Often in cold weather with this poor way of night firing, it takes one or more hours of forced firing to warm the house in the morning, and all the coal saved the night before is more than used to get the house or building “heated up”—while the people who should be comfortable have to get up, bathe and take breakfast in chilly rooms. At no time in the day is heat more wanted than about the time of getting up and starting the day. A fire well cared for late in the evening makes a warm house all night. And so it follows that it is much easier to add a little more heat in the morning. And surely less coal is burned, for the forcing of a fire part of the time often overheats, and wastes coal.
First-day Firing.
—In the morning of moderate winter weather, with the ash-pit draft damper open, before adding any coal allow the fire to brighten up if it seems to be low; then (for such conditions) spread over a thin layer of fresh coal and set the drafts for a brisk fire. After the new fire is well started add as much coal as may be necessary to last until next firing. Do not shake much if any—just enough to give space for more coal. Then by setting the regulator (if one is used), or, by closing the ash-pit draft damper and opening the cold-air check damper a little, the boiler should keep up its work until the next firing time.
In severe weather, if the boiler has been attended to at night as directed in the section on “night firing,” the drafts can be turned on and the boiler run for half an hour before adding coal. Or, if more convenient to give it immediate attention, the grate can be thoroughly shaken and enough coal added to last until mid-day. Often the cold-air check damper will need to be entirely closed and the ash-pit draft damper partly open if the heater is a water boiler. If a steam boiler, the regulator should then be set to maintain the number of pounds of pressure wanted and so left.
Other-day Firing.
—In severe weather more coal should be added about noon, sometimes the draft may be left on for a few minutes and then checked. And in such weather it is often well to give the boiler further attention at five or six o’clock. In severest weather the boiler should not be attended more than four times a day; and generally not less than three times.
Often much coal is wasted by “nagging” the fire—poking, shaking and feeding it until it becomes “dyspeptic.” A sure cure is a little common sense in regular feeding, etc.
Economy and Fuels.
—In running many boilers for moderate weather better results follow if the grate is not shaken too much or too often. Sometimes in moderate weather a body of ashes on the grate checks the fire and there is enough heat without a useless burning of fuel. Many houses are overheated in moderate weather and too much coal burned by running the boiler as for zero weather.
So we repeat—it is not wise to overshake or overfeed a boiler in moderate weather. The fire should be in such shape that if a change comes at night there is a basis for a good fire to start on. When the grate is shaken but once during the 24 hours (during moderate weather) late at night is the best time.