...You're Going To Find...
I was out and about looking at homes with a buyer client, recently. This will be their 1st home purchase. Prices have shot up so finding something in reasonable condition in the below $350K price point can be challenging. We did happen upon 1 property. It was an estate sale. The owner's heirs cleaned the property up, removed all the knob and tube electric & added 200 amp electric service then placed it on the market.
Substantial work needed to be done. A 203-K rehab loan would be needed. To do it right it would pretty much need to be gutted. When we ventured to the cellar this is what we found. AND it was STILL Operational!! Circa very early 1900's. The home was constructed in 1900. Maybe it's even original???? These days it was running on oil.
I was showing the picture to an old high school buddy and this is what he shared with me.
"It is a converted coal burner and has been upgraded twice The original conversion was a fluid bed where a float valve controlled the depth of the fuel oil and a 6-inch diameter horizontal fan threw the oil to the boiler walls and also into the intake air
They were very hot and very fairly economical to run.
This gun type burner replaced the earlier fluid bed it required a fire brick impact wall so it wouldn't burn through the boiler's back wall, When it was a coal burner the top big door was the feeder the smaller 5x10 door was the shaker door and bottom where the gun burner is located was the clinker, ash removal and air intake door.
Most often setup as steam with radiators very few saw a Circulated hot water conversion It was too expensive in most cases and was the demise of the upright Fireman boiler. IT IS CORRECTLY DESCRIBED AS AN INCLINE WATER BOILER. When the water condenses in the radiators the water is returned by gravity through an inclined piping system back to the boiler."
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