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Ancient fire pits were sometimes constructed from the ground, within caves, or at the center of a hut or dwelling. Evidence of prehistoric, man-made flames is present on all five inhabited continents. The disadvantage of early indoor flame pits was that they produced hazardous or irritating smoke within the dwelling.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 burnt with all the smoke rising to the vent in the roof. Louvers were developed throughout 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 spreading through an area and vent it outside through a ceiling or wall. These can be placed against stone walls, rather than taking up the middle of the room, and this allowed smaller rooms to be warmed.Chimneys were invented in northern Europe in the 11th or 12th centuries and mostly fixed the issue of fumes, more faithfully venting smoke out. They made it feasible to provide the fireplace a draft, and also made it feasible to place fireplaces in numerous rooms in buildings handily. They didn't come into general use immediately, however, since they were more expensive to build and maintain.

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. In addition, he improved the airflow by pulling air from a basement and venting out a longer area at the very top. In the later 18th century, Count Rumford designed a fireplace using a tall, shallow firebox that 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 to the room. Rumford's design is the basis for modern fireplaces.

Rather it depended on simple designs with small 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 gems. Stone fireplaces at this time have been a symbol of wealth, which to a degree is still the idea today.A fireplace is a construction made of brick, stone or metal made to include a fire. Fireplaces are utilized for its relaxing ambiance that they create and also for heating a space. Modern fireplaces change in heat efficacy, depending upon the plan.

Historically they were used for heating a dwelling, cooking, and heating water for laundry and domestic uses. A fireplace might have the following: a base, a hearth, a firebox, a mantelpiece; a chimney crane (utilized in kitchen and laundry 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 often a corbeled brick crown, in which the casting courses of brick act as a drip route to keep rainwater from running down the exterior walls. A cap, hood, or shroud functions to keep rainwater out of the exterior of the chimney; rain in the chimney is a far larger problem in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metallic liners than with the traditional masonry chimney, which soaks up all but the most violent rain. Some chimneys have a spark arrestor integrated into the cap or crown.

Organizations such as 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 great for you.

Types of fireplacesArtificial fireplaces are made out of sheet glass or metal flame boxes.Electric fireplaces could be built-in replacements for either wood or gas or retrofit with log inserts or electric fireboxes.

Masonry and prefabricated fireplaces can be fueled by wood, natural gas, biomass and gas fuel sources. In the United States, some states and local counties have laws restricting these types of fireplaces. They need to be suitably sized to the area to be heated. There are also air quality management problems due to the quantity of moisture they release into the room atmosphere, and oxygen detector and carbon dioxide sensors are security essentials. Direct vent fireplaces are fueled by liquid propane or natural gas. They are completely sealed from the area that is heated, and port all exhaust gasses to the exterior of the structure.

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AccessoriesFor the interior, common in current Western cultures include grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, pellet baskets, and fire puppies, all of which cradle fuel and accelerate burning. A grate (or fire grate) is a framework, usually of iron bars, to maintain fuel to your fire. Heavy metal firebacks are sometimes utilized to catch and re-radiate heat, to safeguard the back of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metal frames set before the fireplace to contain embers, soot and ashes.

As time passes, the purpose of fireplaces has changed from one of requirement to one of interest. Early ones were more fire pits than modern fireplaces. They have been used for warmth on cold days and nights, in addition to for cooking. They also served as a gathering place inside the home. These fire pits were usually based within a room, allowing more people 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 this time were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a style of fireplace design that has been used for generations. It was smaller, more brightly lit, with a emphasis on the level of the substances used in their construction, instead of their size.

By the 1800s most new fireplaces were made up of two components, the surround as well as the insert. The surround consisted of the mantlepiece and sides supports, usually in wood, granite or marble. The insert was fire burnt, and was built of cast iron often backed with ornamental tiles. As well as providing warmth, the fireplaces of the Victorian era were thought to bring a cozy ambiance to homes.

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Some fireplace components incorporate a blower which transports more of the fireplace's heat to the air via convection, resulting in 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 flame 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 although with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficiency tests consider just the effect of heating of the atmosphere. An open fireplace is not, and never was, intended to heat the atmosphere. A fireplace with a fireback is a radiant heater, and has done so as the 15th century. The ideal way to gauge the output signal of a fireplace is if you detect you are turning the thermostat down or up.

Most elderly fireplaces have a comparatively low efficiency rating. Standard, modern, wood-burning masonry fireplaces though have an efficiency rating of at least 80% (legal minimum requirement for example in Salzburg/Austria). To improve efficiency, fireplaces may also be modified by inserting special heavy fireboxes developed to burn cleaner and can reach efficiencies as high as 80 percent in heating the atmosphere. These altered fireplaces are usually equipped with a large fire window, allowing an efficient heating system in two phases. During the first phase the first heat is offered through a large glass while the flame is burning. In this time the structure, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the heat. This warmth is then evenly radiated for several hours during the next stage. Masonry fireplaces without a glass fire window just offer heat radiated from its surface. Based on outside temperatures 1 to two daily firings are enough to ensure a constant room temperature.gas fireplaces