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Coal Furnaces and Ovens
Coal offered
advantages over wood as a fuel for heating. This black fuel burned
much longer than wood at an even intensity,1
and the right grades of domestic coal would produce hardly any
smoke.2 In and around
coal mining communities, the black fuel was also inexpensive and
readily available. Special furnaces and ovens were built to handle the intense heat produced from coal. Special grates lining the fireboxes protected the surrounding metal from expanding and cracking.3 The McClary Manufacturing Company and the Arcadian Malleable Range Company produced some of the most commonly used models. In larger buildings, and later, in more modern houses, special steam boilers or expansion tanks connected by pipes to radiators were installed. Coal or other fuel heated water in the tanks, causing the pressurized vapour or hot water to circulate through the pipes. Heat from the water escaped through the radiators, causing the vapour to condense. The difference in gravity or pressure then circulated the water back through the same pipes or via return tubes to the tanks.4,5 Many older buildings still use this heating system, although natural gas heats the tanks instead of coal.
Each fall, coal from the reserves was loaded into wagons and delivered to local homes and businesses. Deliverymen emptied measured amounts of coal into chutes running from alleys to each buildings basement. In some cases, basements extended out from the buildings outer walls to allow coal to be loaded from above. About fifteen tons was enough to supply an average household for the winter. If a family ran out of coal, they could simply order more from the local delivery company.8
To save money, many families purchased coal directly from the mines for about half the cost of delivered coal.9 Some people even mined the coal themselves from nearby seams or abandoned shafts. This practice was especially common in early coal mining communities and those affected by the collapse of the coal industry after World War I. |
Introduction | Elk Valley | The Kootenay Smelter | The Missing Link | Heat and Electricity | Pacific Steamships | The Strikebreakers on Vancouver Island
© MM Fernie & District Historical Society.