Stove putty is composed of finely divided graphitic carbon that is made into a paste suitable for filling all imperfect joints. When the putty hardens it withstands the heat to which it is subjected, without shrinking. In the course of time, however, the putty may be displaced and leave openings through which the furnace gases may leak into heating space and thus enter the house. Leaks of the kind may be stopped by renewing the putty which may be obtained from any dealer in stoves.
Location of the Furnace.
—The location of the furnace will generally be governed by the exposure of the house and the location of the chimney. In all exposed rooms on the windward side of the house the temperature will be lower and the air pressure higher than in other parts of the house. The increase in atmospheric pressure makes it necessary to supply to such rooms the hottest air practicable. The conducting pipes, therefore, should be most directly connected with the furnace and with the least run of horizontal pipe. The proper place for the furnace is as near as possible the coldest place of the house.
It is a common practice to place registers near the inner corner of the room, in order to economize in conducting pipe, in horizontal runs. A small amount of economy in first cost is thus secured but the efficiency of the apparatus is sacrificed.
The greatest objection to placing the registers and conducting pipes in the outer walls of buildings is that of loss of heat, due to exposure to the outside cold and the resulting loss in circulation. Losses of this kind may be prevented by covering the ducts with the necessary non-conducting material. The registers should occupy a place in the room nearest the entering cold air.
Fig. 46.—Method of conducting warm air from the furnace to the registers.
Flues.
—It is customary to place the conducting pipes for the first floor in such a way as to use only the shortest connections. The flues used for the second floor produce, as in a chimney, a greater velocity of flow to the air and as a consequence larger horizontal pipes are used at the furnace. All horizontal pipes should have upward slant, as much as the basement will permit.
The velocity of the air in the conducting flues will depend on two factors: the height of the flue, and the temperature of the air. To prevent the loss of the temperature of the air, the flue should be covered with at least two layers of asbestus paper bound with wire. Wall flues are commonly flattened and occupy a place in the wall between the studding. Each flue should have a damper at the furnace, that will permit the heat to be shut off from any part of the house.