Most furnaces are nowadays arranged so that the drafts can be operated from the living rooms above, but still require the personal attention of some shivering member of the household, before dawn on cold winter mornings, if the house is to be comfortably warm by breakfast time. Undoubtedly much irritability and fatigue, if not actual sickness, can be traced to the strain of this early rising under the most unfavorable conditions. It is a very simple matter, which anyone could undertake successfully, to so arrange an alarm clock that it will control all the drafts and dampers and open them at any desired time in the morning. If it is absolutely necessary to shake down the fire, remove ashes, and add fresh fuel, the problem is a much more difficult one, far beyond the strength or capacity of the dutiful alarm clock. Most furnaces, however, can, with a little experience, be so left the night before that on opening the drafts in the morning they will burn up rapidly and soon have the house at a comfortable temperature. Fresh fuel, unless absolutely necessary, actually delays the heating up of the house and is much better added later, when the demand for heat is not so urgent.

Fig. 288 - Drafts closed, alarm set.

The apparatus comprises a base-board fitted with two screw eyes, through which the usual chains are passed. Hinged to the hoard with a pair of staples is a U-shaped lever, with one arm about 5 inches long and the other just long enough to catch the chain. The lever is located far enough above the screw eyes to allow for the proper opening and closing of the drafts. The screw eyes are not placed directly under the short arm of the lever, but on either side, so as to prevent the chains from kinking and catching on the hooks when they are released by the lever.

Fig. 289 - Drafts directly connected to alarm key.

Fig. 290 - Arrangement with counterweight to open drafts.

The alarm clock, which furnishes the brains for this apparatus, may be supported on a long hook or nail, and others hearing against the feet on each side will prevent it from swinging side-wise. Some people, who desire unbroken dreams, will turn the gong or bell upside down to put it out of the reach of the fiendishly energetic clapper, but that is an unimportant detail which maybe left to personal taste and preference.

The clock, intended for a hard physical job like this, must have the alarm winding key so arranged that it unwinds when the alarm "goes off." There are a number of clocks on the market of different shapes and sizes which are made with this important feature.

Fig. 291 - Chains released, drafts open.

To prevent chafing of the cord, unscrew this winding key and slip on, back of it. a thick cardboard washer. Then connect the key and wire lever with a piece of cord and the contrivance is ready for operation. After setting the clock, the cord should be wound onto the key in winding the alarm. Then the chains are hung in place on the lever. When the alarm "goes off" the lever turns on its pivot, releasing the chains and permitting the usual weight to drop and thereby open the drafts and damper. If the furnace is not arranged with a weight for operating the draft the chains may be connected directly to the key by a cord which will be wound up on the key as the alarm goes off.