Ancient fire pits were sometimes constructed from the ground, within caves, or at the center of a hut or home. Evidence of prehistoric, man-made fires is present on all five inhabited continents. The drawback of early indoor fire pits was that they produced hazardous or irritating smoke within the dwelling.Fire pits developed into raised hearths in structures, but venting smoke relied on open windows or holes in roofs. The medieval great hall typically had a centrally located hearth, where an open fire burned with all the smoke rising to the port in the roof. Louvers were developed throughout the Middle Ages to allow the roof vents to be coated so rain and snow wouldn't enter.
Also during the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were devised to stop smoke from dispersing a room and vent it out through a ceiling or wall. These could be put against rock walls, instead of taking up the center of the space, and this allowed 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 out. They made it possible to provide the fireplace a draft, and made it possible to place fireplaces in numerous rooms in buildings handily. They did not come into general usage immediately, however, as 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 that greatly enhanced the efficacy of fireplaces and wood stoves. He also enhanced the airflow by pulling air from a basement and venting a lengthier area on very top. At the later 18th century, Count Rumford made a fireplace using a tall, shallow firebox which was better at drawing up the smoke and out of the building. The shallow design also improved greatly the quantity of radiant warmth projected into the room. Rumford's layout is the foundation for modern kitchens.
Instead it relied on simple layouts with little 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 have been a symbol of wealth, which to some degree remains the idea today.A fireplace is a structure made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for its relaxing ambiance that they create and for heating a space. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, depending upon the plan.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 foundation, a hearth, a firebox, a mantelpiece; a chimney crane (used in laundry and kitchen fireplaces), a grate, a lintel, a lintel bar, house overmantel, a damper, a smoke room, a neck, a flue, and a chimney filter or afterburner.
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On the exterior there's often a corbeled brick crown, where the projecting courses of brick function as a drip course to keep rainwater from running down the outside walls. A cap, hood, or shroud serves to keep rainwater out of the outside of the chimney; rain at the chimney is a much larger difficulty in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metal liners compared with the traditional masonry chimney, that divides up all but the rain. A few 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 can pose a substantial health risk. The EPA writes"Smoke may smell good, but it's not great for you.Kinds 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.
Masonry and prefabricated fireplaces can be fueled by wood, natural gas, biomass and gas fuel sources. Ventless Fireplaces (duct free/room-venting fireplaces) are fueled by either gel, liquid propane, bottled gas or natural gas. In the USA, some states and local businesses have laws restricting these kinds of fireplaces. They need to be properly sized to the area to be heated. There are also air quality management problems due to the quantity of moisture they discharge into the room air, and oxygen sensor 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 is heated, and vent all exhaust gasses into the exterior of the structure.
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As time passes, the purpose of fireplaces has transformed from one of necessity to one of visual interest. Early ones were fire pits compared to contemporary fireplaces. They were used for warmth on cold days and nights, as well as for cooking. They also functioned as a gathering place within the house. These fire pits were generally centered within a space, allowing more people to collect around it.
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Many flaws were found in early fireplace designs. Together with the Industrial Revolution, came big scale housing developments, necessitating 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 had been smaller, more brightly lit, with an emphasis on the quality of the substances used in their construction, as opposed to 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 supports, typically in wood, granite or marble. The fit was where the fire burned, and was built 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 to houses.SpaceSaving Corner Electric Fireplace Providing Warmth for Your Small Space Ideas 4 Homes Video
Some fireplace units include a blower that 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 can also be enhanced with the use of a fireback, a sheet 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 although with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficacy 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 in case you detect you are turning the thermostat up or down.
Most elderly fireplaces have a comparatively low efficiency rating. Standard, modern, wood-burning 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 designed to burn much cleaner and may reach efficiencies as large as 80% in heating the air. These altered fireplaces are usually equipped with a massive fire window, allowing an efficient heating system in two phases. During the first phase the initial heat is provided through a big glass window while the fire is burning. During this time period the structure, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the warmth. This heat is then evenly radiated for several hours during the next phase. Masonry fireplaces without a glass fire window only offer heat radiated from its surface. Depending on outside temperatures 1 to 2 daily firings are sufficient to guarantee a constant room temperature.corner electric fireplace
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