t not only take away some of the
drudgery of furnace tending but, in the long run, actually save money
in coal bills. One of these is the mechanical stoker which is
electrically driven and burns the finest size of coal. Another way of
reducing the coal bill is to install an electric blower. This, as its
name implies, is a forced draft controlled by a thermostat, and with
it the cheaper grades of coal can be used. Incidentally, any
coal-burning furnace that gets to sulking can be made to respond by
placing an ordinary electric fan before the open ash pit. We have done
this with a pipeless furnace and have been able to burn the cheaper
buckwheat coal almost entirely as a result.

There appears to be no mechanical device for removing the ashes out of
the cellar. So, if the householder puts in a coal burning steam or hot
water plant as a matter of economy, and then in a few years covets an
oil burner, it is perfectly practical and possible to have one
installed in his furnace. Whatever the fuel, make sure enough
radiation is provided with steam or hot water plants to heat the house
evenly and adequately in the coldest weather according to your ideas
rather than the plumber's. He is usually a hardy individual who
considers 68 degrees warm enough for any one. Theoretically it may be.
Actually most people are more comfortable at a room temperature of
from two to four degrees higher.

Cheapest of all to install and operate is the pipeless furnace. This
is hardly more than a large stove set in the cellar. An ample register
in the floor directly above it is connected to a galvanized iron
casing that surrounds the fire pot. It is divided so that cool air
from the house itself is drawn downward, heated, and then forced
upward again. This system will not work well in a house equipped with
wings or additions so placed that the air from the central register
cannot penetrate. It is particularly effective in a house with a
central hall.

In the 18th century compact house with central chimney, the pipeless
furnace register can be set in the small front entrance and another
register cut in the ceiling directly above it. This carries part of
the heat to the second floor and so makes for better distribution of
the warm air. As already stated, such a furnace is quite inexpensive
and so easy to install that the average handy man will not find it too
complicated. We put one in our country home some eight years ago
merely as a means of keep