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Historical fire pits were sometimes built in the ground, in caves, or in the center of a hut or home. Evidence of prehistoric, man-made flames is present on all five inhabited continents. The drawback of premature indoor fire pits was that they produced toxic and/or irritating smoke inside the dwelling.Fire pits grown into elevated hearths in buildings, but ventilation smoke relied on open windows or openings in roofs. The great hall typically needed a centrally situated hearth, where a open fire burnt with all the smoke climbing into the vent in the roof. Louvers were developed during the Middle Ages to allow the roof vents to be coated so rain and snow would not enter.

Also during the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were devised to prevent smoke from dispersing a room and vent it out through a ceiling or wall. These could be placed against rock walls, rather than taking up the middle of the space, and this enabled smaller chambers to be heated.Chimneys were devised in northern Europe from the 11th or 12th centuries and mostly fixed the problem of fumes, more reliably venting smoke out. They made it possible to give the fireplace a draft, and also made it feasible to place fireplaces in multiple rooms in buildings handily. They didn't come into general use immediately, however, since they were more expensive to develop and maintain.

The 18th century saw two important developments in the history of fireplaces. Benjamin Franklin developed a convection chamber for the fireplace which greatly improved the efficiency of fireplaces and wood stoves. He also improved the airflow by pulling air from a cellar and venting a lengthier place at the very top. At the later 18th century, Count Rumford made a fireplace with a tall, shallow firebox which was 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 space. Rumford's design is the foundation for modern kitchens.

The Aesthetic movement of the 1870s and 1880s took to a more conventional spectra based on rock and also deflected unnecessary ornamentation. Instead it depended on simple designs with small unnecessary ornamentation. In the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way into the Arts and Crafts movement, where the emphasis was placed on providing quality stone. Stone fireplaces now have been a sign of wealth, which to a degree remains 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 that they create and for heating a space. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficacy, depending upon the design.

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

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On the exterior there is frequently a corbeled brick crown, where the projecting courses of brick act as a drip route to keep rainwater from running down the exterior walls. A cap, hood, or shroud serves to keep rainwater from the outside of the chimney; rain in the chimney is a far larger difficulty in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metal liners compared with the traditional masonry chimney, that soaks up all but the rain. Some chimneys have a spark arrestor incorporated 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 can pose a significant health threat. The EPA writes"Smoke may smell great, but it's not good for you.

Types of fireplacesArtificial fireplaces are made with sheet metal or glass fire boxes.Electric fireplaces can be built-in replacements for either wood or gas 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 either gel, liquid propane, bottled gas or natural gas. In the United States, some states and local businesses have laws limiting these types of fireplaces. Additionally, there are air quality management problems due to the amount of moisture they discharge in the room air, and oxygen detector 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 is heated, and port all exhaust gasses to the outside of the structure.

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AccessoriesFor the inside, common in recent Western cultures include grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, bark baskets, and fire puppies, all of which cradle gas and quicken burning. A grate (or fire grate) is a framework, usually of iron bars, to retain fuel for a fire. Heavy metal firebacks are occasionally used to catch and re-radiate heat, to safeguard the rear of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metal frames placed in front of the fireplace to contain embers, soot and ash. For fireplace tending, tools include pokers, bellows, tongs, shovels, brushes and tool racks.

As time passes, the purpose of fireplaces has changed from one of necessity to one of visual interest. Early ones were more fire pits than modern fireplaces. They were used for warmth on chilly days and nights, in addition to for cooking. They also served as a gathering place within the home. These fire pits were generally based within a space, allowing more individuals to gather around it.

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Many flaws were found in ancient fireplace designs. Together 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 has been used for generations. It was smaller, more brightly lit, with an emphasis on the quality of the materials used in their construction, instead of their size.

By the 1800s most new fireplaces were composed of 2 parts, the surround and the insert. The surround comprised of the mantlepiece and sides affirms, usually in wood, marble or granite. The insert was fire burned, and was constructed of cast iron often backed with ornamental tiles. As well as providing warmth, the fireplaces of the Victorian era were thought to add a cozy ambiance into homes.

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Some fireplace components include a blower that transports more of the fireplace's heat to the air via convection, resulting in a more evenly heated area and a lower heating load. Fireplace efficiency can also be increased with the use 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 manufactured from stainless steel. Efficiency is a complicated concept though with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficacy tests consider just the effect of heating of the air. An open fireplace isn't, and never was, intended to warm the atmosphere. A fireplace with a fireback is a radiant heater, and has done so since the 15th century. The ideal method to gauge the output of a fireplace is if you notice you are turning the thermostat down or up.

Most older fireplaces have a comparatively low efficiency score. Standard, modern, wood-burning masonry fireplaces though have an efficiency rating of at least 80% (legal minimum necessity for example in Salzburg/Austria). To boost efficiency, fireplaces can also be altered by inserting special heavy fireboxes developed to burn much cleaner and may reach efficiencies as large as 80 percent in heating the air. These modified fireplaces are often equipped with a large fire window, allowing an efficient heating process in two stages. During the first stage the initial heat is offered through a large glass window while the flame is burning. In this time period the structure, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the heat. This warmth is then equally radiated for several hours during the second phase. Masonry fireplaces with no glass fire window just offer heat radiated from the surface. Depending on outside temperatures 1 to two daily firings are sufficient to ensure a constant room temperature.wood fireplace