15 Best Fireplace Ideas

Ancient fire pits were sometimes built from the ground, within caves, or in the middle of a hut or dwelling. Evidence of ancient, man-made flames exists on all five inhabited continents. The disadvantage of premature indoor flame pits was that they produced hazardous or annoying smoke within the dwelling.Fire pits developed into elevated hearths in structures, but venting smoke relied on open windows or holes in roofs. The medieval great hall typically had a centrally located hearth, where a open fire burnt with all the smoke rising to the vent in the roof. Louvers were developed throughout the Middle Ages to allow the roof vents to be covered so rain and snow would not enter.

Also during the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were invented to stop smoke from dispersing a room and vent it outside through a ceiling or wall. These can be placed against stone walls, rather than taking up the center of the room, and this enabled smaller rooms to be warmed.Chimneys were invented in northern Europe in the 11th or 12th centuries and largely fixed the issue of fumes, more faithfully venting smoke out. They made it possible to give the fireplace a draft, and made it feasible to place fireplaces in numerous rooms in buildings handily. They did not come into general usage immediately, however, as they were more expensive to develop and maintain.

In 1678 Prince Rupert, nephew of Charles I, raised the grate of the fireplace, improving the airflow and venting system. Benjamin Franklin developed a convection chamber for the fireplace that greatly improved the efficiency of fireplaces and wood stoves. He also improved the airflow by pulling air from a cellar and venting a longer place at the top. In the later 18th century, Count Rumford designed a fireplace with a tall, shallow firebox that was better at drawing the smoke up and out of the building. The shallow design also improved greatly the quantity of radiant heat projected into the space. Rumford's layout is the basis for modern fireplaces.

Instead it depended on simple layouts with small unnecessary ornamentation. From the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way to the Arts and Crafts movement, where the emphasis was still placed on supplying quality gems. Stone fireplaces now have been a symbol of wealth, which to a degree is still the idea today.A fireplace is a structure made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are utilized for its relaxing ambiance they create and for heating a room. Modern fireplaces change in heat efficiency, depending upon the plan.

Historically they have been utilized for heating a dwelling, cooking, and heating water for domestic and laundry uses.

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On the exterior there is often a corbeled brick crown, where the projecting courses of brick function as a drip course to keep rainwater from running down the outside walls. A cap, hood, or shroud functions to keep rainwater out of the exterior of the chimney; rain in the chimney is a far larger difficulty in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metallic liners compared with the standard masonry chimney, that divides up all but the most violent rain. Some chimneys have a spark arrestor integrated into the crown or cap.

The EPA writes"Smoke may smell good, but it is not good for you.

Kinds of fireplacesArtificial fireplaces are made with sheet glass or metal flame boxes.Electric fireplaces could be built-in replacements for wood or gas or retrofit with log inserts or electric fireboxes.

In the USA, some states and local counties have laws restricting these types of fireplaces. They must be properly sized to the area to be heated. There are also air quality control issues due to the amount of moisture that they release into the room air, and oxygen sensor and carbon dioxide sensors are safety 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.

25 Stone Fireplace Ideas for a Cozy, NatureInspired Home

AccessoriesA vast assortment of accessories are used with fireplaces, which range between countries, regions, and historical periods. For the inside, common in recent Western civilizations comprise grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, bark baskets, and fire puppies, all of which cradle gas and quicken burning. A grate (or flame grate) is a frame, usually of iron bars, to retain fuel to your fire. Heavy metallic firebacks are occasionally utilized to catch and re-radiate heat, to safeguard the rear of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metal frames set before the fireplace to include embers, soot and ash.

As time passes, the intent behind fireplaces has changed from one of necessity to one of visual interest. Early ones were fire pits compared to modern fireplaces. They were used for heat on chilly 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 space, allowing more individuals to collect around it.

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Many defects were found in ancient fireplace designs. The most famous fireplace designers of the time were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a kind of fireplace design which was used for generations. It was smaller, more brightly lit, with a emphasis on the level of the substances used in their construction, instead of their dimensions.

By the 1800s most new fireplaces were made up of 2 parts, the surround and the add. The surround consisted of the mantlepiece and sides supports, usually in wood, granite or marble. The fit was fire burned, and was constructed of cast iron often backed with decorative tiles. In addition to providing warmth, the fireplaces of the Victorian age were believed to bring a cozy ambiance into houses.

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Some fireplace components include a blower that transfers more of the fireplace's heat to the air via convection, resulting in a more evenly heated area and a decrease 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 can also be made from stainless steel. Efficiency is a complex concept though with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficacy tests consider only the impact of heating of the air. An open fireplace isn't, and never was, designed to heat the atmosphere. A fireplace with a fireback is a radiant heater, and has done so since the 15th century. The ideal method to estimate the output of a fireplace is in case you detect you are turning the thermostat up or down.

Most older fireplaces have a comparatively low efficiency score. Standard, modern, wood-burning masonry fireplaces still possess an efficiency rating of 80% (legal minimum requirement such as in Salzburg/Austria). To boost efficiency, fireplaces can also be modified by adding special heavy fireboxes designed to burn cleaner and may reach efficiencies as high as 80 percent in heating the air. These altered fireplaces are usually equipped with a massive fire window, allowing an efficient heating process in two phases. During the first phase the initial heat is provided through a large glass while the fire is burning. During this time the structure, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the warmth. This warmth is then equally radiated for several hours during the next phase. Masonry fireplaces without a glass fire window just provide heat radiated from its surface. Depending on outside temperatures 1 to two daily firings are sufficient to guarantee a constant room temperature.fireplace ideas