A practical treatise on chimneys : with a few remarks on stoves, the consumption of smoke and coal, ventilation, &c.

Preface

The proper construction of flues, to answer the purposes for which they are intended, is but httle studied and much less understood. I, therefore, presume that a short treatise from one who has had considerable, and I trust successful, experience may be acceptable to persons engaged in building, and advantageous to mankind generally : at least, in so far as what is set forth may be in accordance with the principles of the unerring laws of nature.

The method adopted by most savage nations for carrying off the smoke from their fires is, by a hole in the centre of the conical-formed roof of their huts.

iv PREFACE.

the fire being placed immediately below the aperture. The first improvement which seems to have been made upon this^ was the having a separate division, or apartment, in the building for the fire: with doors communicating from this ^'^fire apartment" with the other parts of the house : by this means the heat was allowed to circulate, and one fire warmed the whole dwelling. In a book, pubhshed in 1776, it is said that flues of that sort were even then common in Scotland.

Chimneys are of comparatively recent use in England; for, in a book, pubhshed during the reign of IJjlizabeth, after remarks upon the modern improvements in living, is mentioned the convenience of chimneys. The author says, " Our forefathers had no chimneys, there was in each dwelling house only a place for a fire; and the smoke went out through a hole in the roof, but now there is scarcely a gentleman's house in England that has not, at least, one chimney in it."

There is also upon record that, during one of

PREFACE.

V

Queen Elizabeths Parliaments, a motion was made reciting that "Many dyers, brewers, smiths, and other artificers of London, had of late taken to the use of pit-coal for fires, instead of M^ood, which filled the air with vapour and smoke, extremely prejudicial to the health, especially of persons coming out of the country, and, therefore moving that a law be passed to prohibit the use of such fuel (at least during the Session of Parliament), by those artificers/' But widely different are the days of Queen Victoria from those of her great predecessor ! At a time like the present, when so many useful objects are accomplished by the use of coal : when, to the bountiful supply we have of it, are we indebted not only for heat and a beautiful light, but, as a great source of wealth to the country in her manufactures and commerce, it could no longer be a question whether the use of coal should be forbidden " during the Session of Parliament but rather in full concurrence with the words of Mr. Rusten to Dr. Franklin, that, " A smoky house and a scolding wife are vi

PREFACE.

(said to be) two of the greatest ills in ]i£e." I would recommend that the " practical question" should be considered : viz. : Admitting coal to be almost amongst the necessaries of life, what are the best means for carrying off the smoke emitted from it ; and what chimneys are best adapted for that purpose as well for ensuring a good system of ventilation ?

An early inclination to attend lectures upon scientific subjects (by which I obtained some slight knowledge of the laws of hydraulics and pneumatics) as well as my own employment in life, has brought me much in contact with these matters, especially since the year 1814, when I made the great improvements in the construction of kitchen ranges, which have stood the test of competition to the present day, and imitations of which have been set forth by many manufacturers as " newly invented self-acting kitchen ranges.^'

Shortly before the time of my invention, a cooking apparatus, or close cooking grate, was patented, which certainly was a cure for smoky chimneys : but

PREFACE. Vll

I contend thatj although these grates may correct one evil, they as certainly bring with them another equally objectionable : for the chimney being almost closed, to cause it to act properly, the excessive unpleasant heat and smells from the heated iron, and particles of grease and other substances, as well as from the cooking generally, which would go up an open flue, cannot escape up a closed one, and hence a considerable portion of the house is rendered disagreeable, besides the kitchen being very unwholesome for want of ventilation : and, if a window be opened in the place where the cooking is performed, the more likely is the unpleasant smell to ascend the staircase, if there is one at hand. I am bold to assert that these close cooking stoves can only be used to advantage in large detached kitchens where the heat would not be oppressive, and, as they consume so very much fuel, where the amount of cooking would be adequate to the amount of the coal consumed.

These, and other objections to the close grates.

vm PREFACE.

have led me constantly to recommend open fire-places for families in general.* I have fitted up many thousands of kitchens with my self-acting open range^ and this has necessarily brought under my notice many so called " smoky chimneys/^ and imposed upon me the necessity of finding a remedy : but^ as prevention is better than cure, I particularly recommend to the "building public^' a due consideration as to the construction of flues.

The following little work makes no pretension to literary or scientific display : for, although originally intended for the law, and descended from ancestors whose sculptures and paintings adorn the Palaces of Prussia's "Kings, Westminster Abbey, &c., I, myself, have been brought up as a practical smith, and have considered the subject before us in a mechanical point of view, treating oi practice rather than theory,

* " When the cottager can afford to purchase a range, having an oven on one side and boiler on the other, the kind which we consider the most suitable is, that first made by Mr. Eckstein of London ; figure 521."— Loudon's " Encyclopaedia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture."

PREFACE. ix

and giving the result of those experiments which, for thirty years, I have prosecuted with untiring energy.

The major part of these pages was written in the autumn of 1849 ; a severe illness and other circumstances caused me to lay aside my work, the subject of which had cost me so much labour, and which will, I hope, alone command a little attention, howsoever feebly it may be treated.

GEORGE FREDERICK ECKSTEIN.

Introduction

Flues^ whether for the cottage or the mansion ; whether for the kitchen or the dressing-room; whether for cooking_, to be performed in the basement of the house, or in an out-building, or, as in many instances it is, in the upper part of the house : whether there be five stories above the kitchen for the smoke to ascend, or whether there be no story at all above the kitchen, the practice is, with few exceptions, to construct the flues of uniform dimensions, except in height, in which they differ according to their situation in the house, or according to the elevation of the house itself. If an engineer is employed to raise water, he constructs the pump according to the quantity required, or height it has to be carried. If in the case of sewers or drains they are usually constructed with reference to the ■quantity of water to be carried off: if an optician is required to supply a telescope, he provides it with glasses of a power

B

INTEODUCTION.

suitable to the purpose for which it is to be used ; but, if a chimney is to be built no consideration is given to the subject, and if perchance it carry off the smoke, all is well, and if it do not, it is called by the builder " a proper flue because it is built in the usual way : though I cannot understand that a chimney is "proper" that does not perform its office, more than a sewer or pump that does not carry off' Or raise the necessary quantity of water.

In the " Architect and Building Operative " of May 24th, 1849, we find the following remark : — " The architect seems to think, if he makes a vertical passage (or tortuous as the case may be) by which the smoke may ascend, if it so pleases, he has done his duty, and if the smoke will not pursue the road he has made for it, why, it is no business of his : the smoke doctor must be sent for ; and now mark the results,^' viz. : giving what the writer calls " an interesting picture,^' a sketch taken from H. U. H. the Duchess of Kent^s town house in St. Jameses Park, with about two dozen curiously formed caps^, or pipes, upon the chimney tops, he then continues : " and certainly this display is not an isolated specimen of the art of smoke-doctoring, for many such distinguish our metropolis, so that a Frenchman remarked to me some time ago, that ' London was not

INTRODUCTION. 3

only the most smoky place he ever beheld ; but, that we made the most of our smoke " and the writer goes on to say that the appearance of such a building " would almost teach the intelligent observer a useful lesson. It is evident that the tubular group has been arranged (?) without any original plan, but by the rule of find out. "

In a work quoted in the preface and published a.d. 1 776, the following occurs. (I will give the passage although I think that too many of my readers may have felt the inconvenience occasioned by the little attention paid to this subject.) If it is necessary in other parts of the world to exclude smoke merely for the sake of personal gratification, it becomes doubly so in Great Britain, where pit coal is the most common sort of fuel, the smoke of which is not only disagreeable, but absolutely noxious as many well-known facts too fatally declare. To guard against these inconveniencies much ingenuity has been exerted, and many contrivances have been adopted for effectually carrying off the smoke from our dwelling houses : but, unfortunately these have been for the most part the inventions of men, who, being unacquainted with the physical causes of the ascent of vapour, were unable to distinguish with certainty those circumstances that were most effectually necessary

4 INTRODUCTION.

for prompting the emission of smoke^ or that tended most powerfully to prevent its going off in a proper manner : hence their efforts have been chiefly directed to improper objects; and the inhabitants of this island feel to their cost^ that in this age, when philosophy has lent its aid towards perfecting almost every other art, the builder of chimneys has been left to grope his way in the dark without an assistant ; and, in almost every instance his attempts to improve upon the practice of his predecessors have been unsuccessful; so that the inhabitants of this country, with justice, complain that the inconveniences felt in new houses from this cause usually are more than sufficient to counterbalance all the elegancies that modern refinement has introduced into the dwellings of individuals.'' This was written nearly a century ago ! How truly does it represent the state of things under which we now suffer, and how astounding is it, when, during the last few years, the arts and sciences have made such rapid strides, and luxury and refinement have attained so high a pitch that that knowledge which should exclude a noxious vapour from our dwellings and do so much towards bringing health and cleanliness to our homes should be, in so great a degree disregarded !

PRACTICAL TREATISE,

ETC.

Chapter I

On the Manner in which Modem Chimneys are usually built, and some of the Methods in Practice to correct those which do not eiFectually carry off the Smoke.

As all bodies are, by the attraction of the earth, drawn towards it, the velocity of their descent being regulated by the space through which they have to pass: and, as water exerts a force agreeable to its height, so the sooty particles emitted from coal (being heavier than air), would also be so drawn, unless acted upon by surrounding causes. As smoke from a camphine or other lamp, when improperly trimmed, will be seen to rise to the upper part of the room, and then to spread under the ceiling, so, when it becomes cool, will it fall on every part of the room.

In some cases, the smoke appears to go oflF entirely ; in others, much soot falls in the apartment where the smoke is generated: hence arises the necessity to inquire why ? I liave said that the sooty particles emitted from coal are heavier than air, and thus it is that they can only ascend when accompanied by warm or rarefied air, which is well known to be lighter than cold air ; so that smoke does not show any disposition to go up a flue, unless that flue be warmer than the room where the fire is, and then only in proportion to the amount of heat created, and the area or length of the chimney.

Some chimneys appear to be always in what is termed a drawing state" (even when there is not any fire, which is, in fact, only the surrounding atmosphere, from its superior weight, pressing to enter the chimney at the bottom, and so driving up before it the warm atmosphere it may there meet) : this arises from some local cause, such as the chimney being in a stack, where there is, at least, one fire throughout the year, or from its being in a south aspect, exposed to the heat of the sun ; but, should that flue become colder than the room (as flues in a north aspect frequently are), then the air will pass down the same, and produce what is usually termed a " downward draught ; " and operators, thinking this the result of a defect in the form of the chimney, try all sorts of experiments to correct it, without perceiving the real cause ; and, as air presses at any angle with the same force, so it will press down a crooked tube with nearly the same velocity as down a straight one, and, therefore, a crooked tube at the top of a chimney cannot have much effect.

As water gives a pressure according to its altitude, so a flue has the power or capabiHty of taking off smoke according to its height. A tall flue will take off more smoke than a shorter one of the same heat (which has the same supply of air) ; therefore, as in many instances, it is extremely inconvenient to make high chimneys, it is necessary to have recourse to art to produce a similar effect.

As a twenty-four inch cube of wood will, if immersed in water, support more weight than one of twelve inches, by displacing eight times as much water; and as a piece of board, twenty-four inches square, will support upon water four times as much as one twelve inches ; or, as a balloon of large dimensions, filled with light gas, will carry up with it more weight than one of less bulk ; or, as a pump with a large barrel wUl, when the bucket or plunger is removed, make a larger vacuum, or will allow more water to follow it, by the pressure of air upon the surface of the water in the well or tank, than a smaller one, so will a flue of large dimensions, when heated, be more powerful than a less one of the same temperature (the case being analogous to the action of water in a pump, &c.), the air in the heated flue being of less specific gravity than that in the room, and being disposed to rise, is closely followed and acted upon by the more dense air in the room pressing forward towards the mouth of the flue. And as hydraulics, hydrostatics, &c., operate in conformity with the laws of nature, may it not be hoped that ere long, chimneys may be constructed with reference to those laws, upon pneumatic principles, and thus render it a certainty that chimneys so built may perform their proper office, rather than, as now, a matter of the greatest uncertainty?

But it is to be remembered, that many matters of science and utility have been neglected for years, or even lives, before the public have adopted them.

I attended Mr. Winsor's lectures upon gas nearly fifty years since. He then used it privately in his house, but even after this a few years elapsed before he could prevail upon the public to sanction or adopt gas for those street lights which have proved so valuable. The first lectures he gave in London were at the Lyceum Theatre, in the Strand (the advertisements to the public were headed " beautiful illuminations from smoke ^^), and afterwards at a house in Pall-mall, where he entreated the aristocracy, and particularly the members of both Houses of Parliament, to visit, gratuitously, and witness the experiments he was making in the above useful production. Mr. Winsor was at considerable expense and trouble, before the present Chartered Gas Light and Coke Company was established, in 1813, and the subject fairly brought into operation.

If proof were wanting of the little attention paid to the causes of smoky chimneys, it would be only necessary to notice that whole stacks, each chimney coming from a diiferent floor in the house, and consequently diffe^nng in length, have long pots, or metal tubes, of equallengths, and often of the most ludicrous forms, put upon them, many of which cannot be cleansed of the soot, except from the top of the house, at considerable risk of damaging the slating, &c. Now it must be evident to any one who will think for a moment upon the subject, that a flue fifty feet long cannot want lengthening so much as one of ten feet j or, if a flue fifty feet long require five feet to be added to make it perfect, surely one of ten feet will require more; or, in other words, if five feet be a sufficient addition to a ten feet flue, surely one of fifty feet will not require any.

Chimneys are intended to carry oflF the smoke generated by any quantity of fuel the grate or fire-place may contain ; therefore the flue should be constructed with reference to the opening of fire-place, or size of the grate to be placed therein.

If chimneys are properly constructed, and a sufficient quantity of air is admitted into the apartment to make up for the deficiency created by the supply of combustion, and for that which is continually rushing up the chimney, they must perform well.

The quantity of air required for a room must differ much, according to the quantity of fire in the grate, the size of the flue, and also the heat of the same ; as the higher the temperature of the air in a chimney, the more rapidly will it ascend, and, consequentl}^, require a larger quantity from the room to make up the deficiency; probably it may average from thirty to sixty cubic feet per minute, and this consumption, or loss of air, must be replaced by some means, as the same quantity must be admitted to the apart' ment.

CAUSES OF " SMOKY CHIMNEYS."

CHAPTER II. On some of the Causes of "Smoky Chimneys."

Cause 1. Chimneys, especially kitchen chimneys, frequently smoke from their being too small. Upon the principle, already set forth, that a pump or sewer must be constructed with reference to the work it has to perform, so a chimney will not act unless it be capable of containing a sufficient quantity of warm, or light, air to allow the smoke generated in the range or grate to be carried up by the pressure of the air from the room.

Cause 2. Is the chimney-pot being too small to allow the free passage of the smoke from a kitchen, or other large fire-place.

Cause 3. Chimneys frequently smoke from their being too short, as in attics ; for, although the openings for the stoves, in that part of the house are usually small, which is an advantage, the flues have not power to contend against the dense air at the top^ and the various currents and eddies occasioned by the wind ; to guard against which, windguards (as they are called) , chimney-caps and tubes are daily advertised, the intent of which being said to prevent the air from passing down the flue, and also to assist the ascent of the same.

Cause 4. A large opening of fire-place, that is to say, an opening disproportionately large to the size of the chimney. As water passes more slowly (which is perceptible) through the wide part of a river, or stream, than it does through the narrow, or under a bridge where the piers, &c., reduce the water-way, the same quantity of water having to pass, so kitchen chimneys, with large openings at bottom, are more disposed to smoke than those with narrow ones, as the air, in entering them, being dispersed over so large a space, the current is not sufficient to carry up the sooty particles with it, and allows much to fall in the room. The air will, however, pass more freely under that part of the chimney breast that is immediately beneath the upright shaft, and the range or grate should be so constructed for the fire part to be as nearly as possible at that point : i. e., towards the right or left of the fire opening as the shaft may be. It is not said with reference to the front part of the grate h&mg forwarder than the shaft.

Cause 5. Chimneys frequently smoke from being in a cold situation ; as in an external wall with only the thickness of half a brick between the flue and the coldj or damp atmosphere, which is very usual in detached houses. Also in low out-buildings where the chimney is carried up alone above the roof, and all sides exposed to the cold, or against a wall with three sides exposed.

Cause 6. In the case of a low chimney being near a high building; where the air, passing over the high building, will drop like a waterfall upon the low chimney ; or, when blowing strong from the contrary point against the high building, will rebound and form an eddy upon the top of the low chimney, and thus impede the free ascent of the smoke from the same.

Cause 7. Is there being two, or more, fire-places to one flue ; which, unless very judiciously arranged, is nearly certain to cause smoke.

In the following Causes" there is no absolute fault in the flues themselves.

Cause 8. Is the want of a proper supply of air : — Many flues and stoves have been condemned as improperly constructed, especially in suites of rooms or offices, where there is but one door leading from the passage, or staircase, and which (when the joiner's work is well executed) is the only admittance for air to support combustion, and to carry off the sooty particles emitted from the coal, the inner apartments depending for their supply upon w^ell fitted windows, or doors, leading from the other rooms which have not any air to spare.

Cause 9. Large rooms having two fire-places, or drawing-rooms communicating by doors ; if one flue is in a warmer stack than the other, or has a stronger fire kept in the fire-place, that one will take away the necessary supply of air from the other, or weaker one, and cause the smoke from it to descend into the room; and should there be no fire in the second grate, it will even draw the smoke down that chimney, from the surrounding chimney -tops, to feed that one fire and flue.

Cause 10. Many chimneys are called " dreadfully smoky" where the fires are seldom lighted, except in the evening, as is frequently the case in bed-chambers and dressing-rooms ; for, at the time the fires are usually required, the house is warm and closely shut up, and there is so much air requisite to supply the different fires, lamps, candles, &c., in other parts of the house, that it is very common for the air to be rushing doAvn the spare chimneys (to supply the others) sufficiently strong to blow out a candle, at the

CAUSES OF ''smoky CHIMNEYs/' v , ; 15'

very time that the fire is required to be lighted^, and the smoke is expected to ascend. Many years back, I constructed two stoves to warm the staircases at the Duke of St. Alban^s, in Stratton-street. They were completed on Christmas Eve, the Duchess had a dinner party on that day, and the house was so warm from the number of fires and other causes, that the air came down the new flues with such force that I could not light the fires in the stoves, but the house was filled with smoke in the attempt, so much so, that if the Duke or Duchess had discovered it, they would, most likely, have ordered the removal of the stoves. I attended, with assistance, the following morning, provided with a quantity of light combustible matter to warm the flues, but it was not wanted, as the house had become cool during the night ; and the fires were lighted without the least difliculty, or any smoke in the house. The best remedy that I know to counteract the downward action of air in a chimney arising from this cause, is, when a fire is required, to shut the door and open the window of the room, and to apply some lighted paper, or other light combustible matter, to the mouth of the chimney, so as to rarefy the air within it, and thereby cause an upward current before lighting the fire. The gentleman who introduced me to his Grace, and who always afterwards employed me upon similar business, told me that I was indebted for the recommendation to the following conversation which he had overheard. He was one day paying some premiums upon policies, at the Sun Fire Office, when another person was giving notice that a descending flue had been erected at his house by me, and that he wished their surveyor to inspect the same as to its safety, in order that the necessary endorsement might be made upon the policy. The clerk replied, that as the flue had been constructed by Mr. Eckstein, he had no doubt as to its perfect safety.

Cause 11. Another annoyance from smoke is sometimes occasioned by the relative situations of the doors and windows in the room ; by which the current of air from a door or window, having an outlet at another door or window, creates a sort of whirlwind, and drives the smoke out of the fire-place into the room before it reaches the chimney breast, as if bellows be used to a fire obliquely, the smoke and flame will be driven to the contrary side of the grate; the flue having no control over the smoke, which fs driven away by a strong current before it reaches the chimney, as the air to supply the flue will pass immediately under the chimney breast, while the smoke is carried away by an under current into the room. '

Cause 12. Another, and a very prevailing annoyance is, the smoke from an adjoining chimney, or from one in an adjoining stack passing down the flues that are entirely out of use, or at the time that there is not any fire in them.

Cause 13. It is not uncommon for chimneys to smoke at the sudden shutting of a door, especially in well-fitted rooms where there is an inadequate supply of air. When a door is opened inwards, it presses the air towards the chimney, and when suddenly shut, the air is drawn back from the chimney into the room, and this wiU generally produce a puff of smoke ; but it must be quite obvious that this will take place in proportion as the room may be small or large ; the less the size of the room the more will be the inconvenience felt, as the air admitted by the opening of the door, or displaced by the shutting of it, will bear a larger proportion to the quantity of air contained in the room.

Cause 14. Many chimneys smoke from not having been properly cored at the time of the building of the house ; that is to say, before the house is occupied ; and the same effect is produced by flues being inefficiently swept when in use.

ON DESCENDING FLUES.

Chapter III

Practical Experiments in the building and correcting Descending Flues.

The principle upon which, smoke is carried off from the fire-grate, being that it is buoyed up by, or ascends in company with, heated or hght air ; it is evident that there must be some difficulty in obtaining the contrary effect, viz., in causing the heated air to descend a flue, and which it will only do when acted upon by a powerful ascending shaft, &c.

In the detail of experiments about to be given in this chapter, many of the difficulties of these flues will be exemphfied. For entrance halls, and other parts of buildings, however, where heat is required, and no provision is made for a chimney or fire-place, it is frequently expedient to have recourse to a descending flue.