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Historical fire pits were sometimes constructed from the floor, within caves, or in the center of a hut or home. Evidence of prehistoric, man-made fires is present on all five inhabited continents. The disadvantage of premature indoor fire pits was that they produced toxic and/or annoying smoke inside the house.Fire pits developed into raised hearths in buildings, but ventilation smoke relied on open windows or holes in roofs. The great hall typically needed a centrally located hearth, where an open flame burned with the smoke climbing into the port in the roof. Louvers were developed during the Middle Ages to allow the roof vents to be coated so snow and rain wouldn't enter.

Also during the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were invented to prevent smoke from spreading through a room and vent it outside through a ceiling or wall. These could be placed against stone walls, instead of taking up the middle of the room, and this enabled smaller chambers to be heated.Chimneys were invented in northern Europe in the 11th or 12th centuries and mostly fixed the problem of fumes, more faithfully venting smoke outside. They made it feasible to provide the fireplace a draft, and made it possible to place fireplaces in multiple rooms in buildings conveniently. They did not come into general usage instantly, however, since they were more expensive to develop and maintain.

Benjamin Franklin developed a convection room for the fireplace which greatly improved the efficacy of fireplaces and wood stoves. He also enhanced the airflow by pulling air from a basement and venting out a lengthier area on top. At the later 18th century, Count Rumford made a fireplace with a tall, shallow firebox which has been better at drawing up the smoke and out of the building. The shallow design improved greatly the amount of radiant heat projected into the space. Rumford's design is the foundation for modern fireplaces.

The Aesthetic movement of the 1870s and 1880s took to a more conventional spectra based on stone and deflected unnecessary ornamentation. Rather it depended on simple designs with small unnecessary ornamentation. In the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way into the Arts and Crafts movement, where the emphasis was placed on providing quality stone. Stone fireplaces at this time were a sign of prosperity, which to a degree is still the idea today.A fireplace is a structure made from brick, stone or metal made to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for the relaxing ambiance that they create and also for heating a room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficacy, depending upon the design.

Historically they have been utilized for heating a dwelling, cooking, and heating water for domestic and laundry uses. A fire is contained in a firebox or firepit; a chimney or other flue allows exhaust to escape.

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On the exterior there is often a corbeled brick crown, in which the projecting courses of brick act as a drip route to keep rainwater from running down the outside walls. A cap, hood, or shroud functions to keep rainwater from the outside of the chimney; rain in the chimney is a much greater problem in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metal liners than with the traditional masonry chimney, that soaks up all but the rain. Some chimneys have a spark arrestor integrated into the crown or cap.

Organizations like the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Washington Department of Ecology warn that, according to various studies, fireplaces could pose a substantial health threat. The EPA writes"Smoke may smell good, but it's not good for you.

Types of fireplacesManufactured fireplaces are made out of sheet metal or glass fire boxes.Electric fireplaces can be built-in replacements for either wood or gas or retrofit with log inserts or electric fireboxes.A few types are, wall mounted electric fireplaces, electric fireplace stoves, electric mantel fireplaces and fixed or free standing gas fireplaces.

In the United States, some states and local counties have laws limiting these types of fireplaces. They need to be properly sized to the area to be heated. Additionally, there are air quality management issues due to the quantity of moisture that they discharge into the room air, and oxygen sensor and carbon dioxide sensors are security essentials. Direct vent fireplaces are fueled by either liquid propane or natural gas. They are totally sealed in the place that's heated, and vent all exhaust gasses to the outside of the structure.

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AccessoriesA wide assortment of accessories are used with fireplaces, which range between states, regions, and historical periods. For the interior, common in recent Western civilizations comprise grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, bark baskets, and fire puppies, all which cradle fuel and accelerate burning. A grate (or fire grate) is a framework, usually of iron bars, to retain fuel to your fire. Heavy metallic firebacks are sometimes utilized to catch and re-radiate warmth, to safeguard the back of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metal frames set in front of the fireplace to include embers, soot and ashes. Other wider accessories may include log baskets, companion sets, coal buckets, cabinet accessories and more.

Over time, the purpose of fireplaces has changed from one of requirement to one of visual interest. Early ones were more fire pits than modern fireplaces. They have been used for warmth on cold days and nights, as well as for cooking. They also served as a gathering place within the home. These fire pits were generally based within a room, allowing more people to gather around it.

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Many flaws were found in ancient fireplace designs. Along with the Industrial Revolution, came big scale housing developments, necessitating a standardization of fireplaces. The most renowned fireplace performers of this period were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a kind of fireplace design that was used for generations. It had been smaller, more brightly lit, with an emphasis on the level of the materials used in their construction, instead of their size.

From the 1800s newest fireplaces were composed of two parts, the surround as well as the add. The encircle comprised of the mantlepiece and sides affirms, usually in wood, marble or granite. The fit was where the fire burned, and was constructed of cast iron often backed with ornamental tiles. In addition to providing heat, the fireplaces of the Victorian age were believed to bring a cozy ambiance into homes.

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Some fireplace components include a blower that transfers more of the fireplace's heat to the air via convection, leading to a more evenly heated area and a lower heating load. Fireplace efficiency can also be increased with the use of a fireback, a piece of metal that sits behind the fire and reflects heat back into the room. Firebacks are traditionally made from cast iron, but are also made from stainless steel. Efficiency is a complex concept though with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficacy tests consider just the impact of heating of the atmosphere. An open fireplace is not, and never was, designed to warm the air. A fireplace with a fireback is a toaster, and has done so since the 15th century. The ideal way to gauge the output signal of a fireplace is if you detect you're turning the thermostat down or up.

Most elderly fireplaces have a relatively low efficiency score. Standard, modern, wood-burning masonry fireplaces still possess an efficiency rating of at least 80% (legal minimum necessity for example in Salzburg/Austria). To boost efficiency, fireplaces can also be modified by inserting special heavy fireboxes designed to burn cleaner and can reach efficiencies as large as 80 percent in heating the air. These modified fireplaces are often equipped with a large fire window, allowing an efficient heating process in two stages. During the first phase the initial heat is provided through a large glass while the fire is burning. In this time period the structure, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the warmth. This warmth is then equally radiated for several hours during the next stage. Masonry fireplaces without a glass fire window just offer heat radiated from the surface. Depending on temperatures 1 to two daily firings are sufficient to ensure a constant room temperature.fireplace mantel decorating ideas