Fallacious Theories of Boiler Explosions
From The Manufacturer and Builder magazine, March, 1872. Busting the "explosive electricity" myth.
Heating Museum Help Topics
Take a stroll through HVAC history in our Heating Museum. This section of our website preserves history and answers that so-important question: What the heck is that thing? Whenever you run across anything unusual, chances are you’ll find the old literature about it right here.
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Recent Articles in Heating Museum
Explosion Reports from the Early-1930s
Boiler explosion reports from Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company's Locomotive magazine. Special thanks to Frank "Steamhead" Wilsey for finding and sca...
Boiler Explosions - The Cause and the Remedy
This article is from The Manufacturer and Builder magazine and gets to the bottom of a very serious problem in 1884 when boilers were exploding.
How to Install Homart Hot-Water and Steam Heating Systems
In 1957, Sears, Roebuck and Co. sold complete heating systems to homeowners, and they put together this booklet showing step-by-step how to install these systems.
Beacon Boiler Reference Book, Boilers Made Prior to 1959, Part 1
This is an excerpt of the Beacon Boiler Reference Book, Sixth Edition and includes ratings for boilers made prior to 1959. This section contains pages 1 through 26 and in...
Bell & Gossett Handbook, Second Edition (1949)
Published in 1949, the Bell & Gossett Handbook (Second Edition) is a manual about the design and installation of forced-hot-water space-heating systems and service water-...
An Asbestos Hat
This article is from the Handbook of Construction Techniques circa 1960s. It reads: Keeping A Cool Head "After experiencing severe headaches for several days while wearin...
Asbestos Ads From the Old Days
Here are a couple of ads from Johns-Manville Insulation touting the benefits of using asbestos insulation on the steam pipes of the Bank of Manhattan Building, the Chrysl...
The Cleveland Heater Company's Anode Patent (1949)
Here is a circa-1949 patent from The Cleveland Heater Company for a water heating device with a corrosion protective anode. Gerry Gill tells us that this company was at t...
The Story of "Elno": The Magic Wand
Here is a well-written booklet from The Patrol Valve Company that explains how anodes work. Thanks to Joe Szakacs for sharing this with us.