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Ancient fire pits were sometimes built from the floor, in caves, or in the middle 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 irritating smoke inside the dwelling.Fire pits grown into elevated hearths in buildings, but ventilation smoke relied on open windows or openings in roofs. The medieval great hall typically had a centrally situated hearth, where an open fire burned with 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 devised to stop smoke from dispersing an area and vent it outside through a ceiling or wall. These could be placed against stone walls, rather than taking up the center of the room, and this enabled smaller rooms to be heated.Chimneys were devised in northern Europe from the 11th or 12th centuries and largely fixed the problem of fumes, more faithfully venting smoke out. They made it feasible to give the fireplace a draft, and also made it feasible to put fireplaces in numerous rooms in buildings conveniently. They did not come into general use immediately, however, since they were expensive to develop and maintain.

In 1678 Prince Rupert, nephew of Charles I, increased the grate of the fireplace, improving the airflow and venting system. Benjamin Franklin developed a convection chamber for the fireplace that greatly enhanced the efficiency of fireplaces and wood stoves. He also improved the airflow by pulling air from a cellar and venting out a lengthier area on very top. At the later 18th century, Count Rumford made a fireplace using a tall, shallow firebox that was better at drawing up the smoke and out of the building. The shallow design also improved greatly the amount of radiant heat projected into the room. Rumford's layout 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. Instead it relied on simple layouts with little unnecessary ornamentation. In the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way to the Arts and Crafts movement, in which the emphasis was placed on supplying quality stone. Stone fireplaces now were a symbol of wealth, which to a degree remains the idea today.A fireplace is a structure made of brick, stone or metal designed to include a fire. Fireplaces are utilized for the relaxing ambiance they create and also for heating a space. Modern fireplaces change in heat efficiency, depending on the design.

Historically they have been used for heating a dwelling, cooking, and heating water for domestic and laundry uses. A fireplace might have the following: a base, a hearth, a firebox, a mantelpiece; a chimney crane (used in laundry and kitchen fireplaces), a grate, a lintel, a lintel bar, house overmantel, a damper, a smoke room, a neck, a flue, and a chimney filter or afterburner.

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On the exterior there's frequently a corbeled brick crown, where the projecting courses of brick function as a drip route to keep rainwater from running down the outside walls. A cap, hood, or shroud functions to keep rainwater from the exterior of the chimney; rain in the chimney is a far larger difficulty in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metal liners than with the standard masonry chimney, which divides up all but the rain. Some chimneys have a spark arrestor incorporated into the crown or cap.

The EPA writes"Smoke may smell good, but it's not great for you.

Types of fireplacesManufactured fireplaces are made out of sheet glass or metal flame boxes.Electric fireplaces can be built-in replacements for either gas or wood or retrofit with log inserts or electrical fireboxes.

Ventless Fireplaces (duct free/room-venting fireplaces) are fueled by gel, liquid propane, bottled gas or natural gas. In the USA, some states and local businesses have laws restricting these kinds of fireplaces. Additionally, there are air quality management problems because of the amount of moisture that they release into the room air, and oxygen sensor and carbon dioxide sensors are security essentials. Direct vent fireplaces have been fueled by liquid propane or natural gas. They are totally sealed in the place that's heated, and port all exhaust gasses into the exterior 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 current Western civilizations include grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, pellet baskets, along with fire dogs, all of 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 occasionally used to catch and re-radiate heat, to protect the rear of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metal frames placed before the fireplace to include embers, soot and ash. For fireplace tending, tools include pokers, bellows, tongs, shovels, brushes and tool stands.

Over time, the intent behind fireplaces has transformed from one of necessity to one of interest. Early ones were more fire pits than contemporary fireplaces. They have been used for heat on chilly days and nights, in addition to for cooking. They also functioned as a gathering place inside the house. These fire pits were generally centered within a space, allowing more individuals to collect 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 time were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a style of fireplace design which has been used for generations. It was smaller, more brightly colored, with an emphasis on the quality of the materials used in their construction, instead of their size.

By the 1800s newest fireplaces were made up of two parts, the surround as well as the insert. The encircle consisted of the mantlepiece and sides supports, usually in wood, marble or granite. The insert was fire burned, and was constructed of cast iron often backed with decorative tiles. In addition to providing heat, the fireplaces of the Victorian age were thought to add a cozy ambiance to homes.

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Some fireplace units include a blower which transfers more of the fireplace's heat to the air via convection, leading to a more evenly heated space and a decrease heating load. Fireplace efficiency can also be enhanced by means of a fireback, a piece of metal which sits behind the flame and reflects heat back into the room. Firebacks are traditionally made from cast iron, but are also made from stainless steel. Efficiency is a complicated notion though with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficiency tests consider only the impact of heating of the atmosphere. An open fireplace isn't, and never was, designed to heat the atmosphere. The best way to estimate the output of a fireplace is in case you detect you're turning the thermostat down or up.

Most older fireplaces have a comparatively low efficiency rating. Standard, modern, wood-burning masonry fireplaces though have an efficiency rating of 80% (legal minimum requirement for example in Salzburg/Austria). To boost efficiency, fireplaces can also be altered by adding special heavy fireboxes developed to burn much cleaner and can reach efficiencies as high as 80% in heating the atmosphere. These altered fireplaces are often equipped with a large fire window, enabling an efficient heating process in two stages. During the first stage the first heat is offered through a large glass while the fire is burning. In this time period the construction, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the heat. This warmth is then evenly radiated for many hours during the second phase. Masonry fireplaces without a glass fire window just offer heat radiated from the surface. Depending on temperatures 1 to 2 daily firings are sufficient to guarantee a constant room temperature.astria fireplace