios of 1.4, 1.8, 2.6, and 3.3 to 1 respect- ively. Where stone, brick, or terra-cotta pipes are used, whose con- ductibilities are much smaller than that of iron, say as 15 and 4 to 250, the variation for great thicknesses is much smaller. The reason of this is that the increase of thickness increases the radiating sur- face of the exterior, so that while each square meter of such surface gives out less heat than a square meter of the surface of the thin pipe, in the proportion of 0.95, 0.92, 0.89, and 0.85 to 1, for the cast-iron pipe one decimeter in diameter, of the thicknesses mentioned above, yet. the surfaces are greater in the proportion of 1.5, 2, 3, and 4 to 1. Thus, thickening the heating or radiating flues of a furnace made of good heat-conducting materials increases their effectiveness just as do ribs or spikes cast upon the radiating surface, by increasing its su- perficial area. Indeed, unless the ribs are properly placed, a simple thickening of the pipe is sometimes even more effective. Thus a threaded pipe, 1 centimeter thick, 18 centimeters in diameter, and 10 meters long, threading 0.5 centimeter deep, standing vertically, was tested by the writer, and found to yield less heat than a smooth pipe 1 centimeter thick, and of the same diameter and height, al- though the actual radiating surface was twice as great on the threaded as on the smooth pipe. The threading being perpendicu- lar to the direction of the air current, it lost more than half of its effectiveness in heating the air by convection, owing to the fact that the ascending air current struck only the lower outside edge of each thread, while the loss by radiation remained the same, because, though the radiating surface was twice as large, yet half the rays fell upon the surfaces of the threads themselves, and were by them reabsorbed. MOISTURE IN THE AIR. It is a mistake to suppose that furnace heat is necessarily dry and unhealthy. Where the heating surface is raised to a high temper- ature, the vegetable and animal matters which are always to be found, to a greater or less degree, floating in the air, and can easily be seen under a ray of sunlight, coming in contact with an over-heat- ed surface are roasted or burned, and emit an unpleasant odor. When these surfaces become red-hot they may decompose the air itself, forming, with the iron, acid gases injurious to the health, or The Open FKire-Place. 107 gases may pass through the furnace, as already stated ; but so far as depriving the air of its moisture is concerned, by which a too rapid evaporation from the skin is induced, causing headache and unpleasant sensations of the nose and throat, the same effect is pro- duced by steam or hot-water pipes and by every other method of heating, when the temperature of the outer air is warmed to the same degree. Cold air, when expanded by heat, has a greater capacity for moisture in proportion to the extent of the expansion. In the open fields this needed moisture is supplied by nature through the agency of rivers and lakes. In our houses, where rivers and lakes do not form themselves naturally about our hot-air furnaces (unless the unskilful plumber has opened for them sources in the drain and water pipes), their places should be supplied by art in the form of evaporating-pans, and the disagreeable sensations arising from dry- ness will quickly disappear. SPECIAL FORMS OF CONSTRUCTION. It is clear that for a given amount of fuel burned, any furnace may, by extending the heating surface, be made to yield the same amount of heat to the fresh air, but the heating surfaces may be ill or well constructed with reference to favoring the draught, economy of space, tightness of joints, facility for cleaning, durability, and cheapness, and upon this depends its value. The various kinds of hot-air furnaces now in use are characterized by the degree of ex- cellence obtained in some one or other of the above desiderata, no one combining all the excellences, so that in searching for the form best adapted to our purpose many must be reviewed. In so doing we find that they divide themselves into two general classes: first, those in which the hot air circulates in flues, while the smoke fills \ '/\ : p WWW Z ZT G x A Cy eC SOR. V » 1 a j V\ Q y; ' ‘ . .g é {LPL THP PP] | ** I 2 t & CH t CA Kg a a a oe % A‘ T° TA 4 | ZLL L) La Fig. 130. Fig. 131. the space surrounding them; and second, those in which the reverse takes place, the smoke being inside and the fresh air circulating around them. The heating effect of the latter method is, for the same extent of 108 The Open Fire-Place. surface, much greater than that of the former, because when the smoke passes through the flues the heat radiated from the surface warms the inner walls of the surrounding air-chamber, which, in its turn, gives up its heat to the fresh air in contact with it. Thus both surfaces serve in heating the air, and the furnace acts both by radiation and by convec- tion. The effect produced va- ries but little with the extent of the chamber, because the amount of heat which it re- ceives is constant, and the smaller its surface the higher its temperature. By the former method all rays of heat which do not strike the fresh-air flues are lost. Figs: 130 and 131 represent furnaces of this class. In Fig. 130 the smoke flows horizontally across perpendicu- lar. fresh-air, tubes, and .in Fig. 131. the movement of: the smoke is perpendicular, and. that of the fresh air is horizontal.: All "mulumlfffl'lllunmmmunuummnnmuumml1m;l" l the heat, received by the . ma- j LT o inoue u neve uou og soot ll Haare 777757 sonry 0f,the furnace As lost” Fig. 132. . since. no fresh. air is brought , f in contact: with them to; carry. it off. Abandoning, therefore, this class of furnace, we have only to consider those in which the smoke circulates inside of the flues, and the fresh air surrounds them. 5 f These, again, may be classified into, first, those having simple drums, like the Magee Furnace (Fig. 132), and second, those hav- ing detached tubes, as in the Chilson (Fig. 134). The former has the advantage of simplicity and the minimum of joints for the escape of gas, and the latter of a greater radiating surface. . In an ordi- nary furnace the first consideration is of the greatest importance, because a leakage of dangerous gases may take. place Wlthoui; the _- knowledge of the occupants, in case of downward draughts. - Where the furnace is used over an open fire-place leakage may at once be detected by the appearance of the fire, and cured by simply open- ing the direct smoke-draught, so that this freedom from joints, al- though important, is of less consequence than an increase of radiat- ing surface. . ug The movement of the fresh air may,take place in the same direction with the smoke or in an opposite direction.' When the currents flow . in the same direction the smoke will: evidently cease to give up its heat when the two gases have the same temperature. But when the currents take place in opposite directions the temperature of the The Open Fire-Placées - 109 smoke may: be lowered to any extent, only limited by that of the out= ‘ side air. With a basement furnace, as ordinarily constructed, the requirements of the draught are such as to render total extraction of the heat from«the' smoke. undesirable, but where the construction is like that shown in Fig.) 129, such a result would be an important de- sideratum. R In ‘the Peerless Furnace (Fig. 133), we have an illustration of this principle. It is not neces- sary, however, to have the smoke descend in order to accomplish the work. -The smoke may rise direct and the fresh-air current be re- versed. C The - - Furnace t (TTV, \mu t [ Sill cd (Fig. 1834) is an example of Tt, agl W direct smoke-draught. U tg, l! E T, When the movement of the smoke or fresh air is I Fay ieck IT | t upwards, if it be divided || n -- into separate currents, some I | Ws means should: be adopted to direct the flow equally into each, as otherwise it would follow by preference that which offered the least re- sistance, and when every- thing appears to be dis- posed in a manner perfect- ly symmetrical, the slight- est difference determines the movement in one direction or in another. 'The current will only divide itself equally when the flues have, in the aggregate, a sec- tional area equal to that of the main pipe, and when: the branch flues are themselves equal in area to each other.. - When, however, the gas flows in a reversed or downward direction, the division will be uniform in the flues without the precaution of making their aggre- gate sectional area as small as that of the main pipe (Fig. 133). In the Chilson Furnace (Fig. 134) the means adopted for equaliz- ing the ascent of the smoke in the various upright flues is. the taper- ing of these flues as they ascend. 'Where they~join the horizontal ring above, their aggregate sectional area is but little greater than that of the main flue. This method, however, has the disadvantage of presenting a retreating surface to the ascending air current. _ A horizontal pipe presents but one side to the ascending air current, and therefore is less effective in heating it than a perpendicular pipe, which may be entirely surrounded by the air. The conical surfaces of the pipes of the Chilson Furnace are open, in a certain degree, to the same objection. If the cones were inverted the fresh air' fin” s T tC " meap se Fig. 133. 110 The Open Fire-Place. would impinge with much greater force upon their surfaces. But such an inversion would expose them to the danger of clog- ging by soot. _ Moreover, the tapering of the flues, whether upward or down- ward, diminishes their act- ual superficial area and con- sequently their heating power. - Some other method should be adopted for reg- ulating the current, not open to these objections. 'The pipes should be so arranged that they may be easily cleaned, yet so formed that frequent cleaning would be unnecessary. Finally, furnaces may be again subdivided into va- rious classes, according to the material of which they are constructed. MATERIAL. It is evident that a porous S material is unsuitable for the construction of furnaces, be- cause the noxious gases gen- erated by the burning fuel, especially by anthracite coal, Fig. 134. pass through them under a back pressure, or even in cases of a sluggish draught. With an ordi- nary drum furnace like the Magee or MacGreggor there is almost always an outward pressure from within at the top of the drum even when the draught is good. Under a given pressure the amount of gas passed through a given material will be in direct proportion to its porosity. Cast-iron is said to be permeable to certain gases at high temperatures and, according to L. Cailletet,* to hydrogen gas even when cold. Whether the gases pass through the pores, or through invisible air-holes so minute that they may be classed as pores, is im- material so far as concerns the furnace maker. It is sufficient to know that microscopic air-holes are so liable to be present in the castings that the material has been condemned as unsafe and unsuitable for gas-holders, compressed-air tubes, and all places where a gas pressure has to be resisted. 1'* L, Cailletet Uuberzeugte sich dass das Eisen, nicht nur wie Deville und Troost nach- gewiesen, im stark erhitzten Zustande, sondern auch bei gewohnlichen Temperatur yon Wasserstoffgas durchdrungen werde."" (Wagner's vol. xiv., p. 54.) The Open FKire-Place. 111 In order to test the degree of this permeability under varying press- ures, the writer had cast six cylindrical boxes from some of the softer iron used by a foundry-man in making furnace and stove cast- ings. The boxes, having the section shown in Fig. 185, appeared to be perfect in every particular. The top or mouth of each piece was threaded after casting so as to Fig. 135. Fig. 136. receive the end of a piece of gas-pipe two meters long threaded to correspond, making with cement an air-tight joint. (Gas piping was formerly frequently made of cast-iron, but its permeability to gas under pressure was too great, and it was abandoned in favor of wrought-iron.) Clean mercury was then poured into the gas-pipe and the pressure in atmospheres on the casting was known by the height of the mercury column (Fig. 136). It was found t‘hat under 112 The Open Kire-Place. pressures varying from one to three atmospheres, the first three of the - six castings tested allowed the mereury to pass through the pores or air-holes in minute jets, as shown in Fig. 1836, projecting it, when the pressure was greatest, a distance of more than a meter from the ves- sel. . Yet the feeblest pressure was suflicient to cause it to escape from the largest openings. 'The other three castings resisted the test. A greater pressure than three atmospheres could not be applied with the materials at command. The mercury became much dirtied, after the first three experiments, by impurities in the gas-pipe and castings, so that it is possible that the amalgam thereby formed filled the pores in the last three castings and itself prevented the passage of the pure mercury. * This experiment was suggested by the experience of Professor Wolcott Gibbs of Harvard University, from whom I have the follow- ing : He was filling a cast-iron pot with mercury, and had poured into it about fifty kilograms of the metal when it was observed suddenly to shoot out in fine streams in all directions through the pores of the vessel... Professor Gibbs described the iron which he used to be per- fect so far as the eye could detect. The boxes in which mercury is put up for the market have to be made of wrought-iron. The six castings tested as above described were fifteen centimeters long each, and nearly two centimeters in diameter. The metal was two millimeters thick at the threaded end under the shoulder, and about five millimeters thick at the other end. The object of this gradation of thickness was to discover what effect the thickness of the casting had upon its permeability. It happened that the mer- cury escaped in all cases at points near the middle of the cylinders, where the metal was of medium thickness. But inasmuch as it did not flow from all parts of the castings with equal freedom, but rather from particular localities in each, it would appear that it could hardly.have passed through pores, as the term is commonly accepted, but rather through minute accidental pin-holes between the granules or erystals of the materials not to be avoided in casting. In this case iron of a hard, close texture would be open to these imperfections as well as soft iron, though not to so great a degree on account of the smaller size of the erystals. These openings may be partially closed by filing the surface of the casting. A file was passed over one of the. castings tested while the mercury was escaping under the pressure. A number of the jets were obliterated, only the stronger ones remain- ing. For this reason samples to be tested should not be turned or filed, but subjected to the pressure in the rough state as they come from the foundry. It is also in this state that they appear in fur- naces, for the sake. of which the tests are made. § Hammering is still more effective than filing, and in wrought-iron the pores and air-holes are completely closed. Thus every part, as large as the small samples tested, of every cast- ing used in a furnace is liable to come out riddled, like them, with minute holes invisible to the eye, yet large enough to allow of the es= cape of gas under pressure. This outward pressure exists more or The Open Fire-Place. 113 less frequently in every hot-air furnace now known. In the ordinary dome furnace itis constant in ordinary use, as previously said. Fur- nace men will differ in regard to this and will say that it is impossible, thinking that a powerful upward chimney-draught would overcome any slight upward tendency given by the height of the dome above the lower opening into the smoke-flue. Others will be as positive the other way. But the practical fur- nace man is unfortunately not the authority to consult on these mat- ters. He is commonly ignorant of the scientific principles which should govern the construction or regulate the use of a furnace, and generally unwilling to see the virtue of any arrangement not found in his own. To ascertain the truth, the writer was obliged to have a hole bored in the top of the dome of his own furnace, which is a wrought-iron I | Qfl‘Y‘ffit-‘th as Fig. 137. Fig. 138. MacGreggor furnace No. 4, one whichis to be recommended. It is similar to the Magee shown in Fig. 132. The opening was five mil- limeters in diameter and threaded to take a brass tube as shown in ~Fig. 187. A manometer was attached to the tube and the pressure of the gas from within or without accurately measured in millimeters of a water column. - It was found that there was -a constant outward press- ure of from one to eight millimeters, according as the check-draught door was from one to five centimeters open. Or, roughly speaking, a pressure of about one millimeter for every centimeter of opening. No valve was used in the smoke-flue. The same pressure outwards occurred when the feed-door was open. There was never an inward pressure except when the draught up the smoke-flue was too powerful to be left with safety. From these experiments, therefore, the necessary inference is that 8 114 The Open FKire-Place. cast-iron furnaces afford no adequate security against the escape of gas. Even if tested under pressure before use, a precaution which no furnace dealer or maker would venture to take, even if it were practicable," they would still be unsafe for the following reason : a casting of iron when examined in section, Fig. 188, will be found to be densest at the surface and more and more open or larger in grain approaching the centre. In a section of soft Scotch pig-iron the gran- ules at the centre appear as large as those in the centre of our figure, while the outer portions are very much finer. Outside of all a coat- ing of silicate forms a thin skin comparatively impervious, so that a furnace, which when new would resist every test, might prove to be quite useless as soon as the thin outer coatings were destroyed by heat and rust. With wrought-iron these objections do not hold. The gas-pipe used in the experiment illustrated in Fig. 136 was of wrought-iron. As was to be expected, no mercury passed through it under the greatest pressure then applied. Wrought-iron is, however, more quickly burnt out than cast-iron. But the difference is not important, especially where fire-clay linings are used and proper care is taken in its management. What will happen to iron in a red-hot condition seems to me to be entirely of minor importance. The matter is almost wholly depend- ent upon the quality of the castings used. To obtain castings which, in the cold state, will allow no gas to pass through under greater or less pressure, either when new or after a little use, I believe to be difficult if not impossible, as furnaces are now made, and at best always a matter of chance. Most basement furnaces are now so constructed that it is never necessary to raise them to a red heat to obtain the best results, and, in practice, this high temperature is seldom seen except under care- less management. The experiments of Deville and Troost (who were bound, as sci- entific and conscientious investigators, to select with care perfect cast- ings for their test) show that a very small quantity, about one half a cubic centimeter, of carbonic oxide was found at the surface of the iron when heated to redness for every million cubic centimeters of air passed over the stove. Of this small quantity, part was generated by the fuel within and permeated the iron, and part was formed on the surface by the decomposition of the constituents of the air coming in contact with it. These experiments, and the report of General Morin to the French Academy, have given rise, for the last ten years, to endless heated discussions as to the danger of iron in this condi- tion, - discussions as fiery when prompted by pecuniary interests as the iron itself under consideration, and having as little to do with 1 The only test made by furnace men is a "careful '' ocular inspection. This is evi- dently equivalent to no test at all, the air-holes being microscopic ; a test would involve either setting up the furnace complete and applying atmospheric pressure or else a spe- cial test of each particular casting, both of which are too difficult to be applied in prac- tice. The Open HKire-Place. 115 the practical question as red-hot iron has to do with properly made modern hot-air furnaces in general. Since these. famous experi- ments the iron has cooled off to a moderate temperature, but the dis- cussions glow as fiercely as ever. : The fire-pot, now much thicker than the iron of the stove tested by Deville and Troost, is, in a proper furnace, also protected by fire- clay (practically to prevent the iron from burning out, but nomi- nally to allay the fears of the worried and excited public): The ra- diating surfaces remain as thin as before, but are no longer heated to redness. We pass somewhat blindly from one extreme to another. The opponents to the theory of "* red-hot" permeability, and the dealers in cast-iron furnaces generally, are convinced that the French Acad- emy was mistaken, and that it is practically impossible for gases to pass through red-hot iron. In defence of their position they march I I al a \.\ le gg \ yg lube g \ S ( our -A R W B seee sssprga sika \\\\\\ & s Rages & Sos go...... ooo, gee S out a small army of " distinguished " chemists, physicians, professors, and doctors of philosophy, who advertise liberally in behalf of the cast-iron furnace men that "cast-iron is no more permeable than wrought-iron; " that " any scientific chemist of experience must con- sider the exposition made in favor of wrought-iron much in the same light as a (mare's nest;'" that " the result of analyses shows that carbonic oxide has never passed through the metal at any time;" that they cannot after three months' trial, working night and day, get the smallest particle of gas through the iron; that one has " never known such a thing as these gases passing through either cast or plate iron when used for heating purposes," etc. Fig. 189 represents the Reynolds Wrought-Iron Furnace, one of the most perfect hot-air furnaces now known. The doors are cir- cular in form, with bevelled edges, turned to fit with the greatest nicety, so that they are as nearly air-tight as movable metal furnace joints can be made, and no check-draught door in the smoke-flue is 116 T/ ie Open Fire-P i ll am;= ‘I..... |_| 4? |] Fg = $ m '/' 8) é, Now co NBNCTINC SP AcE {muezmumm €] wa>s pC rs ° | {| Nese Sts e /////,/': 1 - "IMWIH «- I | IIIlI > WWW“ f Hi"‘i“‘n'”““uuu§?fi1}'i'“m > uummmnn IWWMWWMMW “fig“ = ||||||||m||||||||lll lllllmlll jill lmllllhfl “H""H" W ||||fl||||l|||||| HIM I |llmmmmwmw MHP) flmmmm uh WW ill T mmm IIIIII I’m!" | | .,m Winn” vary I luta mum“ jil all IW ”WMMMw l - CA |||ll| at ||||l toatl [ mu allt “mill! “m“, C ull SHT The Open Fire-Place. if no nasmuch as i st important advantacrsl; é- flag. the presstur? ar This is a mo be requll‘ed in the Sabra] at every par 82- necelisdrfiuoht or danifefinWards or at 1838131? laced and large in (the; pe kept cOnlflnuziilimnq surfaces are well p In it hot air ma The r 3 e. In § C. urnac ' Mie klee's Golden Faerlef fhe drum (not Show? tent. sents Dun outside o ber, thus ex s Hell Inoile of the Libes m i necentod n he passes as well i 1396301031110 them fingon previously descgéter expan- § rawing), £ cireula t the gr is pT iina both princip lei aml ito. ini e a emp ire of wrought-”122 from tightens the j JOThe furnace has a larg 21151188015 Wrou‘ifht ovslt‘gfieallablhty (ffillehagiligf' '11uStra'ted the and lessen l C NER Cls ve have i = haggfinu surface Snag lfr'éctnpl‘hrnace (Fig. 141) v ra int k's Cast- In Chubbue S/ ano GAS D r w 6] <3 & | to =i hos P- '/ | t o| s Tla llllllllll lllllltllllll Illll Ee lge U ”I“ um if?" : .h§""ff.z:'.'==u'5‘:fl “mun ummm WT] nmwnmmfiuwb | A mm” Mell v fl“ mm'“ f N l u_ i “filuul'fln T Tmt “HEN" ‘1‘ nlfl'h' I & fro ll “151 m "In.” uul' cull - um.- AN A al Al i uml“:xdfiilfllflmmlim‘mmmmum: "En ll I WWI/7 my”? L 7 llll Uli c B Np 1 a | Inui HDL dld ulll'hnfl'l i ummmnmm Witte ole ijlhfllflflfilflmfl'" Alit lly ike A ly Un lll itu uuuuuuunnihmmfifiu I“ \ D [M hw (g 74 ‘gfi ‘mluufl “In” ”Ill/ll P ll' [ll “I, ',|l',‘ ,.u'|"|'l"""""11|“ lot n ‘Efl'r'flfli'fllfill' hmmfiw "“",‘flthllfi}“ H OB on WV Ul alm ball xéffl/f/fq/m/x lls liflwfiffi‘? AF T £245” I ss Ilughllfiflllfiun' i DR /////////////////////l// ( Hum!" Pi D ”I f l dif] “H ///////A7////////,'////// /////W//fl///."/////////,7 A a Hm." m 1 “J" Wl lil l ”fl/”b ‘ t d” Em" A \ ’// I) ' ' ////,//////////'///,' M , | /////////////////| Hs P wy An -u 4 , |High wind. 20, 20. T2. Very high wind. 56. 22.5 81. Storm. 73. 21. 97.2 - |Severe storm. 105. 36. 129.6 -| Hurricane. . 186. 45. 162.0 _ |Hurricane which uproots trees and overthrows houses.. . 290. For an average velocity of the wind of 27 kilometers an hour we should have a pressure of one half kilogram per square meter. A wind stronger than 36 kilometers an hour would be exceptional, and is not to be reckoned upon. This would give us, according to the table, 22 kilograms per square meter. But in all cases it is neces- sary for the wind to strike the surface at right angles in order to ex- ert upon it a pressure corresponding to that shown in the table. In consideration of the great variety of force and direction of the wind, it cannot be counted upon as a reliable source of ventilation, our table showing a pressure varying all the way from 0.03 kilograms to 290 kilograms per square meter. It remains now to ascertain the effect of this pressure in trans- mitting air through the walls of our buildings. The air may be forced through the wall in two ways, namely, either through the ac- cidental cracks at joints, or through the pores of the materials them- selves. No arguments are needed to show that the ventilation coming from the former is so uncertain in its amount and so disagreeable and dangerous in its character, that every precaution should be taken to reduce it to a minimum. By the use of good cements, packing, and rubber mouldings, it may be reduced to so minute an amount as to be practically inappreciable. Porous building materials have the advantage of greater capacity for warmth. The conductibility decreases as the porosity increases, and what air passes through the walls of a building is warmed in its passage. - But inasmuch as the loss of heat in radiation from the 1 Fortschritte der Physik. The Open Fire-Place. 129 outer walls into space is the same for an equal difference of tem- perature between these walls and the objects receiving the rays, such a transmission of cold air through them must cool them to an extent nearly corresponding to its amount, and deprive them largely of their healthful action in radiating heat upon the bodies of the oc- cupants. The greatest desideratum in heating is to have the walls and floor of a room as warm as possible, leaving the breathing air comparatively cool; and anything tending to destroy this effect should be avoided as far as possible. Experiments have been made by Pettenkofer, Schultze, Mircker, Lange, and others on various buildings, to determine the quan- tity of air passing through the walls in a given time, under a given pressure. Pettenkofer found that the amount of air which passed through the walls of his study, per hour, was 0.245 cubic meters per square meter of wall-surface for a difference of 1° C. between the external and the internal temperatures. But these ex- periments give no reliable or accurate data for practice. The only way to obtain correct results is to make the tests on a simple scale with small pieces of material under a known pressure. The, principal building materials used in different countries differ _ greatly in their permeability to air. In Germany they appear to be in general more porous than in this country, so that, perhaps, for this reason the need of artificial ventilation is less directly felt with the Germans than with us. Of all building materials none differs more widely in the matter of porosity than baked clay or terra-cotta, the material most exten- sively used. In the form of certain kinds of fire-brick its porosity resembles almost that of a sponge, while in the form of vitrified or glazed tile it is absolutely non-porous. A piece of semi-vitrified terra-cotta, used in a furnace constructed by the writer, was tested by him, and found to permit only 9 cubic centimeters of air to pass through per hour, under a pressure of 10 centimeters of a water column which is equivalent to a pressure of 10 grams per square centimeter. The piece was 30 millimeters thick, and presented a surface of 35 square centimeters to the pressure. For a surface of 1 square meter the amount of air forced through would have been 2.6 liters per hour, under the same pressure of 10 grams per square centimeter. Other pieces, in the form of brick, were tested by Dr. Henry P. Bowditch, with the following results : - Four Taunton bricks allowed the air to pass at the rate of about 62, 160, 106, and 795 liters respectively, per hour, for the same sur- face (1 square meter), same thickness (3 centimeters), and same pressure (10 grams per square centimeter). _ North Bridgewater bricks gave 66 and 182 liters; a New York brick, 3830 liters; New Jersey bricks, 24 and 53 liters; a Philadelphia face brick, 891 liters; a hard Eastern brick, 165 liters; and a Danvers face brick, 231 liters. - Ohio sandstone gave 990 liters. The apparatus used for our tests is represented in Fig. 145. Air was compressed in a gas-holder shown at the left of the table, and con- 130 The Open Fire-Place. ducted by a rubber tube to two bent glass tubes containing, the one chloride of calcium and the other sulphuric acid, in passing through which it was thoroughly dried. The pressure was measured by a water manometer, and the piece of material to be tested was held between two cups of iron securely connected with the rubber tube in such a way that the compressed air could enter freely one exposed side of the sample and escape at the opposite side. The four remaining sides were covered with an air-proof cement composed of wax and rosin to prevent the escape of air at any other points than that cov- ered by the cup and tube opposite the one delivering the fresh air, Fig. 145. and the whole was kept under water during the test, so that any es- cape of air might at once be detected by bubbles. The- air thus pressed through the material to be tested was finally delivered into a graduated glass vessel inverted over a basin of water, and measured. The same apparatus was used for testing the soapstone before referred to. The apparatus used by Lange in making his more extended tests in Germany, was similar to that above described, except that he measured the volume of air before instead of after passing it through the material to be tested. This method was less exact because some of the air measured might not be actually transmitted through the material, owing to leakage. The Open Fire-Place. 191 The observations of Schiirmann' and Lange show that the amount of air passing through porous materials of homogeneous structure under constant pressure is inversely proportional to the thickness of the pieces tested. Lange gives the following table showing the permeability of vari- ous materials under a constant pressure of 10 grams per square cen- timeter, and the amount of air in liters or cubic decimeters passing through them per hour, per square meter of surface, the pieces tested being 30 millimeters thick. According to Lange and Miircker, burning increases the porosity of brick up to the point of vitrification, when it becomes non-porous. The different kinds of bricks vary greatly in porosity. Mortar is exceedingly porous, but after remaining some time immersed in water it becomes less so. We see by the table that Portland ce- ment transmits 492 liters per square meter, under the slight pressure of 10 grams to the square centimeter, or about the hundredth part of one atmospheric pressure. It cannot, therefore, as in the form of concrete for basement cellars, be considered by any means as air or damp proof. - TABLE XI. fAmoimt trans- lts Permeability Materials Tested. mitted in Li-] is represented ters. by G@reen-sandstone | 468 0.130 ie y gil | 426 0.4 IS TAimestone (calcareous: tufa). .s slic ias s a ‘ 28,728 7.980 ARTIFICIAL STONES. brick, sandal brick 'of Osn@bruck.................. | 1,398 0.383 "_ lightly burot hand made (Munich). e:. >.". i 312 0.087 «*-- hard burnt x* ie Naat r. 43 192 0.203 "* __ machine made, "iid Hale aly err ® | 474 0.132 CEMENTs. | .. re re aaa han v4 sla aia sas n ns 3,264 0.907 pyar asst oe , 930 0.258 CEMEDL:. -e lac e ns nea ann s ar ssg c aind s C. 492 0.187 Plaster (oy ps.) fie argh ives | 146 0.041 woops. | :r Ay. seals s | 24 .~ _ gl" 0.007 ssl .is 1? y aA sin Hn Thile: na an whol ala ane = 1 2,636 1? ~ 3,010 t. The different woods vary greatly, pine being more porous even than mortar, and oak less porous than the densest brick. Tufaceous limestone was found to be the most porous substance tested. The differert kinds of bricks and sandstones vary greatly. Ten 1 Jahresbericht der chem.'Centralstelle filr offentliche Gesyndheitsp/lege in Dresden. 192 __ The Open Fire-Place. different kinds of sandstone given by Lange varied between 0.3661 and 0.009 cubic meters of air transmitted under the same pressure in the same time, the French sandstone tested transmitting 40 times as much air as the German (Sollingsandstein), which was the least porous. Lange found that a coat of water-glass (silicate of soda or pot- ash) diminished the porosity, and the more so the longer it stood, until after a certain time it rendered it entirely non-porous. Oil paint acted in the same way as long as it was new. Water-color with glue size (Leim farbe) diminished greatly the permeability, more than half, and the more the stronger the sizing. Lime water-color (Kalk farbe) diminished it the least. Papering diminished the porosity more or less according to the nature of the paper and the thickness of the paste used in hanging it. The diminution of the permeability varied for different tests between 18 and 75 per cent. Dampness, due to rain on brickwork, etc., diminished the per- meability according to the degree of the moistening, in some cases rendering a porous material absolutely non-porous, as in the case of Beton and Portland cement. Knowing, then, the permeability of our building materials and the pressure of the wind, it is easy to calculate the natural ventila- tion in any given case. Suppose, for instance, we have a room 6 meters square and 4 meters high, with one exposed side, and that the exposed side contains a window 1 meter wide and 2 meters high. The walls are 40 centimeters thick, 30 of which are brick, 4 air-space, - 6 furring and plaster, and present a surface of 24 square meters to the outer air. Take out 2 meters for glass surface, because glass is non-permeable, and we have 22 square meters of brickwork exposed. We have found that 1 square meter of hard Eastern brick 3 centi- meters thick will admit 165 liters of air under a pressure of 10 grams per square centimeter. We have, by our table, for plaster 146 and for laths 3,686. But supposing their permeability and that of the mortar to be the same with the brick, we have, for our 40 centimeters thickness of wall, lies—Ly - 250 liters of air trans- mitted under the pressure of ten grams per square centimeter, or 100 kilograms per square meter. : This pressure is, by the table, equivalent to that of a severe storm bearing directly upon the house. For a moderate wind the pressure would be about 250 times less, and we should have a ventilation of only one liter per hour. For a Philadelphia face-brick wall we should have about 5 liters per hour, up to 500 liters, or half a cubic meter, in case of a severe. storm. For a gentle breeze, direct, it would be about 2 liters per hour, and at right angles with the wall, say, 1 liter again per hour. | If the wall were papered on the inside or painted in distemper, these figures would be reduced, say, one half, and if oil paint were used the ventilation would be reduced to nothing. C Where the walls are built of the limestone given in Lange's table as transmitting 28,728 liters per hour, the ventilation in a high The Open Kire-Place. 1838 wind would amount to 2M = 47,8388 liters = 47.4 cubic meters per hour, or 0.8 cubic meters per minute, an amount quite sufficient for a single occupant. Thus we see that the ventilation, left to the natural permeability of the material, would vary with every material and with every change of the wind, being greatest when the wind was highest and the exterior air was coldest, or in other words, when least desired. It is therefore in the highest de- gree unreliable. Such a form of air supply is objectionable, too, in most cases, on account of its cooling action upon the surrounding walls. We have seen that (calculating from Lange's figures) a building material may admit air enough to supply one person for every 22 square meters of wall-surface exposed directly to the wind. The matter assumes, then, considerable importance, and demands of the heating and ventilating engineer careful study. Indeed, it is easy to obtain bricks and stones so porous that a candle may be blown out by a slight effort of the breath through pieces many cen- timeters in thickness. - The experiment may easily be performed by any one by attaching rubber tubes to opposite sides of the sample to be tested, and covering the remaining sides with wax in the man- ner described. ‘ While, therefore, it may for many reasons be desirable to employ porous materials for building, these materials should be carefully coated with non-permeable substances, either outside or inside, or both, and every precaution possible should be taken to prevent the entrance through them of the outer air, though I am aware that this conclusion is exactly the reverse of that held by Lange and others. If there were cases where no other sufficient fresh-air supply could be obtained than through the pores of the building materials, natural ventilation might be recommended. As it is, there are, un- fortunately, many buildings in which no other sufficient supply is provided, and natural ventilation then becomes, in spite of us, a great good; but as our question here is with well, and not ill venti- lated buildings, accuracy and success in our arrangements require us to know its greatest extent and provide against it. THE POSITION OF THE FRESH-AIR INLET. The walls of our building having been made impermeable to air, and all cracks or accidental openings having been carefully closed, our fresh-air supply may be accurately calculated and con- trolled, and the heating surfaces over which it is conducted may be utilized to the best advantage. The size of our heating surface having been determined by the amount of fresh air required to be warmed, and this amount again by the maximum number of persons and gas-burners to be supplied, it only remains to fix upon the best point or points in the room for the fresh-air delivery. Here we enter a long-contested battle-field. Whatever means be employed to warm the air before its introduction, it should enter and be distributed in such a way as to serve all with- 134 The Open Fire-Place. out inconveniencing any. As a general rule, and always where an open fire-place is used, the entrance should be at or near the ceiling, whatever system of heating or cooling the fresh-air supply be adopted, and whether, upon entering, it be cooler or warmer than the air al- ready in the room. If it enter warmer, it will rise at once to the ceiling, even if it be first introduced at the floor, so that there is no advantage, in the way of heating the floor, by having the hot-air registers in or near it. This may be easily verified by burning some damp straw in the fresh-air box or flues of a furnace and observ- ing the course taken by the warm air thus rendered visible, as it issues from a floor register. It will be found to shoot upwards in a round column to the ceiling as represented in Fig. 146, more or Fig. 146 i less rapidly according as its temperature exceeds more or less that of the surrounding air. Outside of this column the air will be no warmer at or near the floor than if no register there existed, until the heated air at the top descends in regular strata to the bottom. In fact, one of the best places to draw off the colder and fouler air from such a room would be through an opening placed directly by the side of this hot-air supply register in the floor. If, on the con- trary, the fresh air introduced be cooler than that already in the room, it will, if it enter at the floor, escape at once at the fire- place opening or at any other foul-air exhaust-flue which may be placed near the floor, without rising to the level of the heads of the occupants, and be lost. But if the entering air be cooler than the air of the room it will greatly inconvenience those who may be seated near the inlets, where these inlets are at the bottom of the room, especially in large rooms, as in public halls, school-houses, and thea- tres; whereas, if the supply registers be at the top and exhaust reg- isters at the bottom, no such inconvenience will be felt. No opening for extracting the products of respiration should be allowed above the level of the heads of the persons occupying the room. If this rule be ignored the fresh air will not reach the occupants, and no ventilation will be for them effected. Fig. 147 shows what would be the result in a bedroom where the exhaust register was placed above the head of the sleeper. The warm-air supply register is here represented in the floor. If it were in the ceiling the results would The Open FKire-Place. 135 be the same. The hot air first forms itself along the ceiling in an even horizontal stratum, just as oil lies on the surface of a body of a heavier fluid, such as water. As more hot air enters, the first de- scends and gives place to it. The lower, cooler, and heavier strata Fig. 147. fall ; they seek their own level just as would strata of light and heavy liquids. Air does not follow so docilely and obligingly the paths laid out for it by the would-be ventilators, when they explain their patent arrangements by little arrows meandering about snake- like in pursuit of a " draught," or heated exhaust flue. It does not head " directly to the exhaust register even if the so-called " draught '' in it be ever so strong. - 'The lower strata only flow out at these exhaust openings just as the lower strata of water in a bucket would flow out of a hole bored in the side near the bottom. We must always bear in mind that it is not the lighter column of air in the chimney pulling up the heavier air in the room, but rather the heavy air in the room pushing up the lighter column in the chimney. There is no suction such as the word " draught '' would imply, but a simple uplifting, by the cooler masses of air outside of the house and within the room, of the lighter strata or column in the exhaust flue. The word ** draught '' is a misnomer and is responsible for much of the confusion existing upon the subject. With an exhaust opening placed as shown in Fig. 147, or worse still at the ceiling, where these openings are usually put (though fortunately they are seldom operative on account of the want of motive power), the sup- ply of fresh air might be enormous and yet the sleeper suffer from want of it. Where a room is heated by a stove and no fresh air is introduced, this stratification of the air is broken up, as shown in Fig. 148, and the motion becomes more complicated. The currents may be illus- trated by heating with electricity, or otherwise, a piece of metal at the bottom of a glass box filled with water containing some coloring matter, and throwing the reflection of the water by means of a lens and calcium-light upon a screen. These all seem like facts simple and reasonable enough. Why then such a diversity of opinion regarding the location of ventilating openings ? It is because in ordinary buildings the question of the 136 The Open FKire-Place. disposal of the products of respiration is complicated with those of the gas-burners, while the two should be kept entirely distinct, and a separate and opposite system of ventilation provided for each. To Fig. 148. carry off the products of gas combustion openings above the head are necessary. - When these openings are placed in the ceiling, as is customary in this country, the upper pure and warm strata of air are impoverished by the products of gas combustion, and it is assumed that the only cure is to draw it all off as fast as it is generated. The prod- ucts of respiration do not rise at once to the ceiling, as do those of illumination. The breath is directed downwards by the form of the nostrils and it becomes so quickly mixed with the surrounding air that before it has time to rise again to any considerable height it has attained the general temperature and follows the general movement of the latter, whatever that movement may be. Were the heat and impurities of gas combustion carried off at their source, and not al- lowed to affect the general atmosphere of the room, our problem would be at once simplified. The fresh, warm air at the top of the room would be kept pure until it descended to the level of the oc- cupants, when it would perform its office and pass off through the exhaust registers below. As a general rule, then, the exhaust openings should be near the floor for buildings heated as is customary at the present day. As an exception to this rule may be mentioned the case of bed-rooms in which the fresh-air supply is obtained in winter through the open window, and no warm air is introduced. In this case, the air may enter at a temperature at or near the freezing point. The purest air ' will then be at the bottom. The breath and exhalations from the skin will rise to the ceiling, and an exhaust register there placed will be serviceable. It is well, however, even in such rooms, to have an exhaust opening below, as well as above, for use where it is found desirable to warm the pure air before its introduction, as in cases of sickness or during the day-time when window ventilation would prove inconvenient. The exhaust openings would also be in place at the bottom of the room, were the system adopted of supplying air partially warmed, say, at 10° or 15° C. (50° or 60° F.), to rooms heated to a higher The Open FirePlace. 137 temperature by hot pipes or flues behind or beneath the walls and floors. The pure air would then constantly fall below the respired air, and the movement of the strata would be the reverse of that now obtained. Such a system of heating would be the most agreeable and salubrious possible ; but heretofore its costliness has stood in the way of its general introduction. The cost being equal, that system which approaches most nearly the desideratum mentioned must be accounted best. ACCIDENTAL CRACKS. Under Pressure, however slight, such as that of the air of a fur- nace flue of little height, air will escape at a thousand minute open- ings in a room having a number of doors and windows, however carefully the wood-work be fitted, even if no exhaust flue be provided. The aggregate of all these small openings will furnish an outlet if an ample supply be provided under pressure, and where the walls are porous the pores themselves will form an outlet. On the other hand, these same minute openings will, under slight pressure inwards, such as is occasioned by burning a fire in an ordinary open fire-place where no fresh-air supply flues are provided, admit the outer air in quantities larger than is generally supposed. Mr. L. W. Leeds, in his excellent book on ventilation, well says: "In the good old days of open wood fires, when, as in our childhood, the real chimney- corner was the family sitting-room, so to speak, or at least for the children, then, with all the listing of doors, calking of windows, and filling up of key-holes, there was certain to be an abundance of fresh air that will force its way into the room in spite of all efforts to keep it out. But with the introduction of anthracite coal, and air-tight stoves, and still worse, steam-pipes, placed in a room for heating by direct radiation, the stopping of all draughts, that were before so annoying, became a matter of easy accomplishment. The re- sults thereof have been perfectly frightful: persons have thus un- consciously been smothered to death by the thousands and tens of thousands." In order to test the influence of a slight pressure in forcing air through the pores and accidental fissures of an ordinary living-room, . the writer made the following experiment. A room about five meters square and 3.60 meters high, containing five windows on three sides, two doors, and a fire-place, with walls and ceilings plastered, and floors of soft pine, was taken for experiment, in a city corner house, now being built by the writer. A flue ten meters long, from a base- ment furnace, furnished the rooms with hot air. The windows and doors were first made as tight as possible with rubber mouldings. The fire-place was then closed by drawing the damper and pasting paper over the cracks. The brick back and jambs were oiled to ren- der them impervious. All the wood-work was thoroughly oiled and shellacked. A good fire was lighted in the furnace, and the register opened into the room, all doors and windows being closed and locked, and the key-holes stoppe 1 ap. The hot air entered almost as rapidly with the doors closed a when they stood open, and it con- 138 The Open Fire-Place. tinued to enter at the rate of 2.5 cubic meters per minute without diminution as long as the experiment was continued. The thermome- ter stood at 2° C. outside. The entering hot air ranged from 40° to 55° C. The day was March 3, 1880. Other experiments gave the same results. The pressure of the hot air from the register was sufficient only to raise a single piece of cardboard from the register. A portion of the air must have passed through the pores of the materials, and the rest through cracks and fissures which escaped detection. On the 5th of March, a coat of oil paint was applied to the walls and ceilings. This diminished the escape of air only about five per cent. - On the 19th of March, four coats of oil paint had been put on the walls and ceilings, and three coats on the floor, to render them absolutely impervious to air. The escape of air was diminished only about ten per cent. On the 25th of March, all the window-sashes were carefully ex- amined, and all visible cracks at the joints, at the pulleys, cord fastenings, etc., carefully calked and puttied, and the entire room examined, and putty used freely wherever even a suspicion of a crack could be found. The result of all this was a diminution at the utmost of but twenty per cent in the escape of the air, or, in other words, in the entrance of air through the register. - Each experi- ment was continued during more than an hour. The air entered as freely at the end as at the beginning of the hour, when a volume of air, more than equal to the entire capacity of the room, had entered it through the register, with no visible outlet. Nevertheless, numerous microscopic outlets must have remained, especially around the window-sashes, through which the air escaped in this large quantity under the slight pressure applied. In order to render the room completely air-tight, therefore, it would be necessary to surround the windows, doors, mantel, and base-board entirely with a thick coating of some absolutely impermeable substance like tar or putty, or to paste over them large sheets of oil-cloth or paper. The room would then, and then only, be hermetically sealed, and the hot air from the furnace would cease to enter as soon as it reached its limit of compressibility under the pressure applied. VENTILATION OF GAS-BURNERS. Where an open fire-place is used, the foul-air exhaust is of ne- cessity at the bottom of the room. The supply must therefore of necessity be from the top downwards; for, as we have shown, if the air enter cold it would otherwise pass off through the fire-place open- ing without ventilating the room, and if it enter hot it would rise at once to the ceiling, wherever the inlet might be located. To serve for both, as for summer or winter use, as well as to avoid discharging directly upon the occupants, it must be at the ceiling. To prevent contamination of this air by the gas-burners, it is necessary that the products of combustion should be removed at once upon their gener- ation at the level of the burners, by ventilating ducts connected with each burner. - It is urged in objection to this, that the appearance of the ventilating ducts would be unsightly, and that no one would con- The Open Fire-Place. "~ 189 sent to have so clumsy a contrivance in his house. But the space occupied by the ventilating flues need be no greater than that ordi- narily taken up in the designs of gas-fixtures by meaningless scrolls and hollow casings applied solely for the purpose of increasing the apparent weight and size of the pipe and improving its contour. Bon Haine d 140 The Open Kire-Place. Figs. 149 to 157 represent ventilating chandeliers designed by the writer. The first two are for the Adams Nervine Hospital, now be- ing built by him at Jamaica Plain. Fig. 149 is for the dining-room, having eight globes surrounding a central reflector. -A section of this chandelier is given in Fig. 151. A bell is formed over the central burner, from which ascends the main ven- tilating flue enclosing the gas supply pipe. Another bell encircles this, and carries off the gas products from the eight globe burners. - Eight branch flues, one over each burner, connect this bell with the main ventilating flue. The branch flues are double, as protection against heat. The diameter of the inner branch flues is three centi- meters each, the outer cov- erings are four centimeters, that of the main flue eight centimeters. _ It is important that the flues should be just large enough to carry off the products of gas-combustion, and no more: otherwise the pure warm air of the room will be carried off with it and wasted. The lower rim of each bell is provided with a small gutter to catch the return wa- ter of condensation. Figures 150 and 152 give the parlor chandelier, where each bell is separate from the rest. In this six burners are used. The flues are of the same size as in the dining- . room chandelier. Both of these designs are kept very simple, in accordance with the instructions of the building-committee. Fig. 153 gives a somewhat more elaborate design for a small chandelier with two burners and a reflector. This is shown in section in Fig. 154. Fig. 155 gives the bell in detail with the condensation gutter. Figs. 156 and 157 give a view and section of a hall pendant. These designs are intended to be executed in brass, fire-gilt. The bells are to have an inner lining of sheet-iron, with an air-space between it and the brass-work, for the free passage of cool air, to prevent the brass-work 1 51 The Open FKire-Place. 141 from becoming discolored by heat. Or the bells may be made of annealed glass. 153 Figs. 158 and 159 represent an old form of ventilating burner, 1142 The Open Fire-Place. invented by Faraday in 1840, applying the descending draught and the argand burner with chimney and globe. - The 'glass-holder is made to carry a second chim- ney larger than the first, and closed at the top with a double cover of mica. The air to supply the burner en- ters below the flame, through the two trian- gular spaces of the holder shown in Fig. 159, feeds the flame as it rises in the inside chimney, and then passes down between the two chimneys, and escapes through the exhaust flue attached to the bottom of the outer chimney and holder, as shown by the arrows. The usual form of globe may be used over the whole, or a special form of globe constructed for the purpose, with the top closed, may be adopted as in the fig- ure. If the exhaust tube connects with a cold flue, it is neces- sary to heat the as cending part in order to produce an initial draught. Fig. 160 rep- resents the same de- vice under a somewhat modified form. The fresh air has free ac- cess to the inner chim- ney from below, and returns after support- ing the combustion through four branches uniting into one exhaust tube, connected with the space between the two chimneys. The plan of these four branch exhaust-tubes is given in Fig. 161, and the plan of the main exhaust-tube below, with the envelope surrounding it for ornament, is given in Fig. 162. I} [B - Ly J (g. _E ( -b Lt o 11 The Open Kire-Place. 143 This system has been applied in France to the foot-lights of theatres. _ It has the advantage of lessening the chances of fire catch- ing the dresses of the actors, as well as of maintaining the purity of the air of the stage, -a consideration of peculiar importance for actors and singers, the products of gas-combustion being particularly injurious to the throat and lungs. Another form of ventilating gas-burner, now much used in Eng- land, is shown in Fig. 168. The air enters below the globe, and passgs out above and also at the ceiling. This exhaust at the ceiling should be closed for the reasons already given, only the lower opening being used. Fig. 164 gives an arrangement for supplying fresh air to the room in addition to the offices performed by the fixture represented 164 165 166 167 by Fig. 163. Figs. 165, 166, and 167 give various forms of the same device. In London at the present time ventilating chandeliers are used very largely in public buildings. These were originally made in the form of a vast bell or hood, covering the entire chandelier or crown of lights. But by this arrangement a strong shadow was cast on the ceiling by the cover. The inconvenience was remedied by using mica slate, instead of opaque material, in the construction of the bell, the sheets of mica being supported in an open-work me- tallic frame. f For the single burners of the Adams Hospital, the writer has had constructed a form of ventilator shown in Fig. 168. A little bell is placed over the burner, and connected by means of a small tube, about five centimeters in diameter, with a larger flue, ten centimeters in diameter, descending to the floor. The large flue is provided with a damper near the floor, by means of which the ventilation produced by the heat of the burner may be controlled. The bell and small pipe are double, to prevent injury by heat. 144 The Open Kire-Place. Another form, represented in Fig. 169, he has designed for and used in a private dwelling-house, now nearly completed, on Dart- mouth Street, Boston. In this, a glass globe is used over the burner, and the hood is brought down to the globe, and may be bent down so as to come in contact with it, or it may be slightly raised so as to leave a very small space above the globe for the admission of air. The effect of this arrangement is quite pleasing. The surface of the globe may be ground, cut, or colored to represent the petals of a hanging flower, the ventilating tube being the stem. The gas in this case is lighted by electricity. _ Still another and simpler form is given in Fig. 170. This he adopted to ventilate a number of bath t/ sy 170 17] and toilet rooms, in a house built in Salem in 1879. It consists of a square glass box, Fig. 171, connected with the main ventilating flue in each room to be ventilated, and holding the burner. The supply of air in this case comes entirely from the lower opening. To avoid flickering, the box must be brought forward in such a manner that the current of air passes by without striking the flame. «The existence of sulphur compounds in burning gas is to be regretted as a nearly unavoidable evil; the only remedy seems to be the discharge of the products of combustion through chimneys or flues." (Lincoln.) According to E. S. Wood, "The sulphurous and sulphuric acids which are produced in burning may injure delicate structures, The Open Fire-Place. 145 such as books, gilding, silks, etc., that may be exposed to the air of a room in which gas is burned. Where large quantities of impure gas are burned, it causes a rapid destruction of textile fabrics, with a very acid condition of them. This was especially noticed in the large public libraries of London, many years ago; the covers of many of the books in the Athenzsum Club-house, the College of Surgeons, and elsewhere, becoming destroyed by the sulphuric acid from the burning gas. The amount of this acid was so great that it could be easily tasted by applying the exposed portions of the books to the tongue." It is well known that the products of combustion of gas are highly injurious, and sometimes fatal, to flowers and plants. These rapidly fade in crowded ball-rooms, and plants growing in our houses for ornament become sickly and feeble where they are not protected from the corrosive influence of the acid gases. « Nearly all of the sulphur is converted into sulphuric acid, which is a vapor readily condensed on the walls and other objects contained in a room. Gas not unfrequently contains 30 grains of sulphur per 100 cubic feet, which in burning gives rise to 90 grains of sulphuric acid; and this is the amount which would be produced by five four- foot burners during five hours." (Lincoln.) But besides carbonic and sulphuric acid gases, we have the dreaded carbonic oxide gas, which escapes into the room in considerable quan- tities (Parkes) whenever gas is partly burnt. This often happens with the varying pressure in the mains. The Faraday Gas-Ventilator (Figs. 158-161) is said to be open to the objection that the draught is liable to be irregular and the chim- ney to become blackened with smoke. Though with careful construc- tion and management both of these objections might be obviated, yet where the chance of this is great, other forms should be adopted. For the footlights of theatres a ventilator constructed as in Figs. 172 to 176 might be practicable. In this the footlight-screen and ventilator are combined. Fig. 172 gives a side view of the device, and Fig. 178 a vertical section, showing in both cases a section of the large horizontal ventilating flue connecting the several branch ventilators together and passing along at the foot of the lights, partially screen- Figs. 172-176. _ ing them from the audience. f Fig. 174 gives a view as seen from the stage, and Fig. 175 as seen from the auditorium. In both cases a side view of the main flue is given. A horizontal section is shown in Fig. 176. The main flue should, of course, be large enough to carry off the products of com- bustion from the entire circuit of lights. Each branch-ventilator should be quite small, - only enough, and no more than enough, to 10 146 The Open Fire-Place. serve for its own burner. A gasjet burning in the perpendicular portion of the main flue would create sufficient initiatory draught therein, and should be lighted with or before the footlights. The fatigue experienced at and after a late evening party is largely due to the impurity of the air of the ballroom. A dozen unventi- lated gas-burners exhaust the atmosphere as much as would forty or fifty guests. - The result is general discomfort and often evident per- manent injury to the health. Were the host aware of the extent to which the enjoyment of his entertainment -not to say the health of his guests -is impaired by these causes, which a fractional part of the cost of the feast could have removed, he would have provided pure air for the lungs of his friends, even if to do so it had been necessary for him to buy simpler food for their stomachs and reduce his band of fiddlers. The body is covered with little vent-tubes, many hun- dreds in every square inch, called perspiration-tubes, for the escape of vapor and fatty matter from the skin. This yapor arises constantly from all parts of the body, carrying with it the decayed organic matter thrown off in large quantities every day from the pores, and mingles with the breath, itself loaded with the impurities which it is its very office to remove from the blood. What if, instead of com- pelling our guests to feed their lungs upon these exhalations from the skin and nostrils of their friends, both healthy antl diseased, while they were allowed fresh viands for eating, we should reverse the treat- ment and compel them to eat in rotation one and the same dish, each devouring the morsels that another had masticated and returned again for the enjoyment of the rest! The idea is to us disgusting. But we need to be disgusted to induce us to improve our condition, and the idea would hardly appear more revolting to us than that of consuming the fcetid breath of our neighbors, had not habit rendered us peculiarly callous to the latter. Yet how delicate the structure of our lungs, and how careful should be our treatment of them! The extent of the respiratory surface in the lungs of an average adult is calculated by Lieberkiihn * at fourteen hundred square feet, and the number of air-cells of which it is composed is estimated by some at- six hundred millions. Through this wonderfully complex struct- ure the air of our crowded ball-rooms is pumped twenty times a min- ute, loaded with its dust and impurities, although it is here that the blood should be agrated for purification ! " There are," says Leeds, «on an average, about seventy-two pulsations of the heart every minute, and two ounces of blood are passed through the lungs at each pulsation, or from sixty-five to seventy gallons every hour, and from forty to sixty barrels per day. . . . We thus see the very large amounts of blood and air that circulate through the lungs, and can easily imagine of how much greater importance the proper supply of air is to the maintenance of good health than the supply of food, be- cause, while we eat less than two pounds daily, we breathe fifteen 'times that amount, or about thirty pounds." Fifty barrels of blood 1 Simon's Chemistry of Man. Philadelphia, 1846. The Open Fire-Place. 147 are forced through the hundreds of millions of air-cells of the lunes for the purpose of obtaining the purification of fresh air. Yet we giie it foul. An atmosphere forty miles in height has been provided by Nature, to ensure us an ample supply for this blood purification, and at the same time we have been provided with a breathing ap- paratus evidently designed to prevent inhalation of the same breath twice. Yet we shut our friends up for entertainment in boxes so ar- ranged that it is impossible for them to obtain a single breath of air that has not been breathed over and over again, perhaps a hundred times and by a hundred different persons. The impurities of the blood have then to be carried back again from the lungs to all parts of the system, and diseases of all forms follow. When the delicate air-cells. become choked, consumption begins. - Unfortunately we do not always observe in crowded rooms the gradual deterioration of the atmosphere, because the senses become benumbed and accustomed -to it; but enter suddenly from the outer air, and the foulness appears at once. . In the room described as allowing two cubic meters of air to pass by way of invisible cracks, there were five windows having north, south, and west exposure, and two doors, to say nothing of a fire- place and three other openings for gas-ventilation, ete. When the experiments were made, all the furnace registers throughout the house were shut excepting the one in this room, so that the maximum of hot-air pressure might be obtained at this point. The amount of air forced through the chamber was, nevertheless, only 1.5 cubic meters per minute. Were the number of openings reduced one-half, leaving a number more usually found in rooms of the size of this, the ventilation under the same pressure would have been 0.75 cubic meter, - hardly sufficient for one person. Had there been but two openings, say one window and one door, a condition not infre- quent, we should have had only about 0.4 meter of fresh air per min- ute, and the air of the room would very soon become foul, even with- out the consumption of gas and under the pressure of the hot-air column. Were the pressure removed the air of the room would have been nearly stagnant. In heating and ventilating a room, provision should be made for the maximum number of persons it is likely at any time to contain, and for each burner contained in it, supposing all to be in use. A parlor, for instance, in which an entertainment for fifty guests is provided, and ten unventilated gas-burners, are used, should have foul-air exhaust openings and fresh-air supply sufficient to change the air at the rate of one hundred cubic meters a minute, or, if the gas-burners are ventilated, at the rate of fifty cubic meters per min- ute, assuming that the room is connected with others equally filled with guests and burners. Supposing we allow the air to travel | through the openings at the rate of one hundred meters a minute, these openings, both exhaust and supply, should each be at least a meter square in the aggregate, and the arrangements for changing the air should be such that the air is actually and not merely 148 The Open Fire-Place. apparently changed at the rate established, and this without extraor- dinary expense or inconvenience. - There are few rooms to be found with even an approximation to such ventilation. It is nevertheless possible, and the manner in which it has been accomplished by the writer will next be described. THE FURNACE VENTILATING FIRE-PLACE. Fig. 179 gives a plan of the parlor floor of the writer's house now being built in Boston after his drawings and specifications. F ig. 181 represents a portion of the fire-place side of the front parlor, a room about seven meters square and four meters high, large enough to seat twenty-five guests comfortably. In it there are ten gas-burners. These were unwillingly left unventilated, because of associations attaching to the chandeliers long used by the family. Provision has therefore been made for changing the air on special occasions at the rate of sixty-five cubic meters per minute through exhaust openings placed both at the ceiling and at the floor. The use of the unventi- lated gas-burners is a serious blemish in the system of ventilation employed. But as this unfortunately is a condition at present usu- ally encountered by the sanitarian, who would find few persons willing to alter their fixtures for the sake of pure air, it is important to know the best way to meet it. f The plan of the fire-place in this room is shown in Fig. 182. The back is constructed of a slab of soapstone, faced on the room side with ornamental unglazed tiles. The sides are built of fire-brick, faced with glazed tiles, which reflect the light and heat of the flames and add to the effect of the fire. Behind the back and sides of the fire-place is a fresh-air space into which pure air is admitted directly from the outside through a register opening from the open vestibule as shown in Figs. 178 and 183, the latter being the front elevation of the house. The register is placed a meter up from the floor of the vestibule, which is tiled up to the ceiling and open to the outer air, the front door being further in. The purity of the fresh air at all times is thus ensured. Its supply is regulated by a simple valve near the register, operated from the parlor by a cord at the right-hand side of the chimney-breast. The valve is nothing more than a plate of g-inch iron, which is lifted when the cord is pulled from within and opens the register, closing it again wholly or partially when the cord is released. The fresh air is first moderately warmed by coming in contact with the heated back and sides of the fire-place, and then rises into a large fresh-air chamber above the mantel and behind the chimney- breast, represented in section in Figs. 184 and 185. Here it strikes the hot walls of an enlargement of the smoke-flue, similar in pur- pose to that described by Peclet (Fig. 125), though different in size, torm, and principle of construction. After having been further warmed by contact with this furnace-attachment or heat-distributor in the smoke-flue, it enters the room through an ornamental cut-brass 149 Fire-Place. The Open R (e P" ~ ag] LZixts e apa 4 r & cmfi _- 5}.ka p- F & wp. - 3 $4 §K Exhars ”fl MM r/Mm [B/A cher $] .l,m lefiflx ~ thea ® 427? A7 ~'. 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Aowrrrg altro ox Pe mliltaz wp dire bed l A f % tired $ > E [ Beomcon; -u KJTCHEN Zinc Sroke Yurt L two, Noh , Smokt P tut 2A too AP O Zrests A erlharmtb rge Z x4, \A From Tn » +4 Tes Aeleher ees? \ C § 7707 FouTAirZ *ha beret: la for ard P¥ace Tire ir ce ~/4 LZ JSmo/#c Flue 2"" *Yoor Pooiter } Tac Masemeit's .~\\$\.\\:\\§QV§~ Lanndry NY}? bur“ \\.\§..- Foci ti Smotc Rasemert P Jmote tue 14 ktloor Zresh Air (hermter Snoke Fiue Yoor bas fill Zlue 2"Z/oor Figs. 177-180. 150 I The Open Kire-Place. register in the chimney-breast, near the ceiling (Fig. 181), or it may be allowed to pass into the second-story room above, through a valve in the ceiling of the fresh-air chamber, shown at the top of Fig. 184 operated by a cord and tassel at the left-hand side of the Chibmneyi breast. - The furnace or distributor is in this case made of carefully Fig: 181. baked terra-cotta, especially prepared with a view to resisting the strongest heat and the most sudden changes of temperature without cracking. As a test, before making one of these radiators, the writer had a piece of terra-cotta, of the kind to be used, heated to different degrees of heat, including red-heat. Cold water dashed upon the sample raised to these temperatures produced no apparent injurious The Open: Fire-Place. 151 effect. On the other hand, if the clay is not of the proper kind and properly baked, a strong flame may quickly crack it when it is sur- rounded with cold air. Fig. 186 gives this distributor in perspective, somewhat modified in form, to show another way of arranging the dampers. The name "distributor" is given it, in preference to "radiator," as expressing more accurately its office: the heat is not _ obtained from it by radiation, except in a slight degree, but by con- vection, and "convector" would therefore be a more appropriate term. - But any hot flue would in this sense be a heat "convector" as well as this. Its most characteristic function is to break up and spread out the current of smoke, and distribute its heat over a large surface, that it may be more readily taken up by the fresh air brought in contact therewith. The movement of the smoke and of the fresh air are clearly repre- sented in the sections by arrows. By referring to Fig. 144 of the soapstone furnace, it will be seen that the general principle of cireu- lation is somewhat similar in the two devices. The column of smoke is subdivided and brought efficiently in contact with a large heating- Ausa fo geass seee e & ey) & | | oan aft g- -< &, = \\\\\_\\ N\\\\—J x [ros r—zm a |/ § | Z] #4 Fig. 182. surface, without encountering sufficient resistance dangerously to obstruct its passage. The fresh air strikes almost every part of the heating-surface, without in its turn encountering serious resistance. By.referring again to the Chilson furnace (Fig. 134), we see how the smoke is distributed equally among the six upright flues by a con- traction of these flues at the top. To avoid the danger of clogging with soot, as well as the loss of heating-surface that would be involved by a diminution of the flues, the principle of an interior, instead of an exterior cone, in the form of a movable cone-shaped damper, has been adopted, so placed in each flue that, while it diminishes the : opening, it leaves the heating-surface undiminished. By this means, on the one hand, clogging is avoided, and cleaning facilitated, and on the other a greater heating-surface is presented to the rising fresh air, at less cost and in a more effective manner. - The retreating sur- faces of the cone, which appear rather to shun than to» court the contact of the air, are avoided. Parallel surfaces are substituted, and these may be perpendicular, or they may be placed at an inclina- tion, as in Fig. 184, and so arranged diagonally over each other (as in Fig. 185) that the fresh air is forced to embrace every part. To The Open Fire-Place. 152 1 87. Fig: The Open Fire-Place. ~" ascertain if this contact took place actually, and not merely theoret- ically, an opening in the fresh-air chamber enclosing the heater was made in such a manner that the movement of the current of air could be seen by the aid of a little smoke mixed with it. The air was found to circulate about the pipes exactly as expected, and as indi- cated by the arrows. The connect- ing pipes should never be placed horizontally unless the draught in the chimney is powerful, but either at an inclination or perpen- dicularly, as in Fig. 187, because in these positions very little ob- struction is offered to the passage of the smoke. The dampers should always be placed as far from the throat of the fire-place as possible, in order to give the smoke oppor- tunity to rise as far as possible and fill the pipes before meeting A with the least obstruction. Fig. 186. If these precautions be observed, such a distributor may be used in the same flue at each story of a building of any number of stories, without destroying the draught, for the slight obstruction occasioned by each distributor is more than offset by the improvement of the draught made by each additional story added in the height of the chimney. In the chimney of the fire-place in question only two distributors were required. These appear to have no injurious effect whatever - upon the draught, although flat dampers are used in them instead of the cone-shaped ones recommended and shown in the drawings. The fresh warm air having entered the room as described, at the ceiling, descends as it cools, and gives place to that which follows, until it reaches the fireplace opening below, through which it finally escapes. In this way, for every-day use, the draught of the fire-place is supplied entirely with fresh air previously warmed against the smoke-flue, and the amount of air changed is, on these occasions, dependent upon the size of the smoke-flue, the inlet regis- ters being as large as desired. For special occasions, however, when the room is full, and a much greater change of air is needed, the ventilators are caused to act in a manner quite different. The cold- air supply register at the back of the fire-place is closed. The damp-. er at the top of the fresh-air chamber (Fig. 184, top) is opened, and the warm-air supply register at the top of the room becomes a foul- air exhaust flue to assist the fire-place smoke-flue in carrying off the extra quantity of heat and foul air generated by the gas-lights and 154 The Open Fire-Place. guests, to the corresponding chambers above. Thence it enters a large exhaust-flue provided for it at the top of the house and is removed. Fig. 187 shows the chimney-stack with this exhaust-flue at the top. This system may be adopted always in summer. Where the rooms above are, as is customary, used for cloak-rooms ppp S ~ SSS was | | Fig. 185. Fig. 184. or dressing-rooms during an entertainment, the open fire-places in them may be made to assist in the ventilation of the occupied room below as follows: The registers in the chimney-breasts at the tops of these rooms are left open. That part of the foul air which does The Open Fire-Place. 155 not escape through the damper at the top of the air-chamber con- taining the distributor enters the room through these registers, and is carried off through the open fire-places, just as does the fresh air in the room below. At the close of the entertainment these rooms - may be thoroughly aired by opening the windows. Such use of the upper rooms is, of course, not to be recommended ; but where for the sake of economy the exhaust-flue at the top of the house is omitted, recourse may be had to this method. The removal of the foul air being thus provided for, the fresh air is supplied on festal occasions as follows: Open fires on these occasions in the occupied rooms are not often used. Their heat would be too unevenly distrib- uted, and would prove insupportable to those nearest them. More- over but a comparatively small amount of artificial heat is required. Each guest is an open fire-place to the rest, generating about as much heat as an ordinary candle. Each gas-burner forms another open fire, and radiates its heat in every direction. All that is neces- 'sary is to take the chill off of the large volume of fresh air intro- duced, so that, with ample ventilation, no unpleasant draughts are felt. For this purpose a small furnace, with a very large fresh- air box, is placed in the basement. It stands in this case under the - parlor, and the fresh air is taken directly from the open vestibule through large cut brass registers, similar to that already described for the open fire-place. Thin cut brass is used in preference to the ordinary enamelled iron, because it does not show the dust as this does. A volume of air as large as is required and slightly warmed is thus distributed over the ground floor occupied by the guests. The doors of the entertainment rooms are usually left open so that if desired the supply of fresh air comes from the entire house (excepting those rooms which receive and serve as passages for the foul air and are therefore closed off), instead of from a single register, though the lat- ter should be large enough to do the work for each room alone. Should then the weather be moderate, the windows in the upper stories may be opened wide, or, if it be cold, partially opened, and the general temperature of the house lowered as the heat below increases, or regulated at pleasure. No window in the entertainment-rooms need ever be raised as is now customary generally at supper-time, much to the annoyance and distress of many of the guests. What now is the motive power, which, when the fire-place is not in use, produces in the exhaust-flues a draught of the req)uired veloc- ity - powerful, reliable, steady and yet easily controlled ? At one end of the house this motive power is furnished by the fur- nace smoke-flue when a furnace is used, or by a gasjet in the air- chamber when it is not; at the other end, by the range smoke-flue, which, if desirable, may be aided by a gasjet in the - fresh-air chamber. f In Figs. 184 and 187, the sheet-iron furnace-flue will be seen at the right of the distributor. The iron is one millimeter thick and extends up to the ceiling of the third story. The flue at this point becomes an ordinary eight-inch by twelve-inch (20 by 30 em.) brick 156 © _- The Open Fire-Place. flue. The parlor fire-place flue and distributors are also constructed of heavy sheet-iron pipe 1 mm. thick and 25 em. (10 inches) in diam- eter, but the iron ascends only to the ceiling of the third story, where, like the furnace-flue, it enters a brick flue (in this case 30 em. square). No iron flue should ever run to the top of a chimney, for two reasons; first, because of the condensation of the water of combus- tion, which requires an absorbent material, like brickwork, to take it up before it falls back into the pipe to rust it and make a disagree- able dripping sound ; and, second, because of the unnecessary expense of so doing. This iron furnace-flue, coming in close contact with the fire-place flue, heats it to such an extent that a powerful ventilating draught is maintained in. the latter at all times. The furnace-flue also heats the air in the fresh-air chamber, and produces another powerful venti- lating draught through the upper register. The velocity at this point may also be increased almost without limit by a lighted gas-jet placed just under the damper opening from the top of the air-chamber into the space above (Fig. 184, top, gas-jet represented by asterisk). This gas is lighted and extinguished in the writer's house by elec- trical apparatus, -the safest, most economical and most convenient method; but where electricity is not used, the gas may be lighted with a match or gas-torch, through the brass register at the top of the room. ¢ These two openings then -the register above and the fire-place smoke-flue below - are capable, combined, of carrying off the foul air of the parlor at the rate of sixty or seventy cubic meters a minute, without inconvenience to a single guest. By enlarging the registers and flues, any desired increase of ventilation might have been provided for at but slightly increased cost. Experiments made in the same air-chamber and under similar conditions on two distrib- utors of the same size, one made of terra-cotta and one of iron, showed the yield of heat per hour to be considerably greater for the iron than for the terra-cotta. - Nevertheless, the latter raised the air to as high a temperature as was desirable, and, in consideration of its greater durability, may in some cases be preferred to the latter. _ It is particularly to be recommended in the lower story, when other distributors are used in the same smoke-flue in the stories above. If terra-cotta be used on the first story, iron should be used on the second, and, if the first cost were not too great, copper would be the best material for the third, as being the best heat-conductor, and therefore best able to draw from the smoke the remainder of its heat. Copper also is better able to stand moisture than iron, but is sooner destroyed by great heat. All things considered, stout sheet-iron is much the best material for our purpose, since our object is generally to extract from the smoke the maximum amount of heat at the least cost and in the smallest space. The cost of manufacture in terra- cotta is greater than in iron when the number required is small, but less when it is large. ~ The form of the iron distributor is seen in Figs. 188 and 189. The Open Fire-Place. 157 The connecting-pipes are all perpendicular. Five of these pipes are 15 ecm. (six inches) in diameter, and stand 10 ecm. (four inches) apart from each other; a sixth is 25 cm. in diameter. But all the upright pipes might be as large as the largest (increasing the dampers in proportion), and the heating surface would be so much greater. It is found most economical to make the upper and lower horizontal pipes rectangular in section and the connecting-pipes circular. Round pipes are cheaper than square, but the upper and lower V H Ti 7 H Zurnace rreoke Fig. 188. Fig. 189. pipes are made square to simplify the connection and facilitate the riveting. The perpendicular pipes require no- clean-out holes when iron is used, because a smart rap on the pipe is sufficient to cause the caked soot to fall to the bottom. The upper horizontal pipe hasta round cleanout hole in the centre of the accessible side. The is covered with an ordinary tight-fitting sheet-iron cover. When these distributors are used in a smoke-flue, their size of course depends upon the amount of available space behind the chimney-breast. In general, no increase in the size of the breast beyond what is customary is necessary. In the lower stories where 158 . The Open Fire-Place. fire-places are most used, and where the distributor is most desirable, only a single smoke-flue is usually to be found behind the chimney- breast in addition to that of the fire-place in question, namely, the furnace-flue at one end of the house and the range-flue at the other. Nevertheless, on these stories chimney-breasts are usually boxed out to a width of two or more meters to give them an agreeable propor- tion, and to allow room for the mantelpiece and shelf, so that a space of one or two meters in width is generally utterly wasted. The dis- tributor is built to just occupy this waste space; though if more room is desired, its width can usually be increased without injury to the appearance of the room. The projection of the breast into the room is not increased over what is customary. _ In order to permit of ready access to, or of complete removal of, the distributor at any time without injury to the surroundings or to itself, an opening is left in the front or side of the chimney-breast sufficiently large to allow of its removal and replacement in a single piece; the masonry above being supported by a brick arch, corbel, iron beam (as shown in Fig. 189), or by' a heavy piece of flagging which may serve at the same time for the hearth of the fire-place above. The use of the flagging has the advantage of doing away with the need of the trimmer-arch and its header, and of leaving room for the safe passage of the venti- lating pipe of the gas-chandeliers, the thickness of the flagging requir- ing seldom to be as great as the depth of the joists. The joists, usually mortised into the header, may be hung with irons to the outer edge of the flagging, which may be strengthened if desired, where the span is great, by an iron beam. In consideration of this advan- tage of allowing safe passage for gas-ventilators, and of dispensing with the brick trimmer-arch, and of the saving of tiles, face-brick, or marble, where the smoothed surface of the flagging is allowed to serve as the hearth for the fire-place above, the use of flagging does not necessarily add to the expense of the building, provided the plans are carefully and understandingly drawn before the work is begun. These openings in the masonry of the chimney-breast are then covered by hinged panels, which may be made as ornamental as circumstances and the skill of the architect will allow. The backs of the panels should, of course, be tinned, with proper air-space behind the tinning to avoid injury from heat radiation. With these precautions this arrangement of the smoke-flue renders it as much safer than the ordinary flue, as a double flue is safer than a single one, and justifies lowering the rates of insurance on houses containing them. When the side instead of the front of the chimney-breast contains the door, its decoration becomes, of course, comparatively unimportant, merely a moulding being required to cover the joints of the hinged panel. But openings of the requisite size are rarely practicable at the side, for the reason that the projection of the chimney-breast is insufficient, the flues usually retreating into the main wall. Instead of the conical dampers shown in Fig. 188, when the draught is good, a simple sheet of iron of nearly the length and width of the horizontal pipe and containing a series of holes cut in it correspond- The Open FKirePlace. 159 ing to the flues below, may be placed over the openings of the up- right pipes to regulate the passage of the smoke. The position of the damper over the perpendicular flues regulates the amount of open- ing in each. In Fig. 181, the fire-place opening is shown closed with doors of soapstone decorated with incised carving. The writer has not, how- ever, tried these doors on account of the difficulty of eenstructing them. They form no necessary part of the apparatus, and are offered merely as suggestions. They are here divided into three panels ; the lower two slide to the right and left in slots shown in Fig. 182. The upper panel rises like a window-sash, and when open takes the position shown in Fig. 189. It is hung by chains running over pulleys and balanced by weights, after the principle of the « Lhomond *" blower shown in Figs. 60, 61, 62, 83, and others. The object of this arrangement of doors is twofold. It allows the fire either to be enclosed at night for safety by shutting all three doors, or it allows it to be increased in activity by opening the lower two doors and using the upper one after the manner of the " Lhomond " blower. These doors are designed to be made of soapstone in order to render them more air-tight than is possible with metal under great changes of temperature. - The edges are tongued and grooved to fit nicely into each other when closed. Elastic strips of thin brass might be fastened to the facings to increase the tightness by bearing against the soapstone doors, but it is not probable that the advantage thereby gained would justify the extra outlay, inasmuch as even with them a sufficient degree of tightness could not probably be attained to arrest combustion and keep the cinders alive over night. Were this possible these dampers would be of the greatest value. . As it is, their chief object is security against fire. In Fig. 190 we have the same device in another form. The panels are in this case made of mica-slate set in a sculptured soap- stone frame. The mica-slate becomes blackened by smoke in the course of time, but it may be readily cleaned or replaced by new. The effect of the fire behind them is very pleasing. The drawing is taken from the writer's dining-room, except that the soapstone blowers have not been constructed. Inasmuch as the dining-room fire-place is rarely used, the smoke-flue is left simple. - The lower part is, how- ever, made of terra-cotta drain-pipe, which passes through the air- chamber in a straight line to the floor of the room above, and then _ enters an ordinary brick flue. It thus forms a Galton flue. The free space in the chimney-breast by the side of this flue is occupied by an iron distributor like that shown in Figs. 188 and 189, connected with the smoke-flue of the kitchen range below. 'In the chamber above, the same flue passes through another similar iron distributor, so that a large enough proportion of the range heat is saved to heat and ventilate both rooms without injury to the draught. It may be sometimes convenient to draw the fresh air from the room itself instead of from the outside, when small fires are burned in the fire-place at irregular intervals and insufficient heat is gener- 160 The Open Fire-Plave. ated in the distributor to raise the temperature of the outer air to the required degree. But this should only be done when the fire-place draught is supplied from the warm-air flues of a furnace. Where no furnace is in use in the house the air taken across the distributor should always be drawn from the outside. It will otherwise come into the house unwarmed through chance cracks, and the result will be that exactly that amount of heat which it could otherwise have abstracted from the distributor will be lost. The hinged panel in the chimney-breast of Fig. 190 is decorated with an oil painting and protected on the back by tinning. The entire -m laries wooden front of the chimney-breast in this case can be made to take down, by removing the four large screws or bolts at the right and left corners of the mantel-shelf and under the brass warm-air registers at the top. On the right and left are two sideboards, in connection with one of which, the lower square pipe of the distrib- utor serves as a plate-warmer. Where two fire-places built over each other in the same stack are both likely to be used, but seldom at the same time, the same distributor may be connected with both of their smoke-flues in the manner shown in longitudinal section in Fig. 191. When one of the fires is in use, it is only necessary to close the damper in the throat of the other. But both fire-places may be used at once, because they have separate flues above the distributor. One of the flues may be the range-flue, and the Fig. 191 gives the distributor actually designed for the fire-place and range (though The Open Kire-Place. 161 not so constructed). Fig. 192 gives the transverse section of the same fire-place and chimney-breast. The soapstone blower is shown room VH L S S Ss Ss s A I a= P s W S sus Fig. 192. Ton nto amman h RRD 77 an +/ g Coes Fig::193. in this': section. Lig. 194 gives a horizontal section of the distributor and of the hinged and movable pan- els. The brick wall is vaulted be- hind the fresh-air space for the pres- ervation of the radiated heat. We see by the section (Fig. 189) war ene 9C. that the back of the hinged panel Fig. 194. . is furred out in such a manner as to bring the tin-work close up to the perpendicular pipes of the distributor, just above the lower hori- zontal pipe. 'The object of this is to direct the rising current of 11 162 The Open Fire-Place. fresh air against and between these upright pipes. . Half of the suc- cess of the apparatus depends upon the care taken in setting, so that the fresh air shall be forced to strike every part of the heating-sur- \ face. To prevent loss of heat by the radiation of the pipes upon each other, thin strips of sheet-iron should be placed between them. This greatly increases the heating-surface. By referring to the historical division of our subject, we shall see that the peculiarities and advantages of many of the ventilating fire- places and hot-air furnaces described have been brought together in a single apparatus. s The principle of the sloping jambs of Gauger and Rumford (Fig. 36) has been respected in the form of the fire-place itself. The fresh-air supply of Savot and Gauger at the back (Figs. 29, 30, and 34) is represented in the lower register behind the fire-place. The two-way valve (Fig. 38) may be used to regulate the admission of the fresh air from the outside, or from the room itself. The caliducts or meanders of Savot and Gauger (Fig. 37) are reproduced in a simpler form in the " distributor" pipes. 'The contracted throat of the fire- place, the bevelled back and its rounded upper edge, and the non- conducting, heat-radiating linings of Rumford are found in the form and material (soapstone and tile) of our fire-place; the " soufflet" of Lhomond (Fig. 60) is given in the soapstone blower. The mov- able grate of Bronzac (Figs. 62 and 63) is or may be retained. For the inverted smoke-flue of Desarnod (Fig. 65) and Montalembert (Fig. 66), of Douglas Galton (Figs. 67 and 68), of Descroizilles (Fig. 69), of Peclet (Figs. 70, 71, and 72), we have substituted the simple conical damper in the upright flues, and obtained results equally good with- out danger of smoke or clogging. The advantages of the Taylor fire-place (Fig. 73) are retained in the use of terra-cotta, while its disadvantages are avoided by placing it where it can easily be reached for cleaning or repair. - The further improvements of Leras (Fig. 75), Fondet (Figs. 84 and 85), Cordier (Figs. 86 and 87), and others, in the use of a direct smoke-flue with circulating fresh-air cur- rent, have been adopted in the upright pipes and meandering air- passage, and in the manner in which the fresh air is brought in contact with the distributor by the sides of the air-chamber and the tin linings. The principle shown in Figs. 80, 81, 82, and in the fire-places of Joly and Galton (Figs. 100, 101, and 103), of the increase of heating-surface by the use of iron plates intercepting or con- ducting radiant heat, has been followed in the use of the iron sheets placed between the upright radiating pipes. The principle of plac- ing the heating-surface above the mantel, and of increasing it by extending the smoke-flue at this point (Fig. 125), is developed and carried to its utmost limits in the form and duplication of the dis- tributor. The principle explained in connection with Fig. 129, by which all the heat of the smoke may be obtained without destroying the draught, is employed to advantage. Finally, the extended heating- surface of a basement furnace is emulated. The simplicity of the Mac- Gregor or Magee drum furnace (Fig. 132), the durability and tightness The Open Fire-Place. 163 of the soapstone (Fig. 144) and terra-cotta furnaces (Fig. 143), the increased heating surface obtained by the use of separate pipes (Figs. 1853, 134, 140, 141, and 142), are sought. The distribution of the smoke, is accomplished with the minimum of friction and cost, and withal, the artistic treatment of the fire-place and mantel is unob- structed. Any one of the ventilating fire- places described may be used in connection with it, and, by the combination, the maximum of ef- fect may be reached in the mini- mum of space. Figs. 195-199 give this combi- nation with the Fire-Place Heater. The form of the distributor as here used is objectionable on ac- count of the reversed draught, although the particular chimney in which this was used had a powerful draught and never smoked. With an ordinary draught, however, it might be troublesome, and is not to be Fig. 195. Figs. 196, 197. Figs. 198, 199. recommended. The lower two elbows are made to slip off for the purpose of cleaning out the pipes when necessary, but their removal will probably be attended with difficulty as soon as they become a 164 The Open Kire-Place. little rusty. A damper is placed at the top of the first and third upright pipes where shown in the cuts, to direct the smoke through more or less of the pipe. Fig. 200 gives this kind of distributor in a slightly more compact form, but open to the same, if not greater objections. Fig. 203 gives the effect of the combination with the Jackson fire-place in the library of a house on Marl- boro' Street, built by the writer in 1879... The heat of the fresh air rising from this fire-place was so great Fig. 200. _ as to affect the carving on the frieze of the black-wal- nut mantel, and, to provide against its destruction, he was obliged to § Fig. 201. Fig. 202. design the cut brass hood shown in Figs. 201 and 202, to deflect the current of hot air from the woodwork. The plate is extensible. Figs. 204-207 represent the form of distributor designed for the Adams Nervine Hospital. In this case the openings for cleaning out and for removing the distributor were made in the side instead of the front of the chimney-breast. Fig. 208 gives a perspective view of the writer's dining-room fire- place above described, showing the heater behind the hinged panel. Just over the mantel-shelf is the perforated panel for the admission to the air-chamber of the air of the room when the outer fresh-air register is closed. The illuminated frieze over the side-boards, is of stained glass lighted by windows behind. Fig. 209 represents a hall chimney-piece in the house on Marlboro' Street, already referred to, showing another manner of decorating the hinged panels, fresh-air registers, ventilating gas-brackets, and chandeliers. When terra-cotta is used for the distributor, it may be cast in as 165 Fig.: 203: The Open FKire-Place. e rrrmmrmarmrnno. >; :>, LIL (”IQ sks uu mere t 7/ vane» 0 WLE Coene errno ta oor rato W supp» c A ////////////% IV 205. Fig 204. 1g F 166 The Open Fire-Place. _ « many pieces as is convenient for the baking (the pieces being made to couple together like see- tions of drain-pipe), and are put up with weak lime mor- tar in such a manner that they may be taken apart at any time, if desired, with- out breaking the pipe. Ce- ment or plaster of Paris would not allow of this. A good form for the appara- tus is shown in Figs. 210 and 211, where the pieces are made like common drain- pipe, except that the arms of the Y and 'I joints are shorter, in order to bring the transverse pipes sufficiently near together. The pipes should be so large that either one alone would suffice to carry OOO kos sss Figs. 206, 207. off the smoke were the rest closed. Clean-out holes are made by using a T joint at the centre of each transverse pipe, with the open- ing turned toward the room. When in use these pipes are closed with earthenware covers held in place with just enough lime mortar to keep them in and the air out. 'They may then be easily removed, and the flues cleaned with an ordinary chimney brush or seraper. ¥ > The Open KirePlace. 167 In order to prevent the loss of heat by absorption in the brick- work, and also to direct the fresh air upon the pipes, the distributor | Wfi 18 451? I4 [aalh: (fl ‘, : ‘r-,a sz ==-- -- | ~ g- S- s= § | || 1 Y should be encased by the manufacturer in a tin box, blackened on the inside with lamp or ivory black, and with an opening below for Fig. 211, the admission of the cold air, and another above for the emission of the warm, otherwise the most careful supervision will hardly suffice to ensure correct setting-by an ordinary mason. As before said, if 168 The Open FKire-Place. a furnace be used, it need only be a small one, say a portable furnace of the smallest size, with a large cold-air box, to heat the hall or temper the fresh-air supply on festal occasions, when open fires are inadmissible. A much more convenient heater in this case would be steam-pipes connecting with a central boiler, under the control of a special company or of the public, like gas and water-pipes, because the amount of heat required would be comparatively small, only that actually used would have to be paid for, and a great first cost, and the care of running a basement furnace at irregular intervals, would be dispensed with. Where one has the audacity to diverge so far from the beaten track as to omit the panelled or plastered front of the chimney- breast altogether, the convector may be enjoyed also as a radiator, and, in the attempt to treat it decoratively, a new field is opened for the pencil of the artist. Its surface may be legitimately ornamented at the junctions of the pipes by brass bands and fillets, and the Fig. 212. clean-out caps, may be treated as bosses and rosettes. By placing strips of sheet-iron between the upright pipes, and bending the strips on the front edges to the right and left, the fresh air may be made to circulate completely around the pipes before it enters the room. These strips, when heated through, become themselves radiators, and - greatly add to the heating power of the device. This form of radi- ator was tried in the room referred to in the first chapter as ineffect- ually warmed by an ordinary open fire-place. As there described, three kilograms of wood burned therein were able to raise its tem- perature but a single degree Centigrade. After the introduction of The Open Kire-Place. 169 the radiator, the room, standing at 40° (F.) at the start, was heated in sixty minutes to 105° (F.), or about a degree for every minute during which the wood was burned. It might have been raised still higher by burning more wood. - Contrary to what might be expected, the direct radiation of the elevated pipes upon the heads of the occupants causes no discomfort. Nevertheless, ornamental screens rising above the mantel-shelf may be used to deflect the rays from the heads of those standing nearest the fire and from the clock or delicate mantel ornaments. Figs. 212 and 213 are intended to sug- gest methods of decorating the open radiator. In the former the Fig. 213. triangular form of the upper horizontal pipe by which the smoke of the various upright pipes is collected and directed into the single flue above is exposed as part of the design. The lower end of the flue above is also shown at the top of the triangle. The slip-joint for the removal of the radiator is formed at this point. In the latter design the perforated panel containing the large arch and the cen- tral screen must be unscrewed before the radiator can be removed. Fig. 214 gives a section through this fire-place in order to show the manner in which the rays of heat from the fire and the radiator above distribute themselves throughout the room. The head of a person standing near the mantel is protected by the screen from the hottest rays of the radiator, which can only be felt at this point by raising the hand above the head. Persons standing at the middle and further end of the room are warmed all over equally by the rays from the fire and radiator both, and experience no greater warmth at the head than at the feet. Moreover, the rays are reflected from the opposite walls back again so as to strike the backs of all three when looking toward the fire. 170 The Open Fire-Place. The arrows show the actual movement of the fresh air coming from the distributor chamber, giving the occupants in every part of the room a continual supply of pure, and only pure, air. - The breath from the nostrils follows the general movement, so that no portion of s e d fi” ¥ l'ji a as *% ags \’ fe mal min Ta gc Tes =' Yy ~ l. c [I 2 z l Eis a o! eens ho an fim ap eee mie han huss Tne aml ros cone | e gel (ann ing Tamm cn i the te . a | op l ced esr wae Rig % l’ - S l l l fest ~ z/ Tf TS % SMe Cage fk Jf c:. oA | ~~ -- - #2" a r R éé/é /3§% - N # &: - 2 w 42>: Z é'// vee *~*, 2:2?“ TZ w ~* 4/1324 C ¢fi Ter . [é é es \\Z:/ 1s 22 <. 4s. #25 - % Z T= fig ae é é 22 ] 4 Z <" e-- =_ é éz'a <1 4 Fig. 214 the air is ever twice in- haled. Fig. 215 gives a plan of this radiator show- ing the horizontal pipes and the intervening strips of sheet-iron in section. The bent ends of the strips a ~ 4 \\ * 7" #2 x32 AP *- for deflecting the currents N * # # Xe s* €} e of air upon the front sur- * As' % faces of the pipes are ig. § also shown. - The clean- out caps in both these designs are ornamented with carving and gold. In 213 they follow the curve of the large arch. The screens in both are circular in form and rise from the centre of the back- board of the mantel. In 213 it echoes the large arch above, and the outer edge bends slightly forward, as shown in section in 214, to allow more room for the heat rays to pass from the pipes. Solar radiation is represented symbolically in the painting of the frieze above the radiator. (In Fig. 216 a screen of a different form, extend- ing across the entire front of the radiator, is given. Here again the genial rays of the sun are conventionally represented extending over the entire upper part of the chimney-breast, the sun himself rising at the centre of the arch. A still greater heating effect is obtained by throwing the radiator entirely out into the room as in Fig. 217. 171 The Open FKireePlace. HT AHD Fig. 216. 7 & c~ «Jw/J; zuh/ s € Ton to Wile otk /,//,//./fl//. a s: 7 AJ hss 1 x wah k § tag~ {\ G! A\ ¢ LIT at ges- macs _s Fig: 217. 172 The Open Fire-Place. But the difficulty of the artistic handling is proportionally increased and the rough sketch is presented merely as a suggestion for devel- opment under more careful study or a more skilful hand. 'The screen here surrounds the entire base of the radiator, and the upright flues unite at the top in a single flue which may enter a second radiator with or without a second fire-place directly above it in the next story. - The plan of this radiator is given in Fig. 218, and the move- ment of the fresh air and of the heat-rays is clearly indicated by arrows and dotted lines. In all but one of the above designs, though the majority of the chimney-breast is taken up by the radiator, a certain amount of space is still left for picture hanging. It remains to determine the practical value of the distributor as far as it is dependent upon its cost, for if the cost of manufacture, Fig. 218. instalment, and management does not compare favorably with that of the ordinary furnace and fire-place, the instrument for practical purposes is valueless. The cost includes, first, that of manufacture and setting, and second, that of management, and involves, of course, the considera- tion of the exact amount of its heating and ventilating power. Taking first the enclosed distributor we have as items of expense. (1.) The distributor itself. (2.) The sheet-iron strips between the pipes. (3.) The tin casing. (4.) The two dampers, lower and upper. (5.) The two register plates, lower and upper. (6.) The flagging to support the chimney-breast above. (7.) The hot-air flues between the distributor in question and the rooms above. (8.) The panelled front of the chimney-breast. The cost varies with the size of the distributor, but the cost of any size may be easily calculated as follows : (1.) The cost of the distributor depends upon its material and the form and extent of its heating surface. The best material is sheet- iron of the weight of 28 oz. per square foot (8 kilograms per square meter), or what is called No. 20 sheet-iron, of about a millimeter in thickness. The upright pipes may be made of common iron, at say five ets. a pound, or ten cts. a kilogram. - The horizontal pipes should The Open HKirePlace. 178 be made of the best bloom iron, at say twenty cts." a kilogram. The best form for the distributor is given in Fig. 188. Here we have six upright round pipes 20 centimeters in diameter each and two meters long, between two horizontal square pipes 25 centimeters on each side. The pipes are 10 centimeters apart. This makes the horizontal pipes 1.80 meters long. The distributor contains five conical dampers 15 centimeters in diameter, and 20 centimeters on the side, made of the same thickness of common iron, and hung in place on two stout wires passing through the plane of the base at right angles with each other, and one ordinary disk damper 20 centimeters in diameter, revolving on an axis above the hinged panel, to be operated from the room. The amount of iron in the six upright pipes is, then, 7.6 square meters. That in the two horizontal pipes and their four ends is 3.85 square meters. That in the five conical dampers is 0.32 square meters. That in the remaining dampers is 0.03 square meters. The weight of the upright pipes is, then, 7.6 ® 8 == 60.8 kilograms, and the cost would be $6.08. The weight of the horizontal pipes is 3.85 X 8 = 30.8 kilograms, and the cost = $6.16. The weight of the dampers is 0.35 X 8 = 2.80, and the cost = $.28. Making a total cost of $12.52 for the material, or allowing for lap and waste, say $13.00. If the weight of the iron were reduced to one-half the above, the cost of the material would be $6.50. - The distributor described, would be, however, unusually large. One two thirds the size would be more usual, and the cost would be $8.66 or $4.33. Allowing for the labor of manufacturer (the esti- mate of the furnace maker by whom the apparatus was made), from $4.00 to $10.00, according to the size and number ordered, we have a total cost of from $17.00 to $23.00 for the largest and heaviest dis- tributors, and from $8.33 to $14.33 for the smaller ones. Made of terra-cotta the largest size costs from $25.00 to $30,00 each, when made singly. What the reduction would be where several were made cannot yet be ascertained, but terra-cotta is, as said, only to be recommended in exceptional cases. (2.) The five sheet-iron strips, 20 centimeters wide and 2 meters long, would be worth $.80, or, with the labor of cutting the strips, say $1.00. (3.) The tin casing should have a width of 1.80 meters, a height of 2.70 (10 centimeters clear space above and 10 centimeters below the distributor for the free circulation of the fresh air), and a depth of 35 centimeters at the bottom and at the top where it surrounds the hor- izontal pipes, so as to give 5 centimeters free space on each side of these pipes for the circulation of the fresh air. W here it comes against the perpendicular pipes the depth of the casing should be diminished 1 The variations in the iron market render it impossible to make an accurate estimate for all time, but accuracy at any time may be obtained by substituting for the round number here given the real price of iron at the time the estimate is made. 174 The Open Fire-Place. to 22 centimeters, so as to leave but one centimeter between the perpen- dicular pipes and the sides of the casing. This forces the air to pass be- tween the pipes and completely envelop each. Where no tin casing is used, these proportions should be given to the masonry, so that it may direct the air in the same manner. It is of the utmost im- portance that the form and dimensions specified for the envelope of the distributor should be carefully observed, otherwise a large part of the heat will be lost. The amount of tin in the casing will therefore be about 13 square meters, and the cost we may put now at about $15.00, painted on the inside. Then for a distributor two thirds as large, the cost of the casing would be about $11.00. (4.) The two dampers with frames and cords would cost about $6.00. . (5.) The two register plates (ordinary black japanned), the lower one 25 centimeters square and the upper one 1.50 meter long and 30 centimeters wide, would cost $1.20 and $6.00 respectively. (6.) The flagging, as before stated, need not cost more than the ordinary form of hearth. (7.) The hot-air flues connecting the hot-air chamber with the 3d and 4th stories will not exceed 12 meters in length, or $18.00 in cost. (8.) The panelled front of the chimney-breast is more than offset in the saving in masonry, studding, lath and plaster, and papering. The total cost of the largest radiator and all its appurtenances for heating and ventilating four rooms would therefore be $60.50. For the ordinary size (two thirds as large) the outside cost would be $47.00. The labor of setting the above when the tin casing is used is no greater than that of building an ordinary flue including the brick trimmer-arch. No pargeting is needed on the inside of the flue. T' wo of these distributors, one at each end of the house, are sufficient (with a stove in the basement for heating the hall and for festal occa- sions) for thoroughly heating and ventilating a four-story city house, 8 meters wide and 20 meters deep, in the manner already described. The cost of the two distributors, say one large and one small, being $107.00, add cost of small portable furnace and ten feet of pipe for the hall (say $80.00) (price list for McGregor Portable Furnace No. 1, and ten feet of pipe, registers, etc.), and the total cost is $187.00. To do the same work with an ordinary basement McGregor Fur- nace would, according to maker's estimate, require a No. 5 Furnace. Cost of No. 5 Portable Furnace per price list is $225.00. If a soap- stone furnace were used, the size, according to maker's estimate, required would be No. 36, of which the cost per price list is $350.00. To this must be added the cost of piping and registers. Taking the same number and price of registers required in the case of the dis- tributors, we have for these and the soapstone frames at the very least cost $27.00, allowing a minimum of 3 meters of pipe for hall register ; 7 meters for front room 1st story; 7 meters for rear room Ist story; 11 meters for front room 2d story, 11 for rear room; 15 for front room 3d story and 15 for rear room, 19 for front room 4th story and 19 for rear room, we have a total of 107 meters of tin pipe. " The Open FirePlace. 175 Estimating the value of this pipe at the same rate we did in the case of the distributors, we have $160.00. Add at least $50.00 for labor on furnace, piping and for double piping, collars, etc., and we have a total of $412.00 for the iron furnace work and $537.00 for the soapstone furnace work, against $187.00 for distributors and small furnace. There will of course be other and incidental expenses, such as cold- air box, furnace smoke-pipes, gas-pipe ventilators, etc., but these will be the same in both cases or greatly in favor of the distributor, and need not therefore be considered. That the consideration of these would be in favor of the distributor will readily be seen when we ~ recollect that both supply and exhaust-openings are included in the arrangements of the distributors, while, with the furnace, only supply- openings are estimated upon. The estimates of cost are in all cases taken from the price lists without consideration of discounts. Where the distributor is exposed as in Figures 212-217 the cost of decorat- ing the radiator may, for a corresponding degree of ornamental work, be taken as offset by the saving in omitting the hinged panel, so that the above figures may be taken as roughly to cover either kind. Such being the saving in the first cost, we have now to compare the cost of management in the two cases. The heating surface of the large distributor we found to be 11.60 square meters. Add 1.4 square meter for fire-place back and connecting-pipe, and we have 13 square meters. The McGregor furnace No. 4 has, according to measurements, 9 square meters of heating surface. No. 5 has about the same as the large distributor. The Soapstone furnace No. 18 has about 12 square meters; Sanford's Challenge No. 40, about 9 square meters; The Dunklee No. 8, about 10 square meters ; The Peerless No. 16, about 8 square meters ; The Chilson No. 8, about 6 square meters, all according to the writer's measurements. With the same amount of coal burned, therefore, a single distributor is capable of warming an equal amount of fresh air to the same extent with any of the above-mentioned furnaces. But since in the case of the distributor the fuel used is the same as that which sup- plies the open fires, while with the ordinary furnace other fuel is burned and seven eighths of that used in the open fire-places is lost, the annual saving in the former case is equal to about half the total cost of the fuel burned in the open fire-places used in connection with the basement furnace. A Boston coal-dealer, taking at random from his books twenty houses on the Back Bay of Boston supplied by him with fuel, found the average annual amount of furnace, range, and cannel coal (for open fire-places) consumed in each was 14, 15, and 34 tons respectively, which at a cost of $4.00, $5.00, and $14.00 re- spectively made $56.00 for the cost of furnace, $75.00 for the range, and $49.00 for the open fire-place. The use of the distributors would there- fore give us in each of these twenty houses an annual saving of say $25.00. Where, however, one of the distributors is used with the range-flue, we have an additional saving of say $32.00, making a total annual saving of $57.00, or more than enough in two years to pay 176 The Open Kire-Place. for the entire first cost of both distributors and their necessary ac- cessories. «The cost of fuel annually required in the United States for mechanical and manufacturing purposes, mainly for the generation of steam, cannot fall short of sixty millions of dollars. Estimating it at fifty millions, an invention or discovery which would save one fourth of this amount would increase the national wealth by twelve millions. TABLE XL. CLASSIFICATION OF HEATING-APPARATUS IN REGARD TO HEATING EFFECT. (See Smithsonian Reports, 1873, p. 308.) 22 SB 44 Forms of Apparatus. g § 5 Remarks. fq © Ordinary Fire-Places ._. . . .) 10-125 (Carry off foul air, but do not di- rectly bring in fresh air. Effect of system healthful. Ventilating Fire-Places . . . .| 33-35 |Carry off foul air, and directly in- troduce moderately warmed fresh air. Healthful system of heating. Common stoves burning J Coke 83 without cireu-4 Porcelain, burn- lation of air. | ing wood, slight- ( 1y healthful . 87 Produce a very insufficient change j Cast-Iron,} Coal 90 : |] of air. Unhealthful system. Metal s t ove s, [ . & with cireula- | M§$gollsninuls>ggig 68 Do not produce sufficient change of tion. of. air A s air, and heat too much the air wun: vyorsical théy introduce. Very injurious taken from ; the outside or | £21353: ,Iggaagisse- 93 C_ system of warming if pipes be of inside. l 7 cast iron; slightly healthful if of sheet iron. } Cannot directly produce a sufficient Heaters with [ P | removal of foul air, and in, gen- pipes for cir-} Horizontal . . . 63 eral, supply overheated air, but culation of" Vertical . -. . . 80 | may easily be modified so as to hot air. L give out air at 86° or 104°. Sys- tem injurious when not com- bined with means of ventilation. When the pipes and radiators & are very nu- merous, with large surface compared with Apparatus for that of the circulation of { _ heater. : 65-75 Easily adapted for the establish- hot water. When the boiler, ment of regular direct ventila- furnace, and all tion. the radiators or pipes are con- tained in the p I ace to be warmed. 85-90 The Open Fire-Place. Fi five hundred thousand dollars per annum. The cost of fuel for cul- inary purposes, warming dwellings, etc., is of course much greater." According to Table XI., taken from the Smithsonian Reports, we see that a metal stove with vertical pipes with circulation of air taken from the outside or inside, is capable of utilizing 93 per cent. of the heat generated by the fuel. The " distributor" is such a stove, and is therefore, following the authority quoted, able to save nearly all the heat of the fuel. In practice, however, such a result will rarely be obtained, and the greatest percentage reached by the writer with the distributor during the summer months has been a little under 80 per cent. In winter, when the air brought in contact with the pipes is much colder, a greater saving can be made, but no oppor- tunity has as yet been presented to make experiments in the winter, the apparatus suited for accurate test having been completed only in the spring of the present year. The distributor is connected with the masonry of the fire-place by simply embedding its lower connecting pipe in mortar and brickwork for several courses. 'The expansion and contraction of the metal must then take place upwards. To allow of this, at the top, where the iron pipe rejoins the brick flue, it should be fitted into a piece of tin pipe half a meter long, with just room enough to slip in it when heated. The tin pipe should be firmly bedded in the brick flue with cement. The iron should enter the tin flue a distance at least equal to its own diameter. When the tin pipe rusts away, the smooth cement in which it was set will have become hard enough to take its place, and serve the same purpose. The tin pipe should be built in by the mason when the chimneys are built. Copper may be sub- stituted for tin where it is thought that the unprotected cement would be likely to be decomposed by the smoke and moisture. EFFECT ON THE DRAUGHT OF ABSTRACTION OF HEAT FROM THE FLUKE. *It may be asked, whether the utilization of the heat of the smoke- flue, by means of the distributor, would not injure the draught of the chimney in direct proportion to the amount of heat abstracted from the flue. The heat abstracted from the distributor is not lost by immediate dissipation in the outer air, as is the case with that taken from the surface of an ordinary flue of brick or iron, especially when exposed, but is at once returned again to the flue through the open fire-place, after warming the rooms of the house. 'The entire house becomes the chimney, the rooms, and outside walls forming, as it were, a kind of outside coating, and the heat is simply transferred from the outside to the inside of the flue, after passing through the rooms, or double coating, in its passage. Were the foul air removed from the house through independent flues, and from the ceilings of the various rooms to be ventilated, as is customary, the case would be different. We 1 J. Jenkins's Improvements in Heating. $2 178 The Open Kire-Place. have presupposed that the walls of the house are rendered as im- pervious as may be to heat. This can, of course, be only partially accomplished, by vaulting the walls;, doubling the windows, back plastering, etc. Even then, a certain amount of heat will be lost through them, but the interior of the house will always be warmer than the exterior, and the draught in the chimney strong in propor- tion to the excess. Even without this it is clear that the abstraction of the heat alone could not be sufficient to destroy the draught, because, if it were, no fire in any ordinary chimney could ever be lighted without smoking, since the brick flue has at the time of lighting received absolutely no heat from its own fire-place, and experience shows that, with properly constructed flues, the difference between the ordinary temperature of the house and the exterior air is in winter sufficient to produce a chimney draught of fifty or sixty meters a minute. Indeed, with good chimneys a difference of one or two degrees is sufficient to produce a good initial draught. The friction against the smooth sides of the distributor slightly diminishes the rapidity of the current, but hardly more than that in an ordinary chimney against the rough flues of brickwork. To illustrate the movement of the warm air currents formed in heating and ventilating rooms by direct and indirect radiation, the writer had a model of a house made of glass, wood, and metal. The model was about .75 m. high, and contained three rooms with fire- places, and independent flues, as shown in section, Fig. 219. The glass sides were made double at all openings to exclude the outer air. Small oil lamps served as fires. The smoke-flues were constructed of metal from top to bottom, and passed through a fresh-air chamber just large enough to contain all the flues and allow of a free circulation of air about them when the fires were lighted. The - fresh air entered this chamber at the bottom of the stack, was heated around the flues, and then entered the various rooms through reg- isters in the chimney-breast near the ceilings, Fig. 219. as indicated by the arrows. Thermometers placed along the ceilings and floors of the rooms showed a remarkable equality of temperature, in different parts of each, with a gradual increase in ascending from the lowest to the highest room, and in all, as long as the fires were burned in any one. The movement of the currents could be followed with the greatest accuracy by tinging the air with ammonia fumes, generated over nitric acid, or with the smoke of damp gunpowder ignited. When the flues in the top and middle rooms were cold, or stopped with corks, the hot-air currents in these two rooms were interrupted, no ven- tilation was effected, and their temperature immediately began to fall. The Open FKire-Place.* 179 Upon uncorking openings at the top and sides of these rooms, the currents again started through them, but the air and heat escaped before it reached the lower parts of the rooms, and at these points the mercury remained nearly stationary, showing clearly the folly of the common mode of exhaust ventilating at or near the ceiling, in winter. -In order to make certain that the currents observed in the model were similar to those found in actual buildings, the following experiment was made. Cold air, made visible by the smoke of damp straw, was brought against, and heated by, the distributor, and en- tered the room through the upper register, as usual. The warm air acted precisely as described in the case of the furnace-flue, form- ing regular strata at the top of the room, which descended as they cooled, and passed out of the fire-place opening upon reaching its level, but no part of it before. The experimenter was able, by lying down, to remain in the room until the smoke strata touched the floor, after which the observations had to be made from the outside, through the glass panels of the door or window. The air colored by the smoke was cooled before entering the distributor chamber, by being con- ducted under the snow in a flue ten meters long, in order that its movement should be determined solely by the heat of the distributor. Where the warm air strata came in contact with the windows, the downward movement at these points was somewhat more rapid, but the effect was produced only on a very small quantity of air immedi- ately in contact with the glass, as the column rolled up by it, no heat being given up by the air by radiation to the glass, so that the dis- tortion of the layers was hardly perceptible, though the windows were not double. It is sometimes claimed that the warm air should be delivered on the window, or cold side of the room, and the foul air withdrawn on the opposite side, on the ground that by*this means a temperature more equal in different parts of the room can be pro- duced. If the supply could be near the bottom of the room, under the windows, and if at the same time hot air were a radiator of heat, this might be the case. But neither is the fact. The fresh air cannot be introduced at the bottom, because its entrance there would be objectionable in summer, spring, and fall, on account of the draughts it would occasion, annoying and dangerous to those nearest its inlet, when the outer air introduced were cooler than the air of the room. Two supply-registers would be necessary, one below the windows for winter and one above for summer. Hot air is not a radiator of heat, any more than it is a receiver of radiant heat, whereas, on the contrary, the cooling effect of window surfaces, as now constructed, is due rather to radiation, than to the admission of cold air. The mere passage of a column of warm air in front of these windows does not materially warm them, nor in the least obstruct the loss of heat by radiation from the occupants of the room to the cold glass. It is even claimed that there is a positive disadvantage even in winter, in placing the supply under the windows, on account of the interruption to the regular flow of the air which would be occasioned 180 The Open Fire-Place. by the conflict between the rising column of warm air and the cool air falling near the windows. The natural ventilating currents would be disturbed, and the regularity and amount of air change would be correspondingly reduced. - But such a theory would seem to be based on the supposition that the air moves in currents rather than in hori- zontal strata, whose gradual and uniform descent is little influenced by the conflict referred to. The two opposing currents near the win- dows would rather tend in part to neutralize each other, and the cold air entering through window cracks, however small in amount, might still be annoying were it not tempered by mixture with a portion of the incoming warm air. So tempered, its baleful influence at the floor level would in a measure be prevented. Nevertheless, this advantage is not sufficient, in well built and tightly fitted rooms, to compensate for the extra expense and loss of carrying the warm air flues to the outer walls of the house. This is usually con- siderable, because the heat generator is as a rule in the middle of the building. If two supply-registers were used, one above for summer, and one below for winter, the first cost would be still greater, and the difficulty of management, and the consequent liability to neglect, would be an important objection. The arrangement would lose the ad- vantage of automatic action. - Were the room warmed by direct radia- tion, the case would be different. A direct heat-radiator placed under the windows would radiate heat on the one hand to the occupants of the room, and on the other to the windows, and more than compensate for the return radiation to the windows from the occupants. For the same reason fire-places, being also direct radiators, when built on the outer walls, especially under windows, have an advantage frequently lost sight of. Where it is thought necessary to provide for a supply «of fresh air in spring or autumn, for days when the out- side air is too cool to allow of opening the windows, and yet not cold enough to require artificial heating, an exhaust register should be provided at the top as well as at the bottom. Where open fires are not used, if it were possible to maintain the walls of the room at a temperature higher than that of the fresh air from the furnace flues, a greater degree of healthfulness and comfort 1 The cooling action of the windows and walls is by no means "the sole re- liance in all self-acting or automatic heating-apparatus."" Itis not a reliance at all, but rather a hindrance. The ventilation with such apparatus is determined by the height of the hot-air and exhaust flues, and the warmth or levity of the column of air they contain, as overbalanced by the density of the corresponding cold-air column of the exterior, and is only slightly influenced by local currents in any room. The velocity of movement of the warmer column is retarded in proportion as it is cooled by the walls of the various rooms through which it is conducted in its passage. The room of a house must be taken as merely a local enlargement of the warm-air flue, in passing through which enlargement air is cooled, and its velocity retarded in proportion to the thinness, porosity, and conductibility of the walls. To show the truth of this, we will suppose the walls of our room to be artificially cooled below the temperature of the outer air to such a degree that the warm air from the flue coming in contact with them is cooled until the levity of the warm-air column is no greater than that of the exterior. {Stagnation would clearly be the result. Artificially heat, however, the outer walls, and notwithstanding the friction induced by irregular and conflicting local currents, the velocity of the entire column would be increased in proportion to the amount of heat imparted by the heated walls. The Open Fire-Place. 181 might be attained, and the problem of the positions of supply and exhaust registers would be greatly simplified. Both registers would be near the ceiling as well in winter as in summer, and all move- ment of foul air, from occupants and gas-burners alike would be simultaneously upwards. The fresh air entering would fall first to the ground, and the movement of the strata would thence be up- ward instead of downward. Direct radiation would be enjoyed from the surrounding walls. Although less heat would be required to warm the fresh-air supply, it does not necessarily follow that, on this account the action of the heater need be the less automatic, for by using smaller hot-air flues and mixing cold air with the hot near the registers of delivery, the same heat and velocity in them could be maintained if desired, while the exhaust-flues would be warmer. The consequent general velocity of the ventilating current would then be greater in proportion to the amount of heat supplied by an exterior source to maintain the outer walls at the required temperature. - For office build- ings, apartment-houses, etc., or any buildings of many stories in height where open fire- places may be used and rooms over each other = a are constantly occupied, the principle of the use of simple metal flues side by side, as il- lustrated by the model, may be employed most ___. advantageously. Fig. 220 gives a section of ~~L |X such a chimney for a library building de- a signed by the writer. The plans show jani- tor's quarters in the basement, two mezzanine stories thereover by the side of a lecture hall, two more corresponding to the library above, and an attic over all. All these small apart- ments have open fire-places except that in the basement, in which is the range. The flues of the range, first, second, third, and fourth story fire-places are shown con- structed of sheet-iron, standing free in the fresh-air chamber formed by the walls of the chimney as in the model. This air-cham- ber is in each story entirely independent of the others, being separated by horizontal plat- forms of brick or flagging through which the iron flues pass. These platforms bind the front and rear walls of the chimney together, and prevent the warm air from rising immedi- ately to the top of the chimney. They also t g Z IQ» IR [ B- 255 serve to prevent the passage of sound from one AAR R story to another. Each fresh-air chamber is 7/ms% 27 < supplied with fresh air by an independent flue, Fig. 229. which draws its air from an air-box of brick in - the basement. These supply-flues are shown at the left-hand side 182 The Open Fire-Place. of the stack. - They do not increase the width of the stack because they diminish in number in each story as the smoke-flues increase, and, therefore, occupy only waste space, and are actually necessary to serve as withes to strengthen the lower half of the chimney. In short, they take the place of the lower ends of the ordinary brick smoke-flues. In summer the valve shown at the top of the fourth story is opened, and the fresh-air box at the bottom is closed. The range heat then passes off without heating the walls, and produces a venti- lating current through the entire stack. The exhaust then takes place at the top of the rooms through the register used in winter for supply, and the fresh air is furnished through the open fire-places, or window openings to take its place, every f current being thus reversed throughout the entire series of rooms, by the turning of a single register in the attic once in the spring. [DI Where the iron smoke-flues pass through the platforms of masonry shown in the figure, at the level of each floor, short pieces of tin pipe, slightly larger than the flues, are encased in the masonry to make the joint, as shown inFig. 221. In this manner but little air escapes. What passes up from one air-chamber to another, is utilized in the latter, and the loss is con- fined to that which escapes through the upper junctions. This may be made inappreciable. - There is no object in connecting the super- imposed air-chambers one with another with valves to allow the whole, or part of the air warmed against the lower halves of the flues, to pass up to the chambers above, when not required below, because the heat which would have been abstracted by the fresh air below is carried up in the smoke, and given out to the fresh air above instead, and the first cost and complication in management of the several dampers is avoided. Moreover, less heat is lost by absorp- tion in the masonry. By this arrangement no communication of sound from story to story is possible, as is often the case with furnace flues ; the sound passing from one room down the flue to the furnace, and up again through other flues to other rooms, so that to those standing near the registers sounds from all over the house are repeated. Nevertheless, if for any purpose it is found desirable to connect the air-chambers together, a valve like that shown in Fig. 222 may be used to best advantage. The three flues at the right, are fresh-air supply-flues, and on the left are the fresh-air chambers containing the iron smoke-flues, or distributors, not shown in the drawing. Supposing the lower register to be for the hot-air sup- ply of the dining-room, and the one above for the parlor, upon leaving the dining-room for the parlor, the hole in the platform forming the passage between the lower and upper air-chamber may be opened, more or less, by sliding the Fig. 221. Fig. 222. The Open Kire-Place. 183 valve to the right. The warm air then passes up into the upper air-chamber and thence into the parlor, or into rooms above if de- sired. This damper is also used to temper the incoming fresh air. With an ordinary register, if the incoming air be too warm or too cold, the only way is to close it, in whole or in part. - But by this method the ventilation is at the same time in whole or in part cut off. The valve under consideration, however, enables the tem- perature to be regulated without affecting the ventilation. Should the air from the fresh-air chamber be too warm, the valve is moved part way to the right. Part of the hot air then rises into the cham- ber above, while exactly the same amount of cool air enters from the cold-air flue, and mixes with the remainder of the hot air, as it enters the room through one and the same register face. The regis- ter face is shown in Fig. 223. The handle of the sliding damper is shown in the upper part. That of the register proper below. If cold air only is wanted the damper is moved entirely to the right, and all the hot air passes up above. When the room is left empty as in the case of a dining- room after the feast, and neither heat nor ventilation is wanted, the valve is pushed entirely to the right, and the register proper is closed. When but little ventilation is wanted, the register is closed partially, more or less according to the amount. The various iron flues above described may be constructed of short pieces, the upper pieces always fitting inside the next below. Ce- ment is hardly necessary, as the joints will soon cement themselves with iron oxide and soot. - Any section may be removed, and replaced through the hinged panels by hammering and cutting the joints with shears. The top of the chimney should be protected from the rain by flag- ging, or by ventilating caps where it is desirable that the wind should be made to improve the draught. These ventilators should not be made of metal which is rapidly destroyed by dampness, but rather of terra-cotta. The most effective, and simplest form is the ordi- # nary Emerson chimney-cap, or the Van Noorden, Fig. 224, which is similar to the Emerson, except that the under side of the cover is formed of an inverted cone, instead of a plane. When the wind strikes the top of these caps an upward current, strong in proportion to the strength and direction of the wind, is induced in the flues with unerring certainty. _ No chimney-cap yet invented is able to do more than these, or to prevent the chimney from smok- ing under certain conditions, as when the top is - sur- rounded by air condensed by pressure, while the air below is in its normal condition. This happens when a chimney stands near an object higher than itself. A strong gust of wind may without touching the chimney itself strike this object, and by its pressure, so condense the air below as to drive it down the mouth of the chimney and in every other direction where no resistance is offered. The simple Emerson or Van Noorden ven- Fig. 223. Fig. 224. 184 The Open Kire-Place. tilator, especially when constructed of a durable material, unlike the complicated and un- gainly patent chim- ney-tops of uncertain parentage and de- sign, - forms a per- manent ornament to the edifice. Nor is a chimney-cap able to prevent a chim- ney from smoking under the conditions illustrated - by the Fig. 225. The upper room is closed tight and no provision is made for the supply of air to take the place of that ascend- ing the chimney. The cold-air supply will - therefore de-. seend the chimney in waves, as shown, in spite of the " ven- tilator " at the top "* warranted to cure smoking in - every case," and will puff into the room and bring smoke along } with it. - Nor will Fig. 225. any - chimney - cap prevent smoking un- der the conditions illustrated by the lower part of the figure. The lower room is connected with a hall or tower with ventilator at the top. When the sun beats on this tower and not on the chimney, or when the tower is in any way made warmer than the chimney, the column of air in the former will be lighter than that in the latter, so that, if there be no independent air-supply for the room or tower and no wind at the top of the chimney to act as motive power on the cap, the air will descend in the chimney-flue and cause it to smoke when a fire is first lighted and as long after as the want of equilibrium continues. If sufficient cold air be supplied directly from the window through intentional openings and unintentional cracks the evil will be cured at once, but at the peril of the occupants whose legs will be bathed in a frigid zone. The ventilating fire-place provides against this by warming the & Sees emcee semis & The Open FirePlace. 185 air-supplies, as shown in the left-hand side of the lower room, through an opening behind its back. The fresh warm air is here, as usual, represented as entering the room at the ceiling. The movement of the air in strata of various degrees of warmth is represented by various degrees of shading. RANGE FLUE. The following simple arrangement for the improvement of the range-flue in dwelllrW—llomes has frequently been tried by the writer with success; the partlcular § form illustrated by the figure 226 having been adopted Gn a wooden cottage built by him at Nahant during the present year. . The flue proper is con- structed of tile, and around it is built an ordinary brick flue, leaving an air-space between, g in such a manner that it may & act in summer as a hot and foul air exhaust, both ventilat- ing the room and carrying off the heat of the range-flue, and in winter as a warm-air sup- ply. In the ceiling of the upper bed- chamber a bent pipe containing a damper is constructed as shown, the damper register-faces being Fig. 226. in the ceiling close up to the chimney-breast. . The flue in this case stands between two bed- rooms. - The right-hand valve is shown closed and illustrates the manner in which the flue acts as a fresh-air supply. The left-hand valve is shown open and the flue acting as an exhaust, removing the troublesome heat of the range from the walls. FURNACE FLUE. In Fig. 129 a model of a furnace is sketched constructed after the prmmple of the distributors shown in Fig. 187. The furnace-flue shown in this latter figure was connected with the lower pipe of the lower distributor, and | valves were so arranged that the smoke of the furnace could be turned into the distributor or allowed to ascend direct in the furnace-flue proper as desired. When the smoke was caused to pass through the distributors, the furnace became at once an example of the one represented in Fig. 129, and described in con- nection therewith. -The heat of the smoke was saved without i injury to the draught. By using a furnace regulator in connection with this arranrrement the combustion is automatlcall) controlled, and the maximum of safety and economy obtained without the necessity of constant supervision. 186 £ pr ie rin rr ee ant # sa Thos" ae " ar z wifhk “A. a W { is The Open FKire-Place. H itz o Re rz» f‘ ALL poe et ALZO ZOLL LLL ao oe e se ss. Stes Ss N ( > S. c. A F \ vz.\\\ N‘ql‘ wwxg KAN sil Sese nam il N i Ake wes sas --~..:““"“~‘~‘ MA aise F _ _s # Ss Nt Sas stan sua ssp says t Sm ws s ss 8s v o Af t Sees \§F\ RSS .\ & Nags N 7 _—;‘Z" ae Z 3:14‘iryffa" * raro r ored inp aad bargin Z Ss - - -~ ZZ ez ZZZ Z The Open Fire-Place. 187 DECORATIVE TREATMENT OF THE VENTILATING REGISTERS. Like the open fire-place regarded from an economical standpoint, the ventilating register, index of the popular feeling in sanitary matters, remains, from an artistic point of view, in a worse than primitive state of rudeness. Its design is left to the care of the furnace, maker and foundry-man. - The artist appears to consider it generally unworthy of his notice in the decorative treatment of the room. It is put in anywhere, in an obscure corner if possible, and painted black, so as to attract no unnecessary attention. The utmost notice that is taken of it in the usual building specification is a wholesale summary of sizes for the several rooms. Had Nature, in the design of the human frame given so little attention to the inlets for the sup- ply of fresh air, throwing them in anywhere at random, and cover- ing every opening with a casting taken from the same mould, of indifferent design and color, we should have lost the feature most prominent in giving the wonderful power of ever-varying expression, the distinguishing characteristic of human beauty. If an amount of care were given to each object corresponding to its importance, the ventilating register would no longer. stand at the foot of the list. No time spent in elaborating its design would be considered wasted, and solid gold would scarcely appear too costly for its material. After so much of a peroration, allusion to the following ex- amples should only be made, protected by the knowledge that even failure in an attempt made in the right direction is better than no attempt at all. Figs. 203, 208, and 209, give three methods of treating the registers in cut brass. Fig. 227 shows the effect of three square registers of brass, fire-gilt, over a fire-place in the parlor of the Hotel Cluny, Boston, and Fig. 228 of three larger regis- ters over the side-board of the house on Marlboro' street referred to in connection with Figs. 203 and 209. The fresh-air is in this case warmed by an iron range-flue behind the breast of the fire-place, of corresponding design, opposite this side-board. It is conducted across the ceiling in tin flues shown in section in the beams over the registers to the right and left. By this means the china-closet behind the side-board may also be warmed by the same flues. -as IMPROVED SMOKE-CONSUMING FIRE-PLACE. R Having found that it is no longer necessary to throw away nine- tenths of the heat generated by the consumption of our fuel, we may now reasonably interest ourselves in the one tenth unconsumed ; namely, that which escapes in the form of smoke. In reviewing the various forms of smoke-consuming fire-places hitherto invented, the best for modern purposes, all things considered, seems to be that of Touet-Chambor (Figs. 42 and 43). But, in this, the two upper open- ings to the flue are not well placed either for appearance or for use. It would be better to adopt here the ordinary long and narrow chim- ney-throat at the top of the fire. In other respects the form of the fire-place might remain as it is, except, that of course the fresh-air c- The Open Fire-Place. i aA Tx N \j igh X X in G Sebi 5.3, \R SR r— dre The Open Kire-Place. 189 pipes behind, forming no necessary part of the device, may be omitted, or placed above the mantel in the form of a distributor. When the fire is first lighted the upper outlet may be opened if necessary by means of a simple damper, arranged to operate easily from the front of the mantel after the principle of that shown in Fig. 83. But if the draught is good this may always remain closed, and the smoke will then pass out behind and below the coals and be consumed in its passage. Such a form of smoke-consuming fire-place has the great advantage of being simple, and practically automatic. The lower outlet is always open ready for use, and with a good draught the upper one need never be opened, or it may be left partially open, enough for the first moments when the heat of the fire and flue is feeble, but not enough to carry off the products of full combustion, which will then find their outlet chiefly through the lower opening. LARGE FIRE-PLACES. When some admirer of the manners and customs of the olden time yearns for the colossal proportions of the mediseval fire-place to pro- duce in his modern cottage the effect of the baronial hall, he does it with heroic indifference to personal comfort, believing that the use of such a fire-place necessarily implies blackening his timbered ceil- ings and tapestried walls with smoke, at the least provocation. But this annoyance is quite unnecessary. - With proper construc- tion one may be assured of a good draught at all times, even when but small quantities of fuel are burned in the fire-place. The peculiar construction necessary to secure this result is as follows: We will suppose the fire-place to be two meters square. - In the first place the chimney-flue should be of the proper size in proportion to the open- ing, to allow of a free passage of the products of combustion and the accompanying air. The top of the chimney should be surmounted by a Van Noorden ventilator. A portion of the back of the fire- place should be recessed slightly, so as to form a smaller shallow fire- place within the large one. A recess similar in form to this is some- times formed in the backs of mediseval fire-places to receive an or- namental slab carved with heraldic or other devices. The small fire-place then has its own independent chimney-throat and flue con- necting with the main flue above the level of the top of the larger fire-place. A damper operated like that shown in Figs. 69, 71, 80, or 83, is built in the throat of the larger fire-place, so that it may be closed when but a small fire is wanted, and the lower chimney-throat (also provided with a damper) only is in use. An improved form of smoke-consuming fire-place is the result. The appearance of the large fire-place so arranged is shown in Fig 229, designed for the library building before referred to. This recess in the back of the large fire-place may be made an ornamental feature, but when a fire is burning in the large one proportionate to its size, the recess will be covered by the fire and fuel. An arched alcove at the end of the reading-room encloses both fire-places, and forms a retired and shel- tered niche, lighted by windows at the right and left, for the con- 190 f The Open Kire-Place. venience of readers. The small fire-place is .80 meters, the large 1.80 meters, and the alcove 3 meters high to the springing of the arch. The depth of the alcove is two meters. The large fire-place is one meter, and the small .33 meters deep, decorated with a carved slab 'of terra-cotta at the back. The entire floor of the alcove is tiled, forming a large hearth for both fire-places. The'alcove is entirely constructed of stone, including the seulptured arch. The fire-places are of terra-cotta, tile, and mosaic work. l W i «34! Wt H| llqh X ( "I'M‘ I} 88 m | w! Ate u' f F) Funn Jun“ "t ota RET TTH ML Fig. 229. The frontispiece (reprinted on the cover) gives another illustra- tion of this arrangement, with a fire burning in the large fire-place. Ventilating Reglcters are shown above, extendlng across the entire front of the chimney-breast. Thus by using a distributor with a large old-fashioned fire-place constructed in This manner, both dan- gerous draughts and liability to smoke are avoided, while all the ad- vantafres enjoyed by our forefathers are retained. FORMULE FOR DISCOVERING THE CAUSE AND EFFECTING THE CURE OF SMOKY CHIMNEYS. It is customary for the public to imagine that the certain cure of the smoking of chimneys surpasses the capablht) of the average in- tellect, that the causes are legion, shrouded in impenetrable mvstery The reason for this belief is that in nine cases out of ten no systematic method is followed to discover the cause, and the cure is often difficult to apply. The simplest and most natural method is to tabulate a list of all the possible causes of smoke arranged in the order of easiest detection, and with this in hand to examine the chimney thoroughly for each defect in succession. In some cases the fault is in open The Open FKire-Place. 191 sight, and the cure is simple and close at hand. In others important demolitions will be necessary to discover it, and still more expensive reparations to effect its cure. Therefore, in making our list the de- feets easiest to see should come first in order, so that no unnecessary expense may be incurred. (1.) The subject of inquiry which should first occupy us, as being the one most easily answered, concerns the supply of air necessary to furnish the draught. The opening or openings for the supply of air to the room should be as large in area as those for the exhaust, in- cluding both fire-place, smoke-flue, and all special exhaust ven- tilating-flues. If this precaution be not taken the result will be as shown in Fig. 225. One chimney is said to "overpower" another when both are built in the same*room or in rooms adjoining and in- sufficient fresh-air supply is provided. When the doors separating these rooms from the hall or other rooms are closed, the hotter flue will overpower the cooler and draw from it its supply of air, bringing the smoke with it. The action of the overpowering chimney is ex- actly the same with that of the tower in Fig. 225. Even the range- flue or the flue of some fire-place in the house quite remote have been known to overpower all the other flues in the house from this cause. In order to make certain whether or not the want of a sufficient supply of fresh air is the true and only cause of the smoking, it is only necessary to open a door or window in such a manner as to admit the required amount of the air without allowing it to blow on the fire in gusts. To cure this defect, furnish a supply of air as large as the exhaust. This may be done (@) by bringing outer air into the room through some kind of ventilator over the windows, or in the cornice, which may be perforated all round and so arranged as to admit the air in a thin film along all the four sides; (b) by carrying a hot-air flue from the furnace to the room, or (c) by building a ventilating fire-place in place of the old one. (2.) The position of a door in a room, when standing at certain angles may, by allowing draughts to strike across the fire, be such as to drive the smoke into the room. The cure is to hinge the door on the opposite side of its frame, or to provide proper fire sereens. (3.) The size of the smoke-flue is too small, or too large for that of the fire-place. A flue too small will not allow of free passage of the products of combustion. One too large allows its movement to be too sluggish, and less able to resist any unfavorable influence, 'and gives opportunity for troublesome eddies. The flue should be some- what larger than the throat to allow for clogging by soot, friction against its walls, the disadvantageous form of its section (the circular, or best section being seldom practicable), and for the bends more or less abrupt in its course. Roughly speaking, a brick flue of the usual form should have a sectional area equal to 4, of the size of the fire-place opening. For a round iron flue 44> would be sufficient. More acturate formulzs could be, and have been given, but such for- 192 The Open Fire-Place. muls are usually too complicated, and too difficult of application to be of any service to the general public. According to our rule a small fire-place .80 meters wide and .75 meters high (82 by 30 inches) would require a brick flue of 600 square centimeters in sectional area, which is equivalent to an ordinary 8 by 12 inch flue. A large fire-place of one meter square should have a brick flue of 1,000 square centimeters area, equivalent to a little over 144 square inches, or an ordinary 12 by 12 inch flue. A very large fire-place of two meters wide by one meter high would have a flue, say 40 by 50 centimeters, or 12 by 24 inches, and an old-fashioned fire-place of extraordinary size, say two meters high and two meters wide, or large enough to contain a dozen tall men standing, or " to roast an ox whole," should have a flue of 400 square centimeters, or one foot by three feet. Such a fire-place and flue built for use at the present day would have to be constructed in the manner shown in Fig. 224, to ensure a good draught under all cireumstances. To ascertain the size of the flue, measure it at the top or just above the throat. Generally the only cure for a flue too small is to diminish the size of the fire-place to correspond. To enlarge the flue is usually too serious an undertaking to be attempted. For a flue too large, a defect seldom met with, and one little likely to cause inconvenience if the throat be of the proper size, the simplest treatment is to increase the height of the chimney, and top out with a Van Noorden ventilator; but the best method is to make a virtue of necessity, and, by introducing within the large flue a smaller one of tile or sheet-iron, to construct a ventilating flue on the Douglas Galton principle, as already described, and utilize the heat of the smoke in heating and ventilating the house. Either a tile or an iron flue may be easily lowered into the large flue, cementing the pieces one to the other as they are lowered, and connecting the lowest joint with the fire-place with masonry. To make the lower connection an opening may have to be made in the chimney-breast above the mantel. The ventilating openings and details of the construction have already been described. (4.) The chimney-throat is too large, allowing an unnecessary amount of cold air from the room to enter the flue along with the products of combustion. By this the column of air becomes cooled, and its movement consequently sluggish. Measure first the size of the throat and see how far it varies from the rule we have estab- lished, then test the effect of diminishing the throat temporarily with dry bricks or other non-combustible materials. & The cure is to brick up the chimney-throat so as to give it a sec- tional area equal to one-twelfth of the area of the fire-place opening, and the shape shown in, and described in connection with, Fig. 52. (5.) The throat is too small to admit freely the products of com- bustion. The cure may then be effected by diminishing the size either of the fire-place itself, by relining its back and sides, or of its opening by means of sliding blowers, or new facing. If there are objections to The Open Kire-Place. 193 diminishing the fire-place, increase the size of the throat. First measure the throat and fire-place to ascertain as before the amount of diminution of fire-place, or of enlargement of throat necessary, then test the effect of diminishing the size of the fire-place opening with card-board, or of removing bricks, one by one from the throat. (6.) The air in an unused chimney may, when the temperature of the outer air becomes, for a time, warmer than that in the house, sink in the chimney until the equilibrium is restored. In so doing the smoke from an adjacent flue may be drawn down with the reversed air- current. - The only remedy is to close the fire-place with a damper as long as it remains unused, unless it is found that the flue may be raised in height without injury to the draught of the adjacent flues. (7.) The length of the smoke-flue may be less or more than is suffi- cient or desirable. If the flue be too short the difference of weight of the column of smoke and the exterior air column will be insufficient to produce a movement of the requisite velocity or strength. If the flue be too long compared with the size of the fire, the loss of heat and the friction against its sides may reduce the velocity to too great an extent, though this is a cause rarely met with. The cure for the former is to lengthen the chimney, and for both to diminish the size of the fire-place and its throat so as to cause less cool air to enter the flue. (8.) The flue of one fire-place entering that of another sometimes leads to the cooling of the hot current by the air from the fire-place not in use, to such an extent as to destroy the power of the draught. The fact of whether or not the flue of one fire-place enters that of another may be ascertained at the chimney-top by means of smoke made successively in each fire-place, and the effect of one flue enter- ing another may be learned by closing each fire-place successively while the other is in use. The cure is to build another flue; or if this be impracticable, to close one fire-place by means of a damper in the throat while the other is in use. (9.) A sudden bend in the flue especially near the fire-place throat may cause the smoke to rebound into the room. 'The presence and position of such a bend may be ascertained by means of a weight tied to a string and dropped down the flue. s The cure is either to diminish the fire-place or straighten the flue by rebuilding. (10.) Bricks, mortar, vermin, or other obstructions may have become deposited in the flue. Rats and birds sometimes build obstructions in flues long unused. Ascertain the position of the obstructions with weight and cord. If a bend in the flue prevents examination in this way, the flue must be opened below the bend and the weight dropped from this opening. The obstruction, when discovered, if it cannot be raised with a hook from above, may be removed either by firing the chimney, or by opening it at the point where the obstruction occurs. (11.) A wind passing horizontally over the top of a chimney may 13 194 The Open FKire-Place. have the effect of closing the flues like a plank placed upon them. A Van Noorden ventilator on each flue will form an effectual cure. (12.) The chimney-top is commanded by higher buildings or hills. The air condensed by a gust of wind falling against these higher objects descends the chimney in expanding or rebounding. The only cure is to raise the flue beyond the influence of the com- manding surfaces. No bonnets, cowls, or patent ventilators can prevent this except in so far as they increase the height of the flue; because no such device can prevent the expansion of compressed air in every direction in which a free opening is left for its passage. It is no small source of comfort to the architect to feel that every evil to which chimneys are heirs can be cured without recourse to the patent cowls and ventilators by which the summits of so many of our noblest buildings are disfigured ; " some looking like Dutch ovens come up to see the world, some like half-sections of sugar loaves, some like capital H's, and sundry other pleasing objects." Some looking like a pile of inverted milk cans laid out on the roof for an airing, some radiating in every direction long arms, and flourishing them about like demons clutching for prey, or armed with wings gyrat- ing with terrible energy and clamor in squally weather, and when the pivot becomes a little rusty. These "seem perpetually whizzing round for the mere fun of the thing, since any good they do is extremely apt to escape detection." ; The Archimedian Screw ventilator is designed to wind up, as it were, the air and smoke from below; but it also acts as an impedi- ment in calm weather, and, when rusty, in all weathers. A peculiarly hideous monster frowns upon the writer through his office window from the roof of a neighboring shed. It resembles a huge cuttle- fish with an awkward writhing body, and a hundred eyes covering the whole surface of the main trunk and head in the form of large lenses, designed to concentrate the heat of the sun and throw it into the flue. The idea is ingenious, but the effect produced, though striking enough to dismay the beholder without, is inappreciable to the owner within. Though but lately built, and though braced and clamped with plenty of iron stays, it has already a battered and miserable appearance, and seems destined rather to provoke than to appease the wrath of the elements. "In casting one's eye down the long streets of a smoky city, in taking a survey of the roofs and their tormented chimneys, the in- finity of other contrivances is so great that it is scarcely a poetical hyperbole to say our pen starts back from it. Here is patent upon patent, scheme after scheme, each doing its best, no doubt, to obtain the mastery over that simple thing - smoke; and each with a degree of success of a very hopeless amount. There appears to me something intensely ludicrous in these struggles against what seems to be an absurd, but invincible foe; the very element of whose success against us lies in our not strangling him in his birth. Many obstacles are in the way, no doubt; there are obstacles in the way of every good ; The Open Fire-Place. 195 196 The Open FKire-Place. but I have little doubt, that had the perverted ingenuity which has misspent itself upon the chimney-pots been directed to the fire-place, we might have now had a different tale to tell. The smoke nuisance is laughed at as a minor evil, by a great practical people like our- selves, who heroically make up our minds to put up with it; but when it is considered as an item in the comfort, cleanliness, and health of a whole nation, it assumes, or should assume, a different position. The simple Emerson Ventilator, or the late Van Noorden improve- ment on the same, when built of durable materials, serves to adorn rather than to disfigure the building. When several flues side by side are topped with these ventilators, care should be taken to have their mouths or smoke-outlets on the same level, to avoid injury by one to the draught of another. To relieve the monotony and pro- duce a picturesque effect, the form of the caps may then be varied to any extent desirable. Fig. 280 represents the narrow or entrance front of the Library Building already described in connection with Figs. 220 and 229. The effect of a row of eight of these terra-cotta chimney tops with turned shafts is seen in the central chimney. 'The tower chimney is treated as a prominent feature and richly decorated with sculpture. Fig. 231 (one of several designs for the extension of an old country house shown in the upper corner) gives the effect of a chimney surmounted with terra-cotta tops of the same height, showing the manner in which the monotony may be relieved, and the central top made to appear higher and more prominent than the rest, by simply varying the form and height of the caps. f t fitlfi‘aiiifii &C ITT! . wal l ‘_;4_M'i\ Fig. 231. 1 Tomlinson. The Open Fire-Place. 197 RECAPITULATION. We saw in our first chapter how great a waste of fuel is incurred in attempting to heat by means of the open fire-place as it is now constructed. Absurd as it may sound, it is easily demonstrated by reasoning from the experiments there described, that to heat the rooms of a public building, like, say, our State House, to the temper- ature given by the present apparatus, a thousand tons of coal a day burned in open fire-places, without help of other heaters, would not suffice, because the draught has to be supplied entirely by the air at zero from without. If one single immense fire-place could be used to do the work, it would have to be as large as the United States Senate Chamber, a raging fire kept burning in it at a white heat, while the draught induced, if brought through a single opening a couple of meters square, would sweep everything before it with the fury of a hurricane. A fire-place built on such a grand scale would almost pay for its construction in presenting us with a picture of our ex- travagance vivid enough to lead us to attempt a saving; while small fire-places scattered in different buildings, but burning the same amount of fuel at an equal disadvantage, leave us still indifferent. Returning again, with the improvements in mind which we have herebefore described, to our "ideal fire-place," to see how far such a saving is possible, and to what extent the ideal may be realized, we find a REAL FIRE-PLACE, giving us the following :- (1.) All the heat generated by the combustion of the fuel may be utilized in heating and ventilating the house by the use of the dis- tributors, and the combustion of the fuel may be made complete by using the modified form of the fire-place of Touet-Chambor in com- bination with the distributors. (2.) The supply of fresh air introduced into the house, to take the place of the foul air removed, is as pure as the source without from which it is drawn. It is warmed in winter to a temperature some- what below that of the room; may be moistened enough (with or- dinary furnace evaporating-pans attached to the distributor, if neces- sary) to give it its proper hygrometric condition; abundant enough to supply amply the fire, occupants, and gas-burners; so distributed and located at its entrance as to cause no perceptible draught at any point; the gentle air-current so directed that it reaches every part of the room; so steady that no part of it passes twice over the same spot, or can be twice breathed by the occupants; and so regulated by simple valves, like that shown in Figs. 222 and 223, as to be under perfect control. . (8.) The flues include a special gas-ventilator (the left-hand flue in Fig. 220) so arranged that the heat generated by the combustion of the gas is as far as possible retained in the room, and utilized by radiation from the ventilating-pipes attached to the chandeliers (Figs. 149 to 157), while the injurious products of combustion are removed at their source. 198 The Open Fire-Place. (4.) A complete ventilation of the room is effected, both in summer and in winter, without opening doors and windows, by the use of a simple valve. (5.) The chimney being supplied with fresh air, and properly capped when necessary with a Van Noorden ventilator (Fig. 224), and properly constructed as to height and form as described, never smokes. (6.) Finally, the construction of the fire-place and flues is simple; they are sufficiently durable, easily repaired in any part likely to require it, inexpensive, safe, and unobjectionable in appearance. PLATES, KX VILL XV.. PLATE XXVIII Fire-place in the dining-room of the second story of the Hote Cluny, Boston, built in 1877-78, and shown in elevation in the American Architect for August 3, 1878. This room is finished in cherry. The work is elaborately carved, but this is lost in the reproduction on account of the smallness of the scale. al ©0 @ IP \o 0 || <4 [ Egg 13.1 C0®@ ©0@ PLATE XXVIHL PLATE XXIX. Plates XXIX. and XXX. are two unexecuted designs. They are for a country house in stone, shown in perspective in the American Architect for June 10, 1876. Plate XXIX. is for a fire-place of stone and brick combined. The ceiling and sideboards are from Talbert. Win rta e ias got i | r ,/ -= Az» m e 9 IY» rat sces f - -im ag" < xo PLATE XXIX. PEATE XXX. Rustic fire-place in stone between two window niches. E maPl upp S k PLATE T .\‘ T l_ V ® (4. 2 Is 4 ‘Z’CD’ h. 4 p -/ aat c "f— JPP Arckr. PLATE XXXI. Designs for two simple and inexpensive fire-places in wood. The upper figure represents the hall mantel of a house in Salem, re- constructed in 1876. The finish of this hall is in chestnut, which was the wood originally used, The panels are ornamented with carving of natural foliage (chestnut-leaves) and birds. The facing is of buff tiles moulded to correspond with the floral decoration. The opening is 1." 30 square. The lower figure gives the mantel in the hall of a house in An- dover, built in 1877. - It is constructed of face-brick and ash wood. PEXTFE XXXI PLXTE XXXI Library mantel in house on Commonwealth Avenue. The large lamp brackets have ventilating caps, the educt flues being shown in the section and in plan. The material of this fire-place and of the rest of the standing-finish in the room is cherry. - boxtan - PLATE XXXIF PLATE XXXIIL Simple design for mantel and coat closets opposite main staircase in the hall of a sea-side cottage built in 1880. The material is ash. Fire-place in face brick, with tile facings and hearth. ~vmmr ame war- mour I ) HE Fe oil t PLATE XXXIV. Fire-place in the parlor of a house on Commonwealth Avenue. American Architect for April 29, 1880. PLATE XXXIV, PLATE XXXV, Fire-place in the dining-room of the same house.. The room is finished in oak throughout. PLATE XXXV. APPENDIX, HEATING AND VENTILATION OF PRIVATE HOUSES. Fags. 177 to 180 give the first three stories and basement of a four-storied dwelling-house, of which the front elevation is shown in Fig. 183 as previously stated. In planning the heating and ventilating of a house three rules should be observed as of vital importance : - (1.) Every room requiring ventilation ehould have special and "independent provision for both supply and exhaust. (2.) Every exhaust-flue should be provided with a certain and constant supply of heat to act as motive power for such time as it is intended that it should be operative. (3.) This motive heat should be the waste heat used for warming the rooms, cooking, drying, lighting, or performing the regular work of the household 1ndependent "of 'the ventilating. Starting with the Sub Basement or air space under the floors the supply is "obtained from the basement hall through perforations in the floors. The exhaust is accomplished by means of a pipe ten cen- timeters in diameter passing through the basement W. C. and con- necting with the exhaust of this closet. In the Basement (Fig. 179), to begin with the kitchen, the supply of fresh air should be brought in at the hottest point, t. e., near the range. An opening jin the outer wall, over the range, connects with the sheet-iron range hood, which is made double to receive it. The lower piece of iron is painted black to absorb the heat rising from the range. The cold air flows over this, takes up the heat, and enters the kitchen in a thin film or shower from the entire cireumfer- ence of the hood. The air supply is regulated by the expansion and contraction of a metallic rod passing throuorh the range, fire, and ovens, constructed on the principle of an ordmary furnace regulator rod, so that as the fire goes out at night the cold air supply is cut off, and the danger of freezing avoided. - The register is opened and shut by means of a simple lever rod, pivoted so ) that a very minute expansion of the metal suffices. If made at the same time with the range; the cost would be trifling. But after the range is set the de- vice cannot be applied without an outlay greater than is justified by the end; in which case the kitchen supply will have to be obtained in the usual way through door and window-cracks. - The lower 200 Appendix. sheet of the range hood should be lipped up around the edge in the manner shown in the lower rim of the section of the ventilating bell over the chandelier globes shown in Fig. 151. The entrance of the air may then be partially or entirely cut off in very cold weather when the range is in use, by rubber strips or window sand-bags laid over the opening. The kitchen exhaust-pipe starts at the hood, and rises alongside of the kitchen smoke-flue its entire length, as shown in Fig. 187. The pipe should not be less than 30 ecm. in diameter, and should be painted black, so as to absorb as much heat from the range-flue as possible. The hood will then collect all the steam, gases, and smells arising from the cooking, and direct them into this exhaust-flue, whose powerful draught will carry them at once to the roof. As ordinarily constructed, the range hood connects with some so- called brick ventilating flue of insufficient size, built in a cold wall, and is consequently valueless. An ordinary iron hood over a range is liable to become inconveniently hot, and if the head of the cook gets overheated the whole household is likely to suffer. By build- ing it double and allowing the cold air to pass between the surfaces, a part of this heat is taken up in warming the entering air. A gas-ventilating flue in the southeast corner of the kitchen over the sink gas-burner serves as an extra exhaust when this gas is lighted. This burner is provided with a ventilating bell on the prin- ciple of that shown in Fig. 168. Laundry Supply. -The fresh air supply is provided by a furnace hot-air flue. ' The exhaust is a brick flue adjoining the boiler flue, from which it receives its heat. (The drawing incorrectly represents this flue at some distance from the boiler flue, and not in contact with it as it should be.) The gas-burner over the wash-tubs is ventilated into this exhaust-flue in the same manner with the kitchen gas-burner. Drying Room. - The supply is from the laundry. The exhaust is a large brick flue in the side wall heated by the flat-iron heater smoke-pipe of tile contained within it, and by a gas jet ventilated like that in Fig. 170. Furnace Room. - The supply is from the cold-air box, which starts in the front vestibule, as shown in Fig. 178, descends in the waste space of the chimney stack, Fig. 179, and passes under the brick - steps leading from the basement hall to the furnace room. The exhaust is a 10 cm. tin flue, connecting with the drying room exhaust. W. C. The supply is from the back hall through perforations in the lower panels of the door. The exhaust is a tin flue 12 cms. in diameter, which passes along the ceiling of the laundry and connects with the exhaust flue of the first story W. C. The gas-burner with bell is ventilated into this flue. The Soil-Pipe is ventilated by a four-inch iron pipe passing up through the roof. Appendix. : 201 The First Floor (Fig. 178) is ventilated as follows : - Dining-Room Supply. - Fresh air is supplied by a furnace hot-air flue and by a register in the chimney breast connecting with the fresh-air chamber around the distributor. Figs. 190, 208,191, 192, 198, and 194. The exhaust is the open fire-place, whose flue is warmed by the range distributor and flue. Toilet Room. -The supply is a hot-air flue from furnace, and also from distributor chamber of the library fire-place. The exhaust is a continuation of the exhaust-pipe of the W. C. be- low, enlarged to 15 ems. in diameter. The gas-burner is also ventilated into this pipe. The Soil-Pipe Supply. -The soil-pipe is supplied with air through the man-hole over the yard cesspool trap. The exhaust is effected through a four-inch iron soil-pipe passing through the roof. : The Study Supply. -From the distributor chamber over the study ventilating fire-place; also from a hot-air flue of the furnace. Exhaust. - The open fire-place. The gas-burner is ventilated as shown in Fig. 168. The Parloris ventilated in the same way with the dining-room, and as shown in Figs. 181, 182, 187, 188, and 189, the fire-place whose flue is heated by the range-flue when it is not itself in use, acts as exhaust. The Hall. -The supply is the hot-air register from furnace. The exhaust is formed by the exhaust-flues generally throughout the house. The Upper Stories are ventilated throughout after the same prin- ciples, as shown in Figs. 177, 180, and 187. THE ' FIRE ON THE HEARTH *" HEATER, NO. 2. Since the first part of this work was written the "Fire on the Hearth'' heater has been materially improved. Figs. 232 and 233 represent the apparatus as it is now made. The heater is enclosed in a metallic shell or air-chamber which insures close contact of the fresh air with all the heating surfaces and leaves nothing to the care of the mason. The design of the front has also been much improved, making the fire-place one of the best manufactured, especially for offices. THE JACKSON FIRE-PLACE. This ornamental and powerful heater is now manufactured by Edwin A. Jackson, 815 East Twenty-eighth Street, New York. The manufacturers are prepared to furnish with each grate an orna- mental band of metal to diminish the height of the opening at the top after the manner of a narrow blower, for cases where the draught of the chimney is not good. By means of this strip this fire- place may be used with safety even where the chimney draught is feeble. men IIL IIL THE VENTILATING CHANDELIER. Since publishing the descrip- tion and designs of the venti- lating chandeliers referred to in the last chapter, inquiries have been made as to their cost and _____ manufacture. The construction " is attended with no mechanical difficulty other than is due to its novelty. (The size and form Fig. 233. of the ventilating tubes; the precautions necessary to protect them from discoloration under heat ; the proper arrangement of the bells so that the products of combustion shall be carried off without ob- securing the light, and withal the necessity for carrying out the design in an artistic manner, require considerable experience and taste on the part of the manufacturer. The bell over the burners in the chandelier shown in Figs. 149 and 151 has its upper surface con- structed of glass set in ribs of metal radiating from the inner to the outer circle. 'The object of this is to prevent a dark shadow ring being formed on the ceiling. Over each burner a small metallic fun- nel carries the gas products to the ventilating flues. 'These ventilat- ing chandeliers are manufactured by Messrs. Shreve, Crump, & Low, of Boston, under patent rights. , mM Mes: Are d. mows I midine a nin nmr tne rge _> ano #4 ‘a.:...hl\\:(t?i.l:xz