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Ancient fire pits were sometimes built in the ground, in caves, or in the center of a hut or home. Evidence of prehistoric, man-made fires is present on all five inhabited continents. The drawback of premature indoor flame pits was that they generated hazardous or annoying smoke within the dwelling.Fire pits developed into raised hearths in buildings, but ventilation smoke relied on open windows or openings in roofs. The medieval great hall typically needed a centrally situated hearth, where a open flame burnt with the smoke rising to the vent in the roof. Louvers were developed throughout the Middle Ages to enable the roof vents to be covered so rain and snow wouldn't enter.

Also during the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were invented to prevent smoke from spreading through an area and vent it outside via a wall or roof. These could be put against rock walls, rather than taking up the center of the room, and this enabled smaller rooms to be heated.Chimneys were invented in northern Europe from the 11th or 12th centuries and largely fixed the problem of fumes, more reliably venting smoke out. They made it feasible to give the fireplace a draft, and made it feasible to place fireplaces in multiple rooms in buildings conveniently. They did not come into general use immediately, however, as they were expensive to build and maintain.

The 18th century saw two important developments in the history of fireplaces. Benjamin Franklin developed a convection chamber for the fireplace that greatly enhanced the efficiency of fireplaces and wood stoves. In addition, he improved the airflow by pulling air from a basement and venting a lengthier place at the top. At the later 18th century, Count Rumford made a fireplace using a tall, shallow firebox that has been better at drawing up the smoke and from the construction. The shallow design improved greatly the amount of radiant warmth projected into the space. Rumford's design is the basis for modern fireplaces.

Instead it relied on simple layouts with small unnecessary ornamentation. From the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way into the Arts and Crafts movement, in which the emphasis was placed on providing quality stone. Stone fireplaces now have been a symbol of prosperity, which to some degree is still the idea today.A fireplace is a construction made from brick, stone or metal designed to include a fire. Fireplaces are utilized for its relaxing ambiance they create and also for heating a room. Modern fireplaces change in heat efficiency, depending on the design.

Historically they were used 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 laundry and kitchen fireplaces), a grate, a lintel, a lintel pub, home overmantel, a damper, a smoke room, a neck, a flue, and a chimney filter or afterburner.

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On the exterior there is often a corbeled brick crown, in which the casting courses of brick function as a drip route 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 in the chimney is a much larger problem in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metal liners compared with the traditional masonry chimney, that divides up all but the most violent rain. A few chimneys have a spark arrestor integrated into the crown or cap.

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 flame boxes.Electric fireplaces could be built-in replacements for either wood or gas or retrofit with log inserts or electric fireboxes.A couple of kinds are, wall mounted electric fireplaces, electric fireplace stoves, electric mantel fireplaces and fixed or free standing electric fireplaces.

In the USA, several states and local businesses have laws restricting these kinds of fireplaces. There are also air quality management problems because of the quantity of moisture they discharge 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 totally sealed from the place that's heated, and port all exhaust gasses into the exterior of the structure.

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AccessoriesA wide assortment of accessories are used with fireplaces, which range between countries, regions, and historical periods. For the inside, common in current Western cultures comprise grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, pellet baskets, and fire dogs, all of which cradle gas and quicken burning. A grate (or fire grate) is a framework, usually of iron bars, to retain fuel to your fire. Heavy metallic firebacks are occasionally utilized to capture and re-radiate warmth, to protect the rear of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metal frames set before the fireplace to contain embers, soot and ash. For fireplace tending, tools comprise pokers, bellows, tongs, shovels, brushes and instrument stands.

As time passes, the intent behind fireplaces has transformed from one of necessity to one of visual interest. Early ones were fire pits than modern fireplaces. They have been used for heat on cold days and nights, in addition to for cooking. They also functioned as a gathering place within the house. These fire pits were generally based within a room, allowing more individuals to gather around it.

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Many defects were found in early fireplace designs. Along with the Industrial Revolution, came big scale housing developments, requiring a standardization of fireplaces. The most famous fireplace performers of the time were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a kind of fireplace design which was used for generations. It was smaller, more brightly lit, with a emphasis on the level of the materials used in their construction, as opposed to their size.

From the 1800s most new fireplaces were made up of 2 components, the surround as well as the insert. The surround consisted of the mantlepiece and sides supports, usually in wood, marble or granite. The insert was where the fire burned, and was built of cast iron frequently backed with decorative tiles. As well as providing warmth, the fireplaces of the Victorian era were believed to add a cozy ambiance to homes.

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Some fireplace components incorporate a blower which transfers more of the fireplace's heat to the air 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 piece of metal which sits behind the fire and reflects heat back into the room. Firebacks are traditionally made from cast iron, but can also be 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 isn't, and never was, intended to heat the atmosphere. A fireplace with a fireback is a toaster, and has done so as the 15th century. The ideal method to estimate the output of a fireplace is in case you detect you're turning the thermostat up or down.

Most elderly fireplaces have a relatively low efficiency rating. Standard, modern, wood-burning masonry fireplaces though have an efficiency rating of 80% (legal minimum necessity such as in Salzburg/Austria). To boost efficiency, fireplaces may also be modified by adding special heavy fireboxes developed to burn cleaner and can reach efficiencies as large as 80% in heating the atmosphere. These modified fireplaces are often equipped with a large fire window, allowing an efficient heating system in two phases. During the first stage the first heat is provided through a large glass while the flame is burning. During this time period the structure, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the warmth. This warmth is then equally radiated for many hours during the next phase. Masonry fireplaces without a glass fire window just provide heat radiated from its surface. Depending on outside temperatures 1 to 2 daily firings are enough to guarantee a constant room temperature.fireplace mantle