Turn up the Heat with Modern Fireplace Updates

Ancient fire pits were sometimes built in the ground, within caves, or at the center of a hut or home. Evidence of ancient, man-made fires is present on all five inhabited continents. The drawback of premature indoor fire pits was that they generated toxic and/or annoying smoke within the dwelling.Fire pits grown into raised hearths in buildings, but venting smoke depended on open windows or holes in roofs. The medieval great hall typically needed a centrally situated hearth, where a open flame 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 rain and snow would not enter.

Additionally during the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were devised to prevent smoke from spreading through an area and vent it out through a wall or roof. These could be placed against stone walls, instead of taking up the center of the space, and this allowed smaller rooms to be warmed.Chimneys were devised in northern Europe in the 11th or 12th centuries and largely fixed the issue of fumes, more reliably venting smoke out. They made it possible to give the fireplace a draft, and also made it possible to put fireplaces in multiple rooms in buildings handily. They did not come into general use 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 venting and airflow system. The 18th century saw two major developments in the history of fireplaces. Benjamin Franklin developed a convection chamber for the fireplace which greatly improved the efficacy of fireplaces and wood stoves. In addition, he enhanced the airflow by pulling air from a cellar and venting a lengthier area at the very top. At the later 18th century, Count Rumford made a fireplace with a tall, shallow firebox which was better at drawing up the smoke and from the construction. The shallow design improved greatly the amount of radiant warmth projected to the space. Rumford's design is the basis for modern kitchens.

Instead it depended on simple designs with little 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 at this time have been a symbol of wealth, which to a degree remains 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 room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficacy, depending upon the plan.

Historically they were utilized for heating a home, cooking, and heating water for laundry and domestic uses. A fire is contained in a firebox or firepit; a chimney or alternative flue allows exhaust to escape. 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, home overmantel, a damper, a smoke room, a throat, a flue, and a chimney filter or afterburner.

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On the exterior there's frequently a corbeled brick crown, where the casting courses of brick function as a drip course to keep rainwater from running down the exterior walls. A cap, hood, or shroud serves to keep rainwater out of the outside of the chimney; rain at the chimney is a much greater difficulty in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metallic liners compared with the traditional masonry chimney, which divides up all but the most violent rain. A few chimneys have a spark arrestor integrated into the cap or crown.

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

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

In the USA, several states and local counties have laws limiting these types of fireplaces. They need to be suitably sized to the area to be heated. Additionally, there are air quality control problems due to the quantity of moisture they release in the room air, and oxygen sensor and carbon monoxide sensors are security essentials. Direct vent fireplaces are fueled by liquid propane or natural gas. They are completely sealed from the place that is heated, and vent all exhaust gasses into the outside of the structure.

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AccessoriesFor the inside, common in recent Western civilizations comprise grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, pellet baskets, and fire dogs, all of which cradle gas and quicken burning. A grate (or flame grate) is a frame, usually of iron bars, to retain fuel to your fire. Heavy metallic firebacks are sometimes used to capture and re-radiate heat, to protect the back of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metal frames set before the fireplace to include embers, soot and ashes. For fireplace tending, tools comprise pokers, bellows, tongs, shovels, brushes and tool stands.

Over time, the intent behind fireplaces has changed from one of necessity to one of interest. Early ones were more fire pits than contemporary fireplaces. They were used for heat 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 centered within a space, allowing more people to collect around it.

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Majestic Products: Fireplaces Home Hearth

Many flaws were found in early fireplace designs. The most renowned fireplace designers of this time 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 materials used in their construction, instead of their size.

By the 1800s most new fireplaces were made up of two parts, the surround as well as the insert. The surround consisted of the mantlepiece and sides supports, usually in wood, marble or granite. The fit was fire burned, and was built of cast iron frequently backed with decorative tiles. In addition to providing heat, the fireplaces of the Victorian era were believed to bring a cozy ambiance into homes.

Majestic Products: Fireplaces Home Hearth Video

Some fireplace units include a blower that transfers more of the fireplace's heat to the air via convection, leading to a more evenly heated space and a lower heating load. Fireplace efficiency is also enhanced 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 are also made from stainless steel. Efficiency is a complicated notion although with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficacy tests consider just the effect of heating of the atmosphere. An open fireplace is not, and never was, designed 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 gauge the output signal of a fireplace is if you detect you are turning the thermostat down or up.

Most elderly fireplaces have a relatively low efficiency rating. Standard, contemporary, weatherproof masonry fireplaces still possess an efficiency rating of at least 80% (legal minimum requirement for example in Salzburg/Austria). To boost efficiency, fireplaces can also be modified by adding special heavy fireboxes developed to burn cleaner and can reach efficiencies as high as 80% in heating the air. These altered fireplaces are usually equipped with a large fire window, enabling an efficient heating process in two stages. During the first phase the initial heat is provided through a large glass window while the flame is burning. During this time period the structure, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the warmth. This heat is then equally radiated for many hours during the next phase. Masonry fireplaces without a glass fire window just offer heat radiated from its surface. Depending on outside temperatures 1 to two daily firings are sufficient to guarantee a constant room temperature.fireplaces