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Ancient fire pits were sometimes built from the floor, within caves, or at the middle of a hut or dwelling. Evidence of prehistoric, man-made flames exists on all five inhabited continents. The disadvantage of early indoor flame pits was that they generated hazardous or irritating smoke inside the house.Fire pits developed into elevated hearths in structures, but ventilation smoke relied on open windows or holes in roofs. The great hall typically needed a centrally located hearth, where an open flame burnt with all the smoke climbing into the port in the roof. Louvers were developed during the Middle Ages to allow the roof vents to be covered so snow and rain wouldn't enter.

Also during the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were devised to prevent smoke from dispersing an area and vent it outside through a ceiling or wall. These could be put against rock walls, rather than taking up the middle of the room, and this enabled smaller rooms to be heated.Chimneys were invented in northern Europe from the 11th or 12th centuries and mostly fixed the problem of fumes, more faithfully venting smoke outside. They made it possible to provide the fireplace a draft, and also made it possible to put fireplaces in numerous rooms in buildings handily. They didn't come into general use instantly, however, since they were more expensive to build and maintain.

In 1678 Prince Rupert, nephew of Charles I, raised the grate of the fireplace, improving the airflow and venting system. Benjamin Franklin developed a convection chamber for the fireplace that greatly enhanced the efficacy of fireplaces and wood stoves. He also enhanced the airflow by pulling air from a basement and venting out a lengthier area at the very top. In the later 18th century, Count Rumford designed a fireplace using a tall, shallow firebox that has been better at drawing the smoke up and out of the building. The shallow design also improved greatly the amount of radiant warmth 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 stone and deflected unnecessary ornamentation. Rather it relied on simple designs with small unnecessary ornamentation. In the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way to the Arts and Crafts movement, in which the emphasis was placed on providing quality gems. Stone fireplaces now were a symbol of prosperity, which to a degree is still the notion today.A fireplace is a structure made from brick, stone or metal made to include a fire. Fireplaces are used for its relaxing ambiance that they create and also for heating a space. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, based on the design.

Historically they were used for heating a dwelling, cooking, and heating water for laundry and domestic uses. A fire is contained in a firebox or firepit; a chimney or other flue allows exhaust to escape. A fireplace might have the following: a foundation, a hearth, a firebox, a mantelpiece; a chimney crane (utilized in laundry and kitchen fireplaces), a grate, a lintel, a lintel bar, home overmantel, a damper, a smoke chamber, a neck, 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 hood, cap, or shroud serves to keep rainwater from the outside of the chimney; rain at the chimney is a far 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 crown or cap.

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

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

In the United States, some states and local businesses have laws limiting these types of fireplaces. They must be suitably sized to the area to be heated. Additionally, there are air quality management problems because of the amount of moisture that they release into the room atmosphere, and oxygen detector and carbon monoxide sensors are safety essentials. Direct vent fireplaces are fueled by either liquid propane or natural gas. They are completely sealed in the area that is heated, and vent 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, along with fire puppies, all of which cradle fuel and accelerate burning. A grate (or fire grate) is a frame, usually of iron bars, to retain fuel to your fire. Heavy metallic firebacks are sometimes utilized to capture and re-radiate warmth, to protect the back of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metallic frames placed in front of the fireplace to include embers, soot and ash. For fireplace tending, tools comprise pokers, bellows, tongs, shovels, brushes and tool stands.

Over time, the purpose of fireplaces has transformed from one of necessity to one of visual interest. Early ones were fire pits compared to modern fireplaces. They were used for warmth on chilly days and nights, in addition to for cooking. They also functioned as a gathering place within the home. These fire pits were usually centered within a room, allowing more people to collect around it.

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Many defects were found in early fireplace designs. The most famous fireplace designers of this time were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a kind of fireplace design that was used for generations. It was smaller, more brightly lit, with a emphasis on the quality of the substances used in their construction, instead of their dimensions.

From the 1800s newest fireplaces were made up of 2 parts, the surround and the add. The encircle comprised of the mantlepiece and sides supports, typically in wood, marble or granite. The insert was where the fire burnt, and was built of cast iron often backed with ornamental tiles. As well as providing warmth, the fireplaces of the Victorian age were thought to add a cozy ambiance into homes.

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Some fireplace components include a blower which transports more of the fireplace's heat to the atmosphere via convection, resulting in a more evenly heated space and a decrease heating load. Fireplace efficiency is also enhanced with the use of a fireback, a piece of metal that sits behind the fire and reflects heat back into the room. Firebacks are traditionally produced from cast iron, but can also be manufactured from stainless steel. Efficiency is a complex notion though with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficiency tests consider only the impact of heating of the air. An open fireplace isn't, and never was, designed to warm the atmosphere. The best method to gauge the output of a fireplace is if you notice you're turning the thermostat down or up.

Most older fireplaces have a relatively low efficiency score. Standard, modern, wood-burning masonry fireplaces though have an efficiency rating of 80% (legal minimum requirement for example in Salzburg/Austria). To improve efficiency, fireplaces may also be modified by adding special heavy fireboxes developed to burn cleaner and can reach efficiencies as high as 80 percent in heating the atmosphere. These altered fireplaces are usually equipped with a massive fire window, enabling an efficient heating system in two phases. During the first phase the initial heat is provided through a large glass window while the flame is burning. In this time the structure, built of refractory bricks, absorbs the warmth. This warmth is then equally radiated for many hours during the second stage. Masonry fireplaces with no glass fire window only offer heat radiated from the surface. Based on outside temperatures 1 to 2 daily firings are sufficient to guarantee a constant room temperature.fireplace mantel decor