Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 January 1875 — Economy of Fuel. [ARTICLE]

Economy of Fuel.

To realize the question of economy of fuel it is necessary to consider in tfie first place what a given quantity of fuel is capable of doing. As regards hot water, if water is kept at a temperature of 200 degrees, or from that to 210 degrees, the gases from the fire can, after communicating the heat to the boiler, pass off into the chimney at a temperature of little beyond that point; but if the water be allowed to boil in the first place a large amount of latent heat is absorbed by the steam, which is lost if the steam passes off into the air or the chimney, and, in the second place, it will be found that the gases, after they pass off from the boiler, will have a temperature of as mqch as 300, 400, and even 500 degrees. Unless, therefore, water is required to be actually boiling for use, if the water is ’permitted to boil, a great quantity of heat is wasted up the chimney. For household purposes it is never necessary that the water in the boiler should exceed 200 degrees. Tea, to be good, should be made (as clearly shown by Francis Galton in his “ Art of Travel”) with water of temperature of from 180 to 200 degrees. Very few culinary operations require the water really to boil, and, when boiling water is wanted, it is required in a saucepan standing on the fire. All operations of cleaning, etc. (except washing clothes), require water at a very much lower temperature than 212 degrees. If, however, water at a higher temperature is wanted, it’can be supplied up to about 230 degrees without the generation of steam, by heating it under pressure; this can be attained by having a close boiler fed from a cistern placed at the top of the house. For the preparation of preserves and some other cooking operations such a system is most convenient?— The Housekeeper.