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Ancient fire pits were sometimes built from the ground, in caves, or in the center of a hut or dwelling. Evidence of prehistoric, man-made fires exists on all five inhabited continents. The drawback of early indoor fire pits was that they produced hazardous or annoying smoke within the house.Fire pits grown into raised hearths in structures, but ventilation smoke relied on open windows or openings in roofs. The great hall typically had a centrally located hearth, where a open fire burned with the smoke rising to the vent 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.

Additionally during the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were invented to stop smoke from dispersing a room and vent it out via a ceiling or wall. These can be put against stone walls, rather than taking up the center of the room, and this allowed smaller rooms to be heated.Chimneys were invented in northern Europe in the 11th or 12th centuries and largely fixed the issue of fumes, more reliably venting smoke outside. They made it feasible to give the fireplace a draft, and made it possible to place fireplaces in multiple rooms in buildings conveniently. They did not come into general use immediately, however, since they were more expensive to build and maintain.

In 1678 Prince Rupert, nephew of Charles I, raised the grate of the fireplace, improving the airflow and venting system. The 18th century saw two major developments in the history of fireplaces. Benjamin Franklin developed a convection room for the fireplace which greatly enhanced the efficacy of fireplaces and wood stoves. He also enhanced the airflow by pulling air from a basement and venting a longer area at the very top. At the later 18th century, Count Rumford designed a fireplace with a tall, shallow firebox that has been better at drawing up the smoke and out of the building. The shallow design improved greatly the quantity of radiant warmth projected into the space. Rumford's design is the foundation for modern fireplaces.

Instead it relied on simple layouts with little unnecessary ornamentation. In the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way into the Arts and Crafts movement, in which the emphasis was still placed on supplying quality stone. Stone fireplaces at this time have been a symbol of prosperity, which to a degree is still the idea today.A fireplace is a construction made of brick, stone or metal designed to include a fire. Fireplaces are utilized for the relaxing ambiance that they create and also for heating a space. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, depending upon the plan.

Historically they have been used for heating a dwelling, cooking, and heating water for laundry and domestic uses. A fire is contained in a firebox or firepit; a chimney or alternative flue allows exhaust to escape. A fireplace might have the following: a foundation, a hearth, a firebox, a mantelpiece; a chimney crane (utilized in laundry and kitchen fireplaces), a grate, a lintel, a lintel bar, house overmantel, a damper, a smoke chamber, a throat, a flue, and a chimney filter or afterburner.

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On the exterior there's frequently a corbeled brick crown, in which the casting courses of brick function as a drip route to keep rainwater from running down the exterior walls. A cap, hood, or shroud functions to keep rainwater from the exterior of the chimney; rain in the chimney is a much larger problem in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metallic liners compared with the standard masonry chimney, which 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 different studies, fireplaces could pose a significant health risk. The EPA writes"Smoke may smell good, but it is not good for you.

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

Masonry and prefabricated fireplaces can be fueled by wood, natural gas, biomass and gas fuel sources. Ventless Fireplaces (duct free/room-venting fireplaces) are fueled by gel, liquid propane, bottled gas or natural gas. In the United States, several states and local counties have laws limiting these types of fireplaces. They must be suitably sized to the area to be heated. Additionally, there are air quality management problems because of the amount of moisture that they discharge in the room air, and oxygen sensor and carbon dioxide sensors are safety essentials. Direct vent fireplaces are fueled by liquid propane or natural gas. They are totally sealed in the area that's heated, and port all exhaust gasses to the outside of the structure.

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AccessoriesA vast range of accessories are used with fireplaces, which range between states, regions, and historical periods. For the inside, common in current Western cultures comprise grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, bark baskets, and fire dogs, all of which cradle fuel and accelerate burning. A grate (or flame grate) is a framework, usually of iron bars, to maintain fuel to your fire. Heavy metallic firebacks are sometimes utilized to capture 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. For fireplace tending, tools comprise pokers, bellows, tongs, shovels, brushes and instrument racks.

Over time, the intent behind fireplaces has transformed from one of necessity to one of visual interest. Early ones were more fire pits compared to contemporary fireplaces. They were used for heat 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 space, allowing more individuals to collect around it.

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Many defects were found in early fireplace designs. Together with the Industrial Revolution, came large scale housing developments, requiring a standardization of fireplaces. The most famous fireplace performers of this period were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a kind of fireplace design which has been used for generations. It was smaller, more brightly colored, with an emphasis on the quality of the substances used in their construction, as opposed to their dimensions.

From the 1800s newest fireplaces were made up of two components, the surround as well as the insert. The surround consisted of the mantlepiece and sides affirms, usually in wood, marble or granite. The insert was fire burned, and was built of cast iron frequently backed with decorative tiles. As well as providing warmth, the fireplaces of the Victorian age were believed to add a cozy ambiance to houses.

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Some fireplace components include a blower that transports 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 enhanced by means of a fireback, a piece of metal which 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 complicated notion though with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficacy tests consider only the impact of heating of the atmosphere. An open fireplace isn't, and never was, intended to heat the air. A fireplace with a fireback is a toaster, and has done so as the 15th century. The best method to gauge the output of a fireplace is if you detect you're turning the thermostat up or down.

Most older fireplaces have a relatively low efficiency score. Standard, contemporary, weatherproof masonry fireplaces still possess an efficiency rating of at least 80% (legal minimum requirement such as in Salzburg/Austria). To boost efficiency, fireplaces may also be modified by adding special heavy fireboxes developed to burn much cleaner and may reach efficiencies as large as 80 percent in heating the air. These modified fireplaces are usually equipped with a large fire window, enabling an efficient heating system in two stages. During the first stage the initial heat is offered through a big glass window while the fire is burning. In this time the construction, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the warmth. This heat is then evenly radiated for many hours during the next stage. Masonry fireplaces without a glass fire window only provide heat radiated from the surface. Depending on temperatures 1 to two daily firings are enough to guarantee a constant room temperature.fireplace mantel decor