Ancient fire pits were sometimes constructed from the floor, in caves, or at the middle of a hut or home. Evidence of prehistoric, man-made flames exists on all five inhabited continents. The disadvantage of premature indoor flame pits was that they produced hazardous or annoying smoke inside the dwelling.Fire pits developed into raised hearths in structures, but venting smoke depended on open windows or openings in roofs. The great hall typically had a centrally situated hearth, where an open fire burnt 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 snow and rain would not enter.
Also throughout the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were devised to prevent smoke from dispersing an area and vent it out through a wall or roof. These could be placed against rock walls, instead of taking up the center of the space, and this allowed smaller rooms to be heated.Chimneys were devised in northern Europe in the 11th or 12th centuries and largely fixed the issue of fumes, more faithfully venting smoke out. They made it feasible to provide the fireplace a draft, and made it feasible to put fireplaces in multiple rooms in buildings handily. They did not come into general use immediately, however, as they were expensive to develop and maintain.Benjamin Franklin developed a convection room for the fireplace that greatly improved the efficiency of fireplaces and wood stoves. He also enhanced the airflow by pulling air from a basement and venting a lengthier place on very top. At the later 18th century, Count Rumford designed a fireplace with a tall, shallow firebox which has been better at drawing the smoke up and out of the building. The shallow design also improved greatly the quantity of radiant heat projected into the space. Rumford's design is the basis for modern kitchens.
Instead it depended on simple designs with small unnecessary ornamentation. In the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way into the Arts and Crafts movement, where the emphasis was still placed on providing quality stone. Stone fireplaces now were a symbol of prosperity, which to a degree remains the idea today.A fireplace is a construction made from brick, stone or metal made to include a fire. Fireplaces are utilized for the relaxing ambiance that they create and for heating a space. Modern fireplaces change in heat efficiency, based on the design.Historically they have been utilized for heating a home, cooking, and heating water for domestic and laundry uses. A fireplace may have the following: a foundation, a hearth, a firebox, a mantelpiece; a chimney (utilized in kitchen and laundry fireplaces), a grate, a lintel, a lintel bar, house overmantel, a damper, a smoke chamber, 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 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 at the chimney is a far larger problem in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metal liners than with the standard masonry chimney, which divides up all but the rain. A few chimneys have a spark arrestor incorporated into the crown or cap.
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 threat. The EPA writes"Smoke may smell great, but it is not good for you.Kinds of fireplacesManufactured fireplaces are made with sheet metal or glass fire boxes.Electric fireplaces can be built-in replacements for either gas or wood or retrofit with log inserts or electrical fireboxes.
Masonry and prefabricated fireplaces can be fueled by wood, natural gas, biomass and gas fuel sources. In the United States, several states and local counties have laws restricting these kinds of fireplaces. Additionally, there are air quality management problems because of the quantity of moisture they release in the room air, and oxygen sensor and carbon monoxide sensors are safety essentials. Direct vent fireplaces are fueled by liquid propane or natural gas. They are completely sealed in the place that's heated, and vent all exhaust gasses to the outside of the structure.
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Over time, the intent behind fireplaces has transformed from one of requirement to one of interest. Early ones were fire pits compared to contemporary fireplaces. They have been used for heat on cold days and nights, in addition to for cooking. They also functioned as a gathering place inside the house. These fire pits were usually based within a room, allowing more people to gather around it.
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Many flaws were found in ancient fireplace designs. Together with the Industrial Revolution, came big scale housing developments, requiring a standardization of fireplaces. The most famous fireplace designers of the period were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a style of fireplace design that was used for generations. It was smaller, more brightly colored, with an emphasis on the level of the materials used in their construction, instead of their size.
By the 1800s most new fireplaces were made up of 2 components, the surround and the insert. The surround consisted of the mantlepiece and sides supports, usually 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.Superior Gas VentFree Fireplace VRT/VCT3000 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 lower heating load. Fireplace efficiency can also be enhanced by means of a fireback, a piece of metal that sits behind the flame and reflects heat back into the room. Firebacks are traditionally produced from cast iron, but are also made from stainless steel. Efficiency is a complicated concept though with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficiency tests consider only the effect of heating of the atmosphere. An open fireplace is not, and never was, designed to heat the air. A fireplace with a fireback is a radiant heater, and has done so since the 15th century. The best way to estimate the output signal of a fireplace is if you detect you're turning the thermostat down or up.
Most older fireplaces have a relatively low efficiency rating. Standard, contemporary, weatherproof masonry fireplaces though have an efficiency rating of at least 80% (legal minimum necessity such as in Salzburg/Austria). To boost efficiency, fireplaces may also be modified by adding special heavy fireboxes designed to burn much cleaner and can reach efficiencies as high as 80 percent in heating the atmosphere. These modified fireplaces are often equipped with a large fire window, allowing an efficient heating process in two stages. During the first stage the first heat is provided through a large glass while the flame is burning. In this time the structure, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the warmth. This warmth is then evenly radiated for several hours during the second phase. Masonry fireplaces without a glass fire window just provide heat radiated from its surface. Depending on temperatures 1 to two daily firings are enough to ensure a constant room temperature.superior fireplace
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