The Mankato Free Press

Friday, September 20, 1918.

STOP ALL HEAT FROM GOING UP THE STACK

HOW IT CAN BE DONE TOLD BY UNCLE SAM'S MEN

Experts Furnish Information Which Is Valuable to the Householder

HOW TO SAVE THE COAL AND STILL KEEP WARM

Philadelphia, September 14.—Various ways to save coal and still keep warm are pointed out by General Committee of the Anthracite Coal Operators in a series of suggestions given out here on conservation of the fuel during the coming winter months. Briefly they are:

Start furnace and kitchen-range fires as late as possible. Forget the first few cool fall days. Raise window curtains during the day to admit sunlight, for that is free heat. Dispense with awnings as they shut out the sun. Weatherstrip all doors and windows and put asbestos around all furnaces, boilers and cellar pipes used for heating purposes. Reduce the home temperature to sixty-seven degrees. Do not wait until the mercury shows seventy-four degrees before closing drafts. By this time that extra amount of coal will have been consumed and wasted according to all economic rules. Bedrooms, where windows are opened for the night or otherwise, should be shut off from heat. Use blankets and feel better in the morning. Wear heavier clothing. This materially saves body heat. Thoroughly clean soot from pipes and boilers and do not mind doing a little work in the cellar seeing that window panes are tight and weather stripped like the other parts of the house. Burn oil, wood, coke and bituminous when possible. Use gas for cooking and heating. Gas lighting at night aids in heating the home, stores and buildings where used. Use heavy draperies on doors and windows for interior home decoration. This aids in husbandry interior heat supply.

Washington, D. C., September 14.—With the same degree of energy, enthusiasm and patriotism as manifested by the women of the United States during the year in saving sufficient wheat to feed all of the allies, the owners of steam plants, and the firemen can save in the next year forty-five million tons of coal, and thereby reduce materially the threatened coal shortage, according to the United States bureau of mines, department of the interior.

In the average steam plant, for every hundred tons of coal burned, only fifty-seven tons are actually used in making steam. The bureau of mines declares that it is entirely feasible to increase the average efficiency of these plants from 57 to 67 percent, saving fifteen tons of coal out of every 100 tons used. As 300,000,000 tons of coal annually are necessary to supply all the steam plants in this country, the same work could be done with 255,000,000 tons, with a saving of about 45,000,000 tons.

Heat Goes Up Stack.

In the average boiler plant, according to the statement of the bureau, 25 per cent of the heat of the coal is lost up the stack. That is, out of every 100 tons of coal burned, the heat of thirty-five tons literally goes up the stack. This loss, which the bureau believes can be greatly reduced, is caused by the admission of too much or too little air to burn the coal properly. It takes fourteen pounds of air to burn one pound of coal and this can be gaged by the use of proper apparatus, which is explained by the bureau of mines in a pamphlet just for the benefit of the firemen.

Using just plain, ordinary intelligence, we can save a minimum of 45,000,000 tons in a year," said Van H. Manning, director of the bureau, yesterday. "The methods to be used are easy and simple to understand. The saving can come through the good will and steady honest effort of the fireman and the engineer and the encouragement and appreciation of the owner or manager of the plant.

All Powders Are Fakes.

There is no miraculous powder that, when dissolved in water and sprinkled over coal, will make it give up more heat and produce more steam. All powders sold under such pretenses are frauds. Also there are no patented devices that, when attached to the boiler, will automatically make large savings without the effort of the fireman or the engineer. Many patented fuel-saving devices have elements of merit, but they must have careful, intelligent attention to do good work.

"When a plant uses $50 to $100 worth of coal a day, efforts to save 10 per cent of it will pay. The days of low priced coals are gone, probably never to return. But whether or not it pays in dollars and cents, it is plainly up to the fireman to save, for what he wastes may be depriving a munitions plant or some other essential war industry of the coal needed to help win the war.

"Owners of power plants, engineers and firemen may obtain complete details of how this fuel may be saved by applying to the Bureau of Mines."