There’s a common misconception that heat rises. It does not. Heat radiates equally in all directions. The misunderstanding comes from the true and observable statement that, relative to cooler air, hot air rises. That’s why hot air balloons work, also why many politicians have excellent posture. For commercial and industrial heating, knowing that heat and Read More
Tag Archives: comic strips
Don’t Choke Your Furnace
Baron von Olsträd’s Sketchbook #7 In today’s illustration, the Baron attempts to appeal to our humanity by depicting a personified furnace, suffocating for want of oxygen. Combustion furnaces should be equipped with filters, both on the gas and air lines, which must be checked periodically for blockage. The job of a filter is to strain Read More
How Low is Your Purge Time?
Baron von Olsträd’s Sketchbook #6 The Baron’s latest doodle imagines a dangerous game where irresponsibility is rewarded. For those of you who might not know, “purge time” is a phrase commonly used to refer to the length of time given to changing the atmosphere in a furnace, prior to lighting the burners. This is a Read More
Futility
Baron von Olsträd’s Sketchbook #5 The Baron’s new comic illustrates the flaws of doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results. In one example, the only impacts to this behavior are frustration and a lingering thirst. In the other example, frustration certainly plays a part, though the additional consequences can be Read More
Commissioning Shouldn’t Take a Lifetime
Baron von Olsträd’s Sketchbook #4 We decided to post the new Baron von Olsträd comic a little early, due to the spooky nature of the the subject matter. Most folks who’ve been through furnace commissioning, either on a new installation or on a rebuild, have heard the horror stories. Some folks have lived them. Today’s Read More
The Proper Way to Light a Burner
Baron von Olsträd’s Sketchbook #3 The new Baron von Olsträd comic is here! Today’s installment opens the discussion of proper burner ignition methods, as opposed to the example set by the worker below, who seems to hallucinate talking, floating flames. Or maybe the unsafe method employed in this example has caused a fire in the Read More
The Black Art of Burner Tuning
Baron von Olsträd’s Sketchbook #2 We’ve posted the second installment of Johann “The Baron” von Olsträd‘s comically educational series of illustrations and explanations. Today’s comic deals with the sometimes mysterious procedures and notions behind tuning burners on a combustion system. It’s not uncommon to encounter maintenance professionals and combustion technicians who are tasked with tuning Read More
Hot Air Rises, Heat Radiates
Baron von Olsträd’s Sketchbook #1 The Olsträd family of companies is proud to present our fictional figurehead’s foray into web publishing: Baron von Olsträd’s Sketchbook Johann “The Baron” von Olsträd helps us to illustrate some of the foibles and misconceptions we’ve encountered through years of systems engineering, systems and spare parts sales, installation and service Read More
