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Ancient fire pits were sometimes built in the floor, within caves, or at the center of a hut or home. Evidence of ancient, man-made fires is present on all five inhabited continents. The drawback of early indoor fire pits was that they generated hazardous or annoying smoke inside the house.Fire pits grown into elevated hearths in buildings, but venting smoke relied on open windows or openings in roofs. The medieval great hall typically had a centrally located hearth, where an open fire burnt with the smoke climbing into the port in the roof. Louvers were developed during the Middle Ages to enable the roof vents to be covered so rain and snow would not enter.

Also throughout the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were invented to stop smoke from spreading through a room and vent it outside through a ceiling or wall. These can be placed against rock walls, rather than taking up the center of the space, and this allowed smaller chambers to be heated.Chimneys were devised in northern Europe in the 11th or 12th centuries and largely fixed the problem of fumes, more reliably venting smoke outside. They made it feasible to provide the fireplace a draft, and also made it possible to put fireplaces in multiple rooms in buildings conveniently. They didn't come into general use instantly, however, as they were more expensive to build and maintain.

The 18th century saw two important developments in the history of fireplaces. Benjamin Franklin developed a convection room for the fireplace that greatly improved the efficacy of fireplaces and wood stoves. He also improved the airflow by pulling air from a cellar and venting out a lengthier area on top. At the later 18th century, Count Rumford designed a fireplace with a tall, shallow firebox which was better at drawing up the smoke and from the construction. The shallow design also improved greatly the amount of radiant heat projected to the room. Rumford's layout is the foundation for modern kitchens.

Rather it depended on simple designs with little unnecessary ornamentation. From the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way to the Arts and Crafts movement, where the emphasis was placed on supplying quality gems. Stone fireplaces now have been a symbol of wealth, which to some degree remains the idea today.A fireplace is a construction made of 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 change in heat efficiency, depending on the design.

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

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On the exterior there is often 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 hood, cap, or shroud functions to keep rainwater from the outside of the chimney; rain at the chimney is a far greater 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 incorporated into the cap or crown.

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

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

Masonry and prefabricated fireplaces can be fueled by wood, natural gas, biomass and propane fuel sources. In the United States, several states and local businesses have laws restricting these types of fireplaces. Additionally, there are air quality control problems because of the amount of moisture they release into the room air, and oxygen detector and carbon dioxide sensors are safety essentials. Direct vent fireplaces have been fueled by either liquid propane or natural gas. They are completely sealed from the place that is heated, and port all exhaust gasses to the outside of the structure.

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AccessoriesFor the inside, common in recent Western civilizations include grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, pellet baskets, along with fire puppies, all of which cradle fuel and accelerate burning. A grate (or fire grate) is a frame, usually of iron bars, to maintain fuel for a fire. Heavy metallic firebacks are sometimes utilized to catch and re-radiate warmth, to safeguard the rear of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metallic frames placed before the fireplace to contain embers, soot and ashes. For fireplace tending, tools include pokers, bellows, tongs, shovels, brushes and instrument racks.

As time passes, the intent behind fireplaces has changed from one of requirement to one of interest. Early ones were more fire pits compared to contemporary fireplaces. They have been used for warmth on cold days and nights, as well as for cooking. They also served as a gathering place inside the home. These fire pits were usually centered within a room, 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 large scale housing developments, necessitating a standardization of fireplaces. The most renowned fireplace designers of the period were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a kind of fireplace design that has been used for generations. It was smaller, more brightly colored, with a emphasis on the level of the materials used in their construction, instead of their size.

From the 1800s most new fireplaces were made up of 2 parts, the surround as well as the add. The encircle comprised of the mantlepiece and sides affirms, usually in wood, marble or granite. The insert was where the fire burnt, and was built of cast iron often backed with decorative tiles. As well as providing warmth, the fireplaces of the Victorian age were believed to add a cozy ambiance into homes.

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Some fireplace units include a blower which transfers more of the fireplace's heat to the atmosphere 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 sheet of metal that sits behind the flame and reflects heat back into the room. Firebacks are traditionally made from cast iron, but can also be manufactured from stainless steel. Efficiency is a complicated notion though with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficiency tests consider only the effect of heating of the air. An open fireplace isn't, and never was, intended to warm the air. A fireplace with a fireback is a radiant heater, and has done so as the 15th century. The ideal method to estimate the output signal of a fireplace is in case you detect you're turning the thermostat up or down.

Most elderly fireplaces have a relatively low efficiency score. Standard, modern, wood-burning masonry fireplaces though have an efficiency rating of 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 may reach efficiencies as large as 80 percent in heating the air. These altered fireplaces are often equipped with a large fire window, allowing an efficient heating process 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 period the construction, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the warmth. This warmth is then evenly radiated for many hours during the second stage. Masonry fireplaces without a glass fire window only offer heat radiated from its surface. Depending on temperatures 1 to two daily firings are enough to ensure a constant room temperature.fireplace mantles