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Ancient fire pits were sometimes constructed in the ground, within caves, or in the center of a hut or dwelling. Evidence of ancient, man-made fires is present on all five inhabited continents. The disadvantage of premature indoor flame 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 an open fire burnt with all the smoke climbing into the port in the roof. Louvers were developed throughout the Middle Ages to enable the roof vents to be coated so rain and snow would not enter.

Also during the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were devised to prevent smoke from dispersing a room and vent it outside via a ceiling or wall. These could be placed against rock walls, rather than taking up the middle of the room, and this allowed smaller chambers to be heated.Chimneys were invented in northern Europe in the 11th or 12th centuries and largely fixed the problem of fumes, more faithfully venting smoke outside. They made it possible to give the fireplace a draft, and made it possible to put fireplaces in numerous rooms in buildings handily. They did not come into general use immediately, however, since they were expensive to build and maintain.

In 1678 Prince Rupert, nephew of Charles I, increased the grate of the fireplace, improving the venting and airflow system. The 18th century saw two important developments in the history of fireplaces. Benjamin Franklin developed a convection room for the fireplace which greatly improved the efficacy of fireplaces and wood stoves. He also enhanced the airflow by pulling air from a basement and venting out a longer area on very top. In 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 construction. The shallow design also improved greatly the amount of radiant warmth projected to the space. Rumford's design is the basis for modern fireplaces.

The Aesthetic movement of the 1870s and 1880s took to a more conventional spectra based on stone and deflected unnecessary ornamentation. Rather it relied on simple layouts with little unnecessary ornamentation. From the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way to the Arts and Crafts movement, in which the emphasis was placed on providing quality gems. Stone fireplaces at this time have been a symbol of prosperity, which to some degree is still 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 for heating a room. Modern fireplaces change in heat efficiency, based on the plan.

Historically they have been utilized for heating a home, cooking, and heating water for domestic and laundry uses. A fire is contained in a firebox or firepit; a chimney or other flue allows exhaust to escape. A fireplace may have the following: a foundation, a hearth, a firebox, a mantelpiece; a chimney (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's often a corbeled brick crown, in which the projecting courses of brick function as a drip course to keep rainwater from running down the exterior walls. A cap, hood, or shroud functions to keep rainwater out of the outside of the chimney; rain at the chimney is a much larger difficulty in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metallic liners compared with the standard masonry chimney, which soaks up all but the rain. A few chimneys have a spark arrestor integrated into the cap or crown.

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

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

Ventless Fireplaces (duct free/room-venting fireplaces) are fueled by either gel, liquid propane, bottled gas or natural gas. In the United States, some states and local counties have laws limiting these types of fireplaces. Additionally, there are air quality management issues because of the quantity of moisture that they release in the room air, and oxygen detector and carbon monoxide sensors are security essentials. Direct vent fireplaces are fueled by liquid propane or natural gas. They are completely sealed in the place that's heated, and port all exhaust gasses into the outside of the structure.

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AccessoriesFor the inside, common in recent Western cultures include grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, pellet baskets, and fire puppies, all which cradle fuel and accelerate burning. A grate (or flame grate) is a framework, usually of iron bars, to retain 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 metallic frames set in front of the fireplace to include embers, soot and ashes. For fireplace tending, tools include pokers, bellows, tongs, shovels, brushes and instrument stands.

Over time, the purpose of fireplaces has transformed from one of necessity to one of visual interest. Early ones were fire pits compared to modern fireplaces. They were used for warmth on cold days and nights, in addition to for cooking. They also served as a gathering place within the house. These fire pits were usually based within a room, allowing more individuals to collect around it.

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Amazon.com: Dimplex Essex Electric Fireplace in White: Home Kitchen

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 famous fireplace performers of this period were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a style of fireplace design which has been used for generations. It had been smaller, more brightly colored, with a emphasis on the level of the substances used in their construction, as opposed to their dimensions.

By the 1800s most new fireplaces were made up of two parts, the surround and the insert. The surround 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 frequently backed with decorative tiles. As well as providing heat, the fireplaces of the Victorian era were thought to bring a cozy ambiance into houses.

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Some fireplace components incorporate a blower which transports 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 that sits behind the fire and reflects heat back into the room. Firebacks are traditionally produced from cast iron, but can also be manufactured from stainless steel. Efficiency is a complex notion although with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficacy tests consider only the effect of heating of the atmosphere. An open fireplace is not, and never was, designed to warm the atmosphere. The best method to gauge the output signal of a fireplace is in case you detect you are turning the thermostat down or up.

Most older fireplaces have a relatively low efficiency rating. Standard, modern, wood-burning masonry fireplaces though have an efficiency rating of at least 80% (legal minimum necessity for example in Salzburg/Austria). To improve efficiency, fireplaces can also be modified by inserting special heavy fireboxes developed to burn much cleaner and may reach efficiencies as large as 80 percent in heating the atmosphere. These modified fireplaces are usually equipped with a large fire window, allowing an efficient heating system in two phases. During the first stage the initial heat is provided through a big glass while the flame is burning. In this time period the construction, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the heat. This warmth is then evenly radiated for several hours during the next phase. Masonry fireplaces with no glass fire window only offer heat radiated from its surface. Based on outside temperatures 1 to two daily firings are enough to guarantee a constant room temperature.amazon electric fireplace