How to Repair a Flue Damper eHow

Ancient fire pits were sometimes constructed from the ground, within caves, or at the center of a hut or home. Evidence of ancient, man-made fires exists on all five inhabited continents. The drawback of early indoor flame pits was that they generated toxic and/or irritating smoke within the dwelling.Fire pits grown into raised hearths in buildings, but venting smoke depended on open windows or holes in roofs. The great hall typically needed a centrally situated hearth, where a open fire burned with all the smoke rising to the vent in the roof. Louvers were developed during the Middle Ages to enable the roof vents to be coated so rain and snow would not enter.

Additionally during the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were invented to stop smoke from dispersing a room and vent it outside via a wall or roof. These could be placed against rock walls, instead of taking up the center of the room, and this enabled smaller rooms to be warmed.Chimneys were devised in northern Europe in the 11th or 12th centuries and mostly fixed the problem of fumes, more reliably venting smoke out. They made it possible to give the fireplace a draft, and also made it feasible to put fireplaces in multiple rooms in buildings conveniently. They did not come into general usage immediately, however, since they were 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. The 18th century saw two major developments in the history of fireplaces. 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. At the later 18th century, Count Rumford made a fireplace with a tall, shallow firebox which was better at drawing the smoke up and from the building. The shallow design improved greatly the amount of radiant heat projected to the room. Rumford's design is the basis for modern kitchens.

Rather 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 providing quality stone. Stone fireplaces now have been a symbol of wealth, which to a degree remains the notion today.A fireplace is a construction made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for its relaxing ambiance they create and for heating a space. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, depending upon the design.

Historically they were utilized 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 (used in laundry and kitchen fireplaces), a grate, a lintel, a lintel pub, house overmantel, a damper, a smoke chamber, a throat, a flue, and a chimney filter or afterburner.

Related Images with How to Repair a Flue Damper eHow

How To Install a Chimney Balloon to stop fireplace draft YouTube

On the exterior there's frequently a corbeled brick crown, in which the casting 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 from the outside of the chimney; rain in the chimney is a far greater difficulty in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metal liners compared with the standard masonry chimney, that soaks up all but the most violent rain. Some chimneys have a spark arrestor incorporated into the cap or crown.

The EPA writes"Smoke may smell great, but it is 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 wood or gas or retrofit with log inserts or electric fireboxes.

In the United States, some states and local businesses have laws limiting these kinds of fireplaces. Additionally, there are air quality control problems because of the quantity of moisture they discharge in the room air, and oxygen detector and carbon dioxide sensors are safety essentials. Direct vent fireplaces are fueled by liquid propane or natural gas. They are completely sealed in the area that's heated, and vent all exhaust gasses into the exterior of the structure.

Fireplace Dampers Fireplace Chimney Dampers Roof top

AccessoriesFor the inside, common in current Western cultures include grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, bark baskets, and fire puppies, all which cradle gas and quicken burning. A grate (or fire 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 protect the rear of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metal frames set before the fireplace to include embers, soot and ash. Other wider accessories may include log baskets, companion sets, coal buckets, cabinet accessories and much more.

As time passes, the purpose of fireplaces has changed from one of necessity 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, in addition to for cooking. They also functioned as a gathering place inside the home. These fire pits were usually centered within a room, allowing more people to gather around it.

Choose the Right Chimney Type for Your New Home Best Pick Reports

Throat Dampers vs TopMount Dampers San Diego CA

Many flaws 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 style of fireplace design that was used for generations. It had been smaller, more brightly lit, with a emphasis on the quality of the substances used in their construction, as opposed to their size.

By the 1800s most new fireplaces were made up of two components, the surround as well as the add. The surround comprised of the mantlepiece and sides supports, typically in wood, granite or marble. The fit was fire burnt, and was constructed 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 to homes.

Throat Dampers vs TopMount Dampers San Diego CA Video

Some fireplace units incorporate a blower which 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 is also increased by means of a fireback, a sheet of metal which sits behind the fire and reflects heat back into the room. Firebacks are traditionally produced from cast iron, but can also be 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 air. An open fireplace isn't, and never was, designed to warm the atmosphere. A fireplace with a fireback is a toaster, and has done so as the 15th century. The ideal way to estimate the output of a fireplace is if you detect you are turning the thermostat up or down.

Most elderly fireplaces have a relatively low efficiency score. Standard, contemporary, weatherproof masonry fireplaces still possess an efficiency rating of 80% (legal minimum necessity 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 large as 80 percent in heating the air. These altered fireplaces are usually equipped with a large fire window, allowing an efficient heating system in two phases. During the first stage the first heat is offered through a large glass while the flame is burning. During this time period the structure, built of refractory bricks, absorbs the heat. This heat is then evenly radiated for many hours during the next phase. Masonry fireplaces with no glass fire window only offer heat radiated from its surface. Based on temperatures 1 to two daily firings are enough to guarantee a constant room temperature.fireplace flue