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Historical fire pits were sometimes constructed from the ground, in caves, or at the center of a hut or home. Evidence of prehistoric, man-made flames exists on all five inhabited continents. The drawback of premature indoor flame pits was that they generated toxic and/or irritating smoke inside the house.Fire pits developed into elevated hearths in buildings, but venting smoke relied on open windows or openings in roofs. The medieval great hall typically had a centrally located hearth, where a open fire burnt with all the smoke climbing into the vent in the roof. Louvers were developed throughout the Middle Ages to enable the roof vents to be coated so snow and rain wouldn't enter.

Also during the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were invented to stop smoke from spreading through a room and vent it outside through a wall or roof. These can be put against stone walls, instead of taking up the center of the room, and this allowed smaller chambers to be warmed.Chimneys were devised in northern Europe in the 11th or 12th centuries and largely fixed the issue of fumes, more faithfully venting smoke out. They made it possible to give the fireplace a draft, and made it feasible to place fireplaces in multiple rooms in buildings conveniently. They didn't come into general usage immediately, however, as they were more expensive to develop and maintain.

In 1678 Prince Rupert, nephew of Charles I, raised the grate of the fireplace, improving the venting and airflow system. The 18th century saw two major developments in the history of fireplaces. Benjamin Franklin developed a convection chamber for the fireplace which greatly enhanced the efficacy of fireplaces and wood stoves. In addition, he enhanced the airflow by pulling air from a cellar and venting a longer area on very top. At the later 18th century, Count Rumford made a fireplace using a tall, shallow firebox that has been better at drawing the smoke up and out of the building. The shallow design improved greatly the quantity of radiant heat projected to the space. Rumford's layout is the foundation for modern fireplaces.

Instead it depended 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 at this time 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 contain a fire. Fireplaces are utilized for the relaxing ambiance that they create and for heating a space. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficacy, depending upon the design.

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

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On the exterior there's often a corbeled brick crown, in which the projecting courses of brick function as a drip course to keep rainwater from running down the outside walls. A hood, cap, or shroud functions to keep rainwater out of 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 standard 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 good, but it's not great for you.

Types of fireplacesArtificial fireplaces are made with sheet glass or metal flame boxes.Electric fireplaces can be built-in replacements for either gas or wood or retrofit with log inserts or electrical fireboxes.

In the USA, some states and local counties have laws limiting these types of fireplaces. There are also air quality control problems due to the quantity of moisture that they discharge into the room air, and oxygen detector and carbon dioxide sensors are security 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 into the outside of the structure.

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AccessoriesA vast assortment of accessories are used with fireplaces, ranging between countries, regions, and historical periods. For the inside, common in current Western cultures include grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, pellet baskets, and 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 for a fire. Heavy metallic firebacks are occasionally utilized to catch and re-radiate heat, 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.

As time passes, the intent behind fireplaces has changed from one of requirement to one of visual interest. Early ones were fire pits than contemporary fireplaces. They were used for heat on chilly days and nights, as well as for cooking. They also served as a gathering place within the home. These fire pits were generally based within a room, allowing more people to collect around it.

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Many flaws were found in early fireplace designs. Along with the Industrial Revolution, came large scale housing developments, necessitating a standardization of fireplaces. The most renowned fireplace designers of the period were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a kind of fireplace design which has been used for generations. It was smaller, more brightly colored, with a emphasis on the quality of the substances used in their construction, instead of their size.

From the 1800s most new fireplaces were composed of two components, the surround as well as the insert. The encircle comprised of the mantlepiece and sides supports, usually in wood, granite or marble. The insert was where the fire burned, and was constructed of cast iron often backed with ornamental tiles. As well as providing heat, the fireplaces of the Victorian era were believed to bring a cozy ambiance into homes.

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Some fireplace units incorporate a blower which transfers more of the fireplace's heat to the atmosphere via convection, leading to a more evenly heated area and a decrease heating load. Fireplace efficiency is also increased with the use of a fireback, a sheet of metal that sits behind the flame and reflects heat back into the room. Firebacks are traditionally produced from cast iron, but are also made from stainless steel. Efficiency is a complex concept although with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficacy tests consider just the effect of heating of the air. An open fireplace isn't, and never was, designed to warm the air. The ideal method to gauge the output signal of a fireplace is if you notice you are turning the thermostat down or up.

Most elderly fireplaces have a relatively low efficiency score. Standard, contemporary, weatherproof masonry fireplaces still possess an efficiency rating of at least 80% (legal minimum necessity such as in Salzburg/Austria). To improve efficiency, fireplaces can also be altered by inserting special heavy fireboxes developed to burn much cleaner and may reach efficiencies as high as 80 percent in heating the air. These altered fireplaces are usually equipped with a massive fire window, allowing an efficient heating process in two stages. During the first stage the initial heat is offered through a big glass while the fire is burning. In this time period the structure, built of refractory bricks, absorbs the warmth. This warmth is then equally radiated for several hours during the next phase. Masonry fireplaces without a glass fire window just provide heat radiated from its surface. Based on temperatures 1 to two daily firings are enough to guarantee a constant room temperature.fireplace mantel decor