SpectraFire 39 in. Traditional Builtin Electric Fireplace Insert with Glass Door and Mesh

Ancient fire pits were sometimes built in the floor, within caves, or in the middle of a hut or home. Evidence of ancient, man-made flames is present on all five inhabited continents. The drawback of early indoor flame pits was that they generated toxic and/or annoying smoke inside the dwelling.Fire pits developed into elevated hearths in structures, but ventilation smoke relied on open windows or openings in roofs. The great hall typically needed a centrally located hearth, where an open flame burned with all the smoke rising to the vent in the roof. Louvers were developed throughout the Middle Ages to allow the roof vents to be covered so snow and rain wouldn't enter.

Additionally throughout the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were invented to prevent smoke from dispersing a room and vent it out via a ceiling or wall. These could be put against rock walls, instead of taking up the middle of the space, and this enabled smaller rooms to be warmed.Chimneys were invented in northern Europe in the 11th or 12th centuries and largely fixed the issue of fumes, more reliably venting smoke outside. They made it feasible to provide the fireplace a draft, and made it feasible to put fireplaces in multiple rooms in buildings conveniently. They did not come into general use instantly, however, since they were more expensive to develop and maintain.

In 1678 Prince Rupert, nephew of Charles I, increased the grate of the fireplace, improving the venting and airflow system. Benjamin Franklin developed a convection room for the fireplace that greatly improved the efficiency of fireplaces and wood stoves. He also improved the airflow by pulling air from a cellar and venting out a lengthier area at the 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 construction. The shallow design also improved greatly the amount of radiant heat projected into the room. Rumford's design is the basis for modern fireplaces.

Instead it depended 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 still placed on supplying quality gems. Stone fireplaces at this time were a symbol of prosperity, which to some degree remains the idea today.A fireplace is a construction made from brick, stone or metal designed to include a fire. Fireplaces are used 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. A fireplace may have the following: a base, a hearth, a firebox, a mantelpiece; a chimney crane (utilized in kitchen and laundry fireplaces), a grate, a lintel, a lintel bar, house overmantel, a damper, a smoke room, a throat, 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 exterior of the chimney; rain in the chimney is a far greater difficulty in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metallic liners than with the traditional masonry chimney, which soaks up all but the rain. Some chimneys have a spark arrestor integrated into the cap or crown.

Organizations such as the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Washington Department of Ecology warn that, according to various studies, fireplaces could pose a significant health threat. The EPA writes"Smoke may smell good, but it's not good for you.

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

Masonry and prefabricated fireplaces can be fueled by wood, natural gas, biomass and gas fuel sources. In the United States, several states and local counties have laws limiting these kinds of fireplaces. They must be properly sized to the area to be heated. There are also air quality control problems because of the quantity of moisture that they release into the room air, and oxygen detector and carbon dioxide sensors are security essentials. Direct vent fireplaces are fueled by liquid propane or natural gas. They are totally sealed in the area that's heated, and vent all exhaust gasses to the exterior of the structure.

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AccessoriesFor the inside, common in recent Western civilizations include grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, pellet baskets, along with fire dogs, all of which cradle gas and quicken burning. A grate (or flame grate) is a frame, usually of iron bars, to retain fuel for a fire. Heavy metal firebacks are sometimes used to capture and re-radiate heat, to protect the back of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metal frames set before the fireplace to include embers, soot and ash.

As time passes, the purpose of fireplaces has transformed from one of requirement to one of visual interest. Early ones were fire pits compared to contemporary fireplaces. They were used for heat on chilly days and nights, in addition to for cooking. They also served as a gathering place inside the home. 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, necessitating a standardization of fireplaces. The most renowned fireplace performers of the period were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a style of fireplace design that was used for generations. It was smaller, more brightly colored, with a emphasis on the quality of the materials used in their construction, instead of their dimensions.

From the 1800s most new fireplaces were made up of two parts, the surround as well as the insert. The encircle comprised of the mantlepiece and sides affirms, usually in wood, granite or marble. The fit was where the fire burned, and was constructed of cast iron frequently backed with decorative tiles. In addition to providing heat, the fireplaces of the Victorian age were thought to add a cozy ambiance to houses.

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Some fireplace components include a blower that transfers 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 is also increased by means of a fireback, a sheet of metal which sits behind the flame and reflects heat back into the room. Firebacks are traditionally made from cast iron, but can also be manufactured from stainless steel. Efficiency is a complex notion though with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficacy tests consider only the effect of heating of the atmosphere. An open fireplace isn't, and never was, intended to warm the air. A fireplace with a fireback is a radiant heater, and has done so since the 15th century. The best method to estimate the output of a fireplace is if you detect you are turning the thermostat down or up.

Most elderly fireplaces have a comparatively low efficiency score. Standard, contemporary, weatherproof masonry fireplaces though have an efficiency rating of 80% (legal minimum necessity for example in Salzburg/Austria). To improve efficiency, fireplaces may also be modified by adding special heavy fireboxes designed to burn cleaner and can reach efficiencies as high as 80 percent in heating the air. These modified fireplaces are usually equipped with a large fire window, enabling an efficient heating process in two stages. During the first phase the initial heat is offered through a large glass window while the fire is burning. During this time the structure, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the warmth. This warmth is then evenly radiated for many hours during the second stage. Masonry fireplaces with no glass fire window only offer heat radiated from its surface. Depending on temperatures 1 to two daily firings are sufficient to ensure a constant room temperature.electric fireplace insert