The 7 Best Gas Fireplace Inserts of 2019

Ancient fire pits were sometimes constructed in the floor, in caves, or at the middle of a hut or dwelling. Evidence of prehistoric, man-made fires is present on all five inhabited continents. The drawback of premature indoor fire pits was that they produced hazardous or annoying smoke within the dwelling.Fire pits developed into elevated hearths in buildings, but venting smoke depended on open windows or openings in roofs. The great hall typically needed a centrally situated hearth, where a open fire burnt with the smoke rising to the port in the roof. Louvers were developed throughout the Middle Ages to allow the roof vents to be covered so snow and rain wouldn't enter.

Also throughout the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were devised to stop smoke from dispersing a room and vent it out via a wall or roof. These can be put against stone walls, instead of taking up the center of the room, and this allowed smaller rooms to be heated.Chimneys were invented in northern Europe in the 11th or 12th centuries and largely fixed the problem of fumes, more reliably venting smoke outside. They made it possible to give the fireplace a draft, and also made it possible to place fireplaces in multiple rooms in buildings handily. They didn't 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 airflow and venting system. 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 on very top. In the later 18th century, Count Rumford made a fireplace using a tall, shallow firebox that was better at drawing up the smoke and from the building. The shallow design improved greatly the amount of radiant warmth projected into the room. Rumford's design is the foundation for modern kitchens.

Instead it depended on simple layouts with little unnecessary ornamentation. From the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way into the Arts and Crafts movement, where the emphasis was placed on providing quality gems. Stone fireplaces now were a symbol of prosperity, which to some degree remains the idea today.A fireplace is a construction made from brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for its relaxing ambiance they create and also for heating a room. Modern fireplaces change in heat efficacy, depending upon the plan.

Historically they have been used for heating a home, cooking, and heating water for domestic and laundry uses.

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On the exterior there's often a corbeled brick crown, where the projecting 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 exterior of the chimney; rain in the chimney is a much greater difficulty in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metallic liners than with the traditional masonry chimney, which soaks up all but the rain. Some chimneys have a spark arrestor incorporated into the crown or cap.

The EPA writes"Smoke may smell great, but it's not great for you.

Kinds of fireplacesArtificial fireplaces are made out of sheet metal or glass flame 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 propane fuel sources. Ventless Fireplaces (duct free/room-venting fireplaces) are fueled by gel, liquid propane, bottled gas or natural gas. In the United States, several states and local businesses have laws limiting these kinds of fireplaces. They must be suitably sized to the area to be heated. There are also air quality control problems due to the quantity of moisture that they discharge into the room atmosphere, and oxygen sensor and carbon dioxide sensors are security essentials. Direct vent fireplaces are fueled by either liquid propane or natural gas. They are totally sealed from the place that is heated, and port all exhaust gasses into the exterior of the structure.

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AccessoriesA vast assortment of accessories are used with fireplaces, ranging between countries, regions, and historical periods. For the interior, common in recent Western cultures include grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, bark baskets, and fire dogs, all of which cradle fuel and accelerate burning. A grate (or fire grate) is a framework, usually of iron bars, to maintain fuel for a fire. Heavy metal firebacks are occasionally used to capture and re-radiate warmth, to protect the back of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metal frames placed before the fireplace to contain embers, soot and ashes. For fireplace tending, tools include pokers, bellows, tongs, shovels, brushes and instrument stands.

As time passes, the intent behind fireplaces has transformed from one of necessity to one of interest. Early ones were more fire pits compared to 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 house. These fire pits were generally based within a space, allowing more individuals to collect around it.

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Osburn 1800 Fireplace Insert at OsburnWoodStoves.com

Many defects were found in early fireplace designs. The most renowned fireplace designers of the time were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a kind of fireplace design which has been used for generations. It had been smaller, more brightly colored, with a emphasis on the quality of the substances used in their construction, as opposed to their dimensions.

By the 1800s newest fireplaces were composed of two components, the surround as well as the insert. The surround comprised of the mantlepiece and sides affirms, usually in wood, granite or marble. The fit was where the fire burned, and was constructed of cast iron often backed with decorative tiles. As well as providing heat, the fireplaces of the Victorian age were thought to add a cozy ambiance into houses.

Osburn 1800 Fireplace Insert at OsburnWoodStoves.com Video

Some fireplace units include a blower that transfers more of the fireplace's heat to the atmosphere via convection, leading to a more evenly heated area and a decrease heating load. Fireplace efficiency can also be enhanced by means of a fireback, a sheet 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 made from stainless steel. Efficiency is a complex notion although with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficacy tests consider just the effect of heating of the atmosphere. 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 way to estimate the output of a fireplace is in case you detect you're turning the thermostat up or down.

Most older fireplaces have a comparatively low efficiency score. Standard, contemporary, weatherproof masonry fireplaces still possess an efficiency rating of at least 80% (legal minimum necessity for example in Salzburg/Austria). To improve efficiency, fireplaces may also be altered by inserting special heavy fireboxes developed to burn cleaner and may reach efficiencies as large as 80% in heating the atmosphere. These modified fireplaces are often equipped with a massive fire window, enabling an efficient heating system in two stages. During the first phase the initial heat is offered through a large glass window while the flame is burning. In this time period the construction, built of refractory bricks, absorbs the heat. This heat is then evenly radiated for several hours during the next stage. 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.fireplace inserts