Ancient fire pits were sometimes constructed from the ground, in caves, or at the center of a hut or home. Evidence of prehistoric, man-made fires exists on all five inhabited continents. The disadvantage of early indoor fire pits was that they generated toxic and/or annoying smoke within the dwelling.Fire pits developed into raised hearths in buildings, but ventilation smoke depended on open windows or openings in roofs. The great hall typically needed a centrally situated hearth, where a open flame burned with the smoke rising to the port in the roof. Louvers were developed during the Middle Ages to enable the roof vents to be coated so rain and snow wouldn't enter.
Additionally during the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were invented to stop smoke from spreading through an area and vent it outside through a ceiling or wall. These could be placed against rock walls, instead of taking up the middle of the space, and this enabled smaller chambers to be warmed.Chimneys were invented in northern Europe from the 11th or 12th centuries and largely fixed the issue of fumes, more faithfully venting smoke out. They made it feasible to give the fireplace a draft, and made it possible to place fireplaces in multiple rooms in buildings handily. They did not come into general usage immediately, however, since they were more expensive to build and maintain.Benjamin Franklin developed a convection chamber for the fireplace that greatly improved the efficacy of fireplaces and wood stoves. In addition, he improved the airflow by pulling air from a basement and venting a lengthier area on top. At the later 18th century, Count Rumford designed a fireplace using a tall, shallow firebox which has been better at drawing up the smoke and out of the building. The shallow design also improved greatly the amount of radiant heat projected to the space. Rumford's layout is the basis for modern fireplaces.
The Aesthetic movement of the 1870s and 1880s took to a more conventional spectra based on stone and also deflected unnecessary ornamentation. Instead it depended on simple layouts 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 stone. Stone fireplaces at this time have been a symbol of wealth, which to a degree remains the notion today.A fireplace is a construction made of brick, stone or metal designed to include a fire. Fireplaces are used for its relaxing ambiance that they create and also for heating a space. Modern fireplaces change in heat efficiency, based on 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 foundation, a hearth, a firebox, a mantelpiece; a chimney (used in kitchen and laundry fireplaces), a grate, a lintel, a lintel pub, 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, where the casting courses of brick act as a drip course to keep rainwater from running down the exterior walls. A hood, cap, or shroud serves to keep rainwater out of the outside of the chimney; rain in the chimney is a far larger problem in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metal liners compared with the standard masonry chimney, which soaks up all but the rain. Some chimneys have a spark arrestor integrated into the crown or cap.
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 substantial health threat. The EPA writes"Smoke may smell good, but it's not great for you.Kinds of fireplacesManufactured fireplaces are made with sheet glass or metal flame boxes.Electric fireplaces could be built-in replacements for wood or gas or retrofit with log inserts or electric fireboxes.A couple of kinds are, wall mounted electric fireplaces, electric fireplace stoves, electrical mantel fireplaces and fixed or free standing gas fireplaces.
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 limiting these kinds of fireplaces. Additionally, there are air quality management issues because of the quantity of moisture that they discharge into the room air, and oxygen detector and carbon monoxide sensors are security essentials. Direct vent fireplaces have been fueled by either liquid propane or natural gas. They are totally sealed from the area that is heated, and vent all exhaust gasses to the outside of the structure.
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Over time, the intent behind fireplaces has changed from one of requirement to one of visual interest. Early ones were fire pits compared to contemporary fireplaces. They were used for warmth on cold days and nights, as well as for cooking. They also served 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 early fireplace designs. Along with the Industrial Revolution, came big scale housing developments, necessitating a standardization of fireplaces. The most famous fireplace designers of this period were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a kind of fireplace design which was used for generations. It was smaller, more brightly colored, with an emphasis on the quality 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 and the add. The surround comprised of the mantlepiece and sides affirms, typically in wood, marble or granite. The insert was where the fire burnt, and was built of cast iron frequently backed with decorative tiles. In addition to providing heat, the fireplaces of the Victorian age were thought to bring a cozy ambiance to houses.Pearl Mantels Blue Ridge Arched Fireplace Surround Fireplace Mantels Surrounds at Hayneedle Video
Some fireplace units 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 lower heating load. Fireplace efficiency can also be increased by means of a fireback, a sheet 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 efficacy tests consider only the effect of heating of the atmosphere. An open fireplace is not, and never was, designed to heat the atmosphere. A fireplace with a fireback is a toaster, and has done so since the 15th century. The best method to estimate the output signal of a fireplace is if you notice you are turning the thermostat down or up.
Most elderly fireplaces have a comparatively low efficiency rating. Standard, contemporary, weatherproof masonry fireplaces still possess an efficiency rating of 80% (legal minimum requirement for example in Salzburg/Austria). To boost efficiency, fireplaces may also be altered by inserting special heavy fireboxes developed to burn much cleaner and can reach efficiencies as large as 80 percent 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 offered through a large glass while the flame is burning. In this time period the construction, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the warmth. This heat is then evenly radiated for several hours during the second stage. Masonry fireplaces without a glass fire window only provide heat radiated from its surface. Based on temperatures 1 to 2 daily firings are enough to guarantee a constant room temperature.fireplace mantle
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