Wood Stoves and Inserts — Preston Trading Post

Historical fire pits were sometimes built in the floor, in caves, or at the middle of a hut or dwelling. Evidence of prehistoric, man-made fires exists on all five inhabited continents. The disadvantage of premature indoor fire pits was that they generated toxic and/or annoying smoke inside the dwelling.Fire pits grown into elevated hearths in structures, but ventilation smoke relied on open windows or holes in roofs. The medieval great hall typically needed a centrally situated hearth, where an open flame burnt with the smoke climbing into the vent in the roof. Louvers were developed throughout the Middle Ages to enable the roof vents to be covered so snow and rain wouldn't enter.

Also throughout the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were invented to prevent smoke from dispersing a room and vent it out via a wall or roof. These could be put against stone walls, rather than taking up the middle of the space, and this enabled smaller chambers to be heated.Chimneys were invented in northern Europe in the 11th or 12th centuries and largely fixed the issue of fumes, more faithfully venting smoke outside. They made it possible to provide the fireplace a draft, and made it feasible to place fireplaces in multiple rooms in buildings handily. They did not come into general usage instantly, however, since they were more expensive to build and maintain.

Benjamin Franklin developed a convection chamber for the fireplace which greatly improved the efficiency of fireplaces and wood stoves. In addition, he improved the airflow by pulling air from a cellar and venting out a longer place at the very top. In the later 18th century, Count Rumford made a fireplace with a tall, shallow firebox which has been better at drawing the smoke up and from the building. The shallow design also improved greatly the quantity of radiant heat projected to the room. Rumford's layout is the basis for modern kitchens.

Instead it relied on simple designs with little unnecessary ornamentation. From the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way into the Arts and Crafts movement, in which the emphasis was placed on supplying quality gems. Stone fireplaces now were a symbol of wealth, which to a degree is still 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 space. Modern fireplaces change in heat efficacy, depending on the design.

Historically they were 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 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 from the outside of the chimney; rain at the chimney is a much greater problem in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metallic liners than with the traditional masonry chimney, that divides up all but the rain. Some chimneys have a spark arrestor incorporated into the cap or crown.

Organizations like the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Washington Department of Ecology warn that, according to various studies, fireplaces can pose a substantial health risk. The EPA writes"Smoke may smell great, but it's not good for you.

Kinds of fireplacesArtificial fireplaces are made with sheet metal or glass flame boxes.Electric fireplaces could be built-in replacements for gas or wood or retrofit with log inserts or electrical fireboxes.A few types are, wall mounted electric fireplaces, electric fireplace stoves, electric mantel fireplaces and fixed or free standing gas fireplaces.

Ventless Fireplaces (duct free/room-venting fireplaces) are fueled by gel, liquid propane, bottled gas or natural gas. In the USA, several states and local counties have laws restricting these kinds of fireplaces. Additionally, there are air quality management problems due to the amount of moisture they release in 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 in the place that is heated, and vent all exhaust gasses to the exterior of the structure.

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AccessoriesA vast range of accessories are used with fireplaces, which range between countries, regions, and historical periods. For the inside, common in current Western cultures include grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, bark baskets, and fire puppies, all which cradle gas and quicken burning. A grate (or flame grate) is a framework, usually of iron bars, to retain fuel to your fire. Heavy metal firebacks are occasionally utilized to capture and re-radiate heat, to safeguard the back of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metallic frames placed before the fireplace to include embers, soot and ashes. For fireplace tending, tools include pokers, bellows, tongs, shovels, brushes and tool racks.

Over time, the intent behind fireplaces has transformed from one of requirement to one of visual interest. Early ones were more fire pits compared to contemporary fireplaces. They have been used for heat on cold days and nights, as well as for cooking. They also served as a gathering place within the home. These fire pits were generally centered within a room, allowing more individuals to collect around it.

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Many defects were found in early fireplace designs. Together with the Industrial Revolution, came big scale housing developments, requiring a standardization of fireplaces. The most renowned fireplace designers of the time were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a style of fireplace design that was used for generations. It was smaller, more brightly colored, with an emphasis on the level of the materials used in their construction, as opposed to their size.

From the 1800s newest fireplaces were composed of two components, the surround and the add. The encircle comprised of the mantlepiece and sides affirms, typically in wood, marble or granite. The insert was fire burned, and was built of cast iron frequently backed with decorative tiles. As well as providing heat, the fireplaces of the Victorian era were thought to bring a cozy ambiance to houses.

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Some fireplace units include a blower which transports more of the fireplace's heat to the air via convection, resulting in a more evenly heated area and a decrease heating load. Fireplace efficiency can also be enhanced 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 notion though with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficiency tests consider only the effect of heating of the atmosphere. An open fireplace is not, and never was, designed to heat the atmosphere. The ideal way to estimate the output of a fireplace is if you detect you're turning the thermostat up or down.

Most elderly fireplaces have a relatively low efficiency score. Standard, contemporary, weatherproof masonry fireplaces though have an efficiency rating of 80% (legal minimum requirement such as in Salzburg/Austria). To improve efficiency, fireplaces can also be altered by inserting special heavy fireboxes designed to burn cleaner and can reach efficiencies as high as 80 percent in heating the atmosphere. These altered fireplaces are often equipped with a large fire window, allowing an efficient heating process in two phases. During the first stage the initial heat is offered through a large glass while the flame is burning. During this time the construction, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the heat. This heat is then evenly radiated for several hours during the next phase. Masonry fireplaces with no glass fire window just offer heat radiated from the surface. Based on temperatures 1 to two daily firings are sufficient to ensure a constant room temperature.fireplace inserts