Essays; Political, Economical, and Philosophical Part 24

The best materials I have hitherto been able to discover are fire-stone, and common bricks and mortar. Both these materials are, fortunately, very cheap; and as to their comparative merits, I hardly know to which of them the preference ought to be given.

When bricks are used they should be covered with a thin coating of plaster, which, when it is become perfectly dry, should be white-washed. The fire-stone should likewise be white washed, when that is used; and every part of the Fire-place, which is not exposed to being soiled and made black by the smoke, should be kept as white and clean as possible. As WHITE reflects more heat, as well as more light than any other colour, it ought always to be preferred for the inside of a Chimney Fire-place, and BLACK, which reflects neither light nor heat should be most avoided.

I am well aware how much the opinion I have have ventured to give, respecting the unfitness of iron and other metals to be employed in the construction of open Fire-places, differs from the opinion generally received upon that subject;--and I even know that the very reason which, according to my ideas of the matter, renders them totally unfit for the purpose, is commonly a.s.signed for making use of them, namely, that they soon grow very hot. But I would beg leave to ask what advantage is derived from heating them?

I have shown the disadvantage of it, namely, that the quant.i.ty of radiant heat thrown into the room is diminished;--and it is easy to show that almost the whole of that absorbed by the metal is ultimately carried up the Chimney by the air, which, coming into contact with this hot metal, is heated and rarefied by it, and forcing its way upwards, goes off with the smoke; and as no current of air ever sets from any part of the opening of a Fire-place into the room, it is impossible to conceive how the heat existing in the metal composing any part of the apparatus of the Fire-place, and situated within its cavity, can come, or be brought into the room.

This difficulty may be in part removed, by supposing, what indeed seems to be true in a certain degree, that the heated metal sends off rays, the heat it acquires from the fire, even when it is not heated red hot; but still, as it never can be admitted that the heat, absorbed by the metal and afterwards thrown off by it in rays, is INCREASED by this operation, nothing can be gained by it; and as much must necessary be lost in consequence of the great quant.i.ty of heat communicated by the hot metal to the air in contact with it, which, as has already been shown, always makes its way up the Chimney, and flies off into the atmosphere, the loss of heat attending the use of it is too evident to require being farther insisted on.

There is, however, in Chimney Fire-places destined for burning coals, one essential part, the grate, which cannot well be made of any thing else but iron; but there is no necessity whatever for that immense quant.i.ty of iron which surrounds grates as they are now commonly constructed and fitted up, and which not only renders them very expensive, but injures very essentially the Fire-place. If it should be necessary to diminish the opening of a large Chimney in order to prevent its smoking, it is much more simple, economical, and better in all respects, to do this with marble, fire-stone, or even with bricks and mortar, than to make use of iron, which, as has already been shown, is the very worst material that can possibly be employed for that purpose; and as to registers, they not only are quite unnecessary, where the throat of a Chimney is properly constructed, and of proper dimensions, but in that case would do much harm. If they act at all, it must be by opposing their flat surfaces to the current of rising smoke in a manner which cannot fail to embarra.s.s and impede its motion. But we have shown that the pa.s.sage of the smoke through the throat of a Chimney ought to be facilitated as much as possible, in order that it may be enabled to pa.s.s by a small aperture.

Register-stoves have often been found to be of use, but it is because the great fault of all Fire-places constructed upon the common principles being the enormous dimensions of the throat of the Chimney, this fault has been in some measure corrected by them; but I will venture to affirm, that there never was a Fire-place so corrected that would not have been much more improved, and with infinitely less expence, by the alterations here recommended, and which will be more particularly explained in the next Chapter.

CHAPTER. II.

Practical directions designed for the use of workmen, showing how they are to proceed in making the alterations necessary to improve chimney fire-places, and effectually to cure smoking chimnies.

All Chimney Fire-places, without exception, whether they are designed for burning wood or coals, and even those which do not smoke, as well as those which do, may be greatly improved by making the alterations in them here recommended; for it is by no means MERELY to prevent Chimnies from smoking that these improvements are recommended, but it is also to make them better in all other respects as Fire-places; and when the alterations proposed are properly executed, which may be very easily be done with the a.s.sistance of the following plain and simple directions, the Chimnies will never fail to answer, I will venture to say, even beyond expectation. The room will be heated much more equally and more pleasantly with LESS THAN HALF THE FUEL used before, the fire will be more cheerful and more agreeable; and the general appearance of the Fire-place more neat and elegant, and the Chimney WILL NEVER SMOKE.

The advantages which are derived from mechanical inventions and contrivances are, I know, frequently accompanied by disadvantages which it is not always possible to avoid; but in the case in question, I can say with truth, that I know of no disadvantage whatever that attends the Fire-places constructed upon the principles here recommended. --But to proceed in giving directions for the construction of these Fire-places.

That what I have to offer on this subject may be the more easily understood, it will be proper to begin by explaining the precise meaning of all those technical words and expressions which I may find it necessary or convenient to use.

By the THROAT of a Chimney, I mean the lower extremity of its ca.n.a.l, where it unites with the upper part of its open Fire-place.

--This throat is commonly found about a foot above the level of the lower part of the mantle, and it is sometimes contracted to a smaller size than the rest of the ca.n.a.l of the Chimney, and sometimes not.

Fig. 5. shows the section of a Chimney on the common construction, in which d e is the throat.

Fig. 6. shows the section of the same Chimney altered and improved, in which d i is the reduced throat.

The BREAST of a Chimney, is that part of it which is immediately behind the mantle.--It is the wall which forms the entrance from below into the throat of the Chimney in front, or towards the room.--It is opposite to the upper extremity of the back of the open Fire-place, and parallel to it; in short it may said to be the back part of the mantle itself.--In the figures 5 and 6, it is marked by the letter d. The WIDTH of the throat of Chimney (d e fig. 5, and d i fig. 6,) is taken from the breast of the Chimney to the back, and its LENGTH is taken at right angles to its width, or in a line parallel to the mantle (a fig. 5. and 6.).

Before I proceed to give particular directions respecting the exact forms and dimensions of the different parts of a Fire-place, it may be useful to make such general an practical observations upon the subject as can be clearly understood without the a.s.sistance of drawings; for the more complete the knowledge of any subject is which can be acquired without drawings, the more easy will it be to understand the drawings when it becomes necessary to have recourse to them.

The bringing forward of the Fire into the room, or rather bringing it nearer to the front of the opening of the Fire-place;--and the diminishing of the throat of the Chimney, being two objects princ.i.p.ally had in view in the alterations in Fire-places here recommended, it is evident that both these may be attained merely by bringing forward the back of the Chimney.

--The only question therefore is, how far it should be brought forward?--The answer is short, and easy to be understood;--bring it forward as far as possible, without diminishing too much the pa.s.sage which must be left for the smoke. Now as this pa.s.sage, which, in its narrowest part, I have called the THROAT OF THE CHIMNEY, ought, for reasons which are fully explained in the foregoing Chapter, to be immediately, or perpendicularly over the Fire, it is evident that the back of the Chimney must always be built perfectly upright.--To determine therefore the place for the new back, or how far precisely it ought to be brought forward, nothing more is necessary than to ascertain how wide the throat of the Chimney ought to be left, or what s.p.a.ce must be left, between the top of the breast of the Chimney, where the upright ca.n.a.l of the Chimney begins, and the new back of the Fire-place carried up perpendicularly to that height.

In the course of my numerous experiments upon Chimnies, I have taken much pains to determine the width proper to be given to this pa.s.sage, and I have found, that, when the back of the Fire-place is of a proper width, the best width for the throat of a Chimney, when the Chimney and the Fire-place are at the usual form and size, is FOUR INCHES.--Three inches might sometimes answer, especially where the Fire-place is very small, and the Chimney good, and well situated: but as it is always of much importance to prevent those accidental puffs of smoke which are sometimes thrown into rooms by the carelessness of servants in putting on suddenly too many coals at once upon the fire, and as I found these accidents sometimes happened when the throats of Chimneys were made very narrow, I found that, upon the whole, all circ.u.mstances being well considered, and advantages and disadvantages compared and balanced, FOUR INCHES is the best width that can be given to the throat of a chimney; and this, whether the Fire-place be destined to burn wood, coals, turf, or any other fuel commonly used for heating rooms by an open fire.

In Fire-places destined for heating very large halls, and where very great fires are kept up, the throat of the Chimney may, if it should be thought necessary, be made four inches and an half, or five inches wide;--but I have frequently made Fire-places for halls which have answered perfectly well where the throats of the Chimnies have not been wider than four inches.

It may perhaps appear extraordinary, upon the first view of the matter, that Fire-places of such different sizes should all require the throat of the Chimney to be of the same width; but when it is considered that the CAPACITY of the throat of a Chimney does not depend on its width alone, but on its width and LENGTH taken together; and that in large Fire-places, the width of the back, and consequently the length of the throat of the Chimney, is greater than in those which are smaller, this difficulty vanishes.

And this leads us to consider another important point respecting open Fire-places, and that is, the width which it will, in each case, be proper to give to the back.--In Fire-places as they are now commonly constructed, the back is of equal width with the opening of the Fire-place in front;--but this construction is faulty on two accounts.--First, in a Fire-place, so constructed, the sides of the Fire-place, or COVINGS, as they are called, are parallel to each other, and consequently ill-contrived to throw out into the room the heat they receive from the fire in the form of rays;--and secondly, the large open corners which are formed by making the back as wide as the opening of the Fire-place in front occasion eddies of wind, which frequently disturb the fire, and embarra.s.s the smoke in its ascent in such a manner as often to bring it into the room.--Both these defects may be entirely remedied by diminishing the width of the back of the Fire-place.

--The width which, in most cases, it will be best to give it, is ONE THIRD of the width of the opening of the Fire-place in front.--But it is not absolutely necessary to conform rigorously to this decision, nor will it always be possible.--It will frequently happen that the back of a Chimney must be made wider than, according to the rule here given, it ought to be.--This may be, either to accommodate the Fire-place to a stove, which being already on hand, must, to avoid the expense of purchasing a new one, be employed; or for other reasons;--and any small deviation from the general rule will be attended with no considerable inconvenience.--It will always be best, however, to conform to it as far as circ.u.mstances will allow.

Where a Chimney is designed for warming a room of a middling size, and where the thickness of the wall of the Chimney in front, measured from the front of the mantle to the breast of the Chimney, is nine inches, I should set off four inches more for the width of the throat of the Chimney, which, supposing the back of the Chimney to be built upright, as it always ought to be, will give thirteen inches for the depth of the Fire-place, measured upon the hearth, from the opening of the Fire-place in front, to the back.--In this case thirteen inches would be a good size for the width of the back; and three times thirteen inches, or thirty-nine inches, for the width of the opening of the Fire-place in front; and the angle made by the back of the Fire-place and the sides of it, or covings, would be just 135 degrees, which is the best position they can have for throwing heat into the room.

But I will suppose that in altering such a Chimney it is found necessary, in order to accommodate the Fire-place to a grate or stove already on hand, to make the Fire-place sixteen inches wide. -- In that case, I should merely increase the width of the back, to the dimensions required, without altering the depth of the Chimney, or increasing the width of the opening of the Chimney in front. --The covings, it is true, would be somewhat reduced in their width, by this alteration; and their position with respect to the plane of the back of the Chimney would be a little changed; but these alterations would produce no bad effects of any considerable consequence, and would be much less likely to injure the Fire-place, than an attempt to bring the proportions of its parts nearer to the standard, by increasing the depth of the Chimney, and the width of its opening in front;--or than an attempt to preserve that particular obliquity of the covings which is recommended as the best, (135 degrees,) by increasing the width of the opening of the Fire-place, without increasing its depth.

In order to ill.u.s.trate this subject more fully, we will suppose one case more.--We will suppose that in the Chimney which is to be altered, the width of the Fire-place in front is either wider or narrower than it ought to be, in order that the different parts of the Fire-place, after it is altered, may be of the proper dimensions. In this case, I should determine the depth of the Fire-place, and the width of the back of it, without any regard to the width of the opening of the Fire-place in front; and when this is done, if the opening of Fire-place should be only two or three inches too wide, that is to say, only two or three inches wider than is necessary in order that the covings may be brought into their proper position with respect to the back, I should not alter the width of this opening, but should accommodate the covings to this width, by increasing their breadth, and increasing the angle they make with the back of the Fire-place; but if the opening of the Fire-place should be more than three inches too wide; --I should reduce it to the proper width by slips of stone, or by bricks and mortar.

When the width of the opening of the Fire-place, in front, is very great, compared with the depth of the Fire-place, and with the width of the back, the covings in that case being very wide, and consequently very oblique, and the Fire-place very shallow, any sudden motion of the air in front of the Fire-place, (that motion, for instance, which would be occasioned by the clothes of a woman pa.s.sing hastily before the fire, and very near it,) would be apt to cause eddies in the air, WITHIN THE OPENING OF THE FIRE-PLACE, by which puffs of smoke might easily be brought into the room. Should the opening of the Chimney be too narrow, which however will very seldom be found to be the case, it will, in general, be advisable to let it remain as it is, and to accommodate the covings to it, rather to attempt to increase its width, which would be attended with a good deal of trouble, and probably a considerable expence.

From all that has been said it is evident, that the points of the greatest importance, and which ought most particularly to be attended to, in altering Fire-places upon the principles here recommended, are, the bringing forward the back to its proper place, and making it of a proper width.--But it is time that I should mention another matter upon which it is probable that my reader is already impatient to receive information.--Provision must be made for the pa.s.sage of the Chimney-sweeper up the Chimney.--This may easily be done in the following manner:-- In building up the new back of the Fire-place; when this wall, (which need never be more than the width of a single brick in thickness,) is brought up so high that there remains no more than about ten or eleven inches between what is then the top of it, and the inside of the mantle, or lower extremity of the breast of the Chimney, an opening, or door-way, eleven or twelve inches wide, must be begun in the middle of the back, and continued quite to the top of it, which, according to the height to which it will commonly be necessary to carry up the back, will make the opening about twelve or fourteen inches high; which will be quite sufficient to allow the Chimney-sweeper to pa.s.s. When the Fire-place is finished, this door-way is to be closed by a few bricks, by a tile, or a fit piece of stone, placed in it, dry, or without mortar, and confined in its place by means of a rabbet made for that purpose in the brick-work.--As often as the Chimney is swept, the Chimney-sweeper takes down this temporary wall, which is very easily done, and when he has finished his work, he puts it again into its place.--The annexed drawing (No. 6.) will give a clear idea of this contrivance; and the experience I have had of it has proved that it answers perfectly well the purpose for which it is designed.

I observed above, that the new back, which it will always be found necessary to build in order to bring the fire sufficiently forward, in altering a Chimney constructed on the common principles, need never be thicker than the width of a common brick.--I may say the same of the thickness necessary to be given to the new sides, or covings, of the Chimney; or if the new back and covings are constructed of stone, one inch and three quarters, or two inches in thickness will be sufficient.--Care should be taken in building up these new walls to unite the back to the covings in a solid manner.

Whether the new back and covings are constructed of stone, or built of bricks, the s.p.a.ce between them, and the old back and covings of the Chimney ought to be filled up, to give greater solidity to the structure.--This may be done with loose rubbish, or pieces of broken bricks, or stones provided the work be strengthened by a few layers or courses of bricks laid in mortar; but it will be indispensably necessary to finish the work, where these new walls end, that is to say, at the top of the throat of the Chimney, where it ends abruptly in the open ca.n.a.l of the Chimney by a horizontal course of bricks well secured with mortar.

--This course of bricks will be upon a level with the top of the door-way left for the Chimney-sweeper.

From these descriptions it is clear that where the throat of the Chimney has an end, that is to say, where it enters into the lower part of the open ca.n.a.l of the Chimney, THERE the three walls which form the two covings and the back of the Fire-place all end abruptly.--It is of much importance that they should end in this manner; for were they to be sloped outward and raised in such a manner as to swell out the upper extremity of the throat of the Chimney in the form of a trumpet, and increase it by degrees to the size of the ca.n.a.l of the Chimney, this manner of uniting the lower extremity of the ca.n.a.l of the Chimney with the throat would tend to a.s.sist the winds which may attempt to blow down the Chimney, in forcing their way through the throat, and throwing the smoke backward into the room; but when the throat of the Chimney ends abruptly, and the ends of the new walls form a flat horizontal surface, it will be much more difficult for any wind from above, to find, and force its way through the narrow pa.s.sage of the throat of the Chimney.

As the two walls which form the new covings of the Chimney are not parallel to each other; but inclined, presenting an oblique surface towards the front of the Chimney, and as they are built perfectly upright and quite flat, from the hearth to the top of the throat, where they end, it is evident that an horizontal section of the throat will not be an oblong square; but its deviation from that form is a matter of no consequence; and no attempts should ever be made, by twisting the covings above, where they approach the breast of the Chimney, to bring it to that form.--All twists, bends, prominences, excavations, and other irregularities of form, in the covings of a Chimney, never fail to produce eddies in the current of air which is continually pa.s.sing into, and through an open Fire-place in which a fire is burning;--and all such eddies disturb, either the fire, or the ascending currents of smoke, or both; and not unfrequently cause the smoke to be thrown back into the room.--Hence it appears, that the covings of Chimneys should never be made circular, or in the form of any other curve; but always quite flat.

For the same reason, that is to say, to prevent eddies, the breast of the Chimney, which forms that side of the throat that is in front, or nearest to the room, should be nearly cleaned off, and its surface made quite regular and smooth.

This may easily be done by covering it with a coat of plaster, which may be made thicker or thinner in different parts as may be necessary in order to bring the breast of the Chimney to be of the proper form.

With regard to the form of the breast of a Chimney, this is a matter of very great importance, and which ought always to be particularly attended to.--The worst form it can have is that of a vertical plane, or upright flat;--and next to this the worst form is an inclined plane.--Both these forms cause the current of warm air from the room, which will, in spite of every precaution, sometimes find its way into the Chimney, to cross upon the current of smoke, which rises from the fire, in a manner most likely to embarra.s.s it in its ascent, and drive it back.

--The inclined plane which is formed by a flat register placed in the throat of a Chimney produces the same effects; and this is one reason, among many others, which have induced me to disapprove of register stoves.

The current of air, which, pa.s.sing under the mantle, gets into the Chimney, should be made GRADUALLY TO BEND ITS COURSE UPWARDS, by which means it will be QUIETLY with the ascending current of smoke, and will be less likely to check it, or force it back into the room.--Now this may be effected with the greatest ease and certainty, merely by ROUNDING OFF the breast of the Chimney or back part of the mantle, instead of leaving it flat, or full of holes and corners; and this of course ought always to be done.

I have hitherto given no precise directions in regard to the height to which the new back and covings ought to be carried:-- This will depend not only on the height of the mantle, but also, and more especially, on the height of the breast of the Chimney, or of that part of the Chimney where the breast ends and the upright ca.n.a.l begins.--The back and covings must rise a few inches, five or six for instance, higher than this part, otherwise the throat of the Chimney will not be properly formed:--but I know of no advantages that would be gained by carrying them up still higher.

I mentioned above, that the s.p.a.ce between the walls which form the new back and covings, and the old back and sides of the Fire-place, should be filled up:--but this must not be understood to apply to the s.p.a.ce between the wall of dry bricks, or the tile which closes the pa.s.sage for the Chimney-sweeper, and the old back of the Chimney; for that s.p.a.ce must be left void, otherwise, though this tile (which at most will not be more than two inches in thickness,) were taken away, there would not be any room sufficient for him to pa.s.s.

In forming this door-way, the best method of proceeding is to place the tile or flat piece of stone destined for closing it, in its proper place; and to build round it, or rather by the sides of it; taking care not to bring any mortar near it, in order that it may be easily removed when the door-way is finished.--With regard to the rabbet which should be made in the door-way to receive it and fix it more firmly in its place, this may either be formed at the same time when the door-way is built, or it may be made after it is finished, by attaching to its bottom and sides, with strong mortar, pieces of thin roof tiles. Such as are about half an inch in thickness will be best for this use; if they are thicker, they will diminish too much the opening of the door-way, and will likewise be more liable to be torn away by the Chimney-sweeper in pa.s.sing up and down the Chimney.

It will hardly be necessary for me to add, that the tile, or flat stone, or wall of dry bricks, which is used for closing up the door-way, must be of sufficient height to reach quite up to a level with the top of the walls which form the new back and covings of the Chimnies.

I ought, perhaps, to apologize for having been so very particular in these description and explanations, but it must be remembered that this chapter is written princ.i.p.ally for the information of those who, having had few opportunities of employing their attention in abstruse philosophical researches, are not sufficiently practised in these intricate investigations, to seize, with facility, new ideas;--and consequently, that I have frequently been obliged TO LABOUR to make myself understood.

I have only to express my wishes that my reader may not be more FATIGUED with this labour than I have been;--for we shall them most certainly be satisfied with each other.--But to return once more to the charge.

There is one important circ.u.mstance respecting Chimney Fire-places, destined for burning coals, which still remains to be farther examined;--and that is the Grate.

Although there are few grates that may not be used in Chimneys constructed or altered upon the principles here recommended, yet they are not, by any means, all equally well adapted for that purpose.--Those whose construction is the most simple, and which of course are the cheapest, are beyond comparison the best, ON ALL ACCOUNTS.--Nothing being wanted in these Chimnies but merely a grate for containing the coals, and in which they will burn with a clear fire;--and all additional apparatus being, not only useless, but very pernicious, all complicated and expensive grates should be laid aside, and such as more simple subst.i.tuted in the room of them.--And in the choice of a grate, as in every thing else, BEAUTY and ELEGANCE may easily be united with the MOST PERFECT SIMPLICITY.--Indeed they are incompatible with every thing else.

In placing the grate, the thing princ.i.p.ally to be attended to is, to make the back of it coincide with the back of the Fire-place;-- but as many of the grates now in common use will be found to be too large, when the Fire-places are altered and improved, it will be necessary to diminish their capacities by filling them up at the back and the sides with pieces of fire-stone. When this is done, it is the front of the flat piece of fire-stone which is made to form a new back to the grate, which must be made to coincide with, and make part of the back, of the Fire-place.-- But in diminishing the capacities of grates with pieces of fire-stone, care must be taken not to make them TOO NARROW.

The proper width for grates destined for rooms of a middling size will be from six to eight inches, and their length may be diminished more or less, according as the room is heated with more or less difficulty, or as the weather is more or less severe.

--But where the width of a grate is not more than five inches, it will be very difficult to prevent the fire from going out.

It goes out for the same reason that a live coal from the grate that falls upon the hearth soon ceases to be red hot;--it is cooled by the surrounding cold air of the atmosphere.-- The knowledge of the cause which produces this effect is important, as it indicates the means which may be used for preventing it.

--But of this subject I shall treat more fully hereafter.