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Ancient fire pits were sometimes built in the ground, within caves, or at the center of a hut or dwelling. Evidence of prehistoric, man-made fires exists on all five inhabited continents. The disadvantage of premature indoor flame pits was that they produced toxic and/or annoying smoke within the dwelling.Fire pits grown into elevated hearths in structures, but ventilation smoke relied on open windows or openings in roofs. The great hall typically needed a centrally situated hearth, where a open fire burnt with all the smoke rising to the port in the roof. Louvers were developed during the Middle Ages to enable the roof vents to be covered so snow and rain would not enter.

Also during the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were invented to prevent smoke from spreading through an area and vent it out via a wall or roof. These could be placed against stone walls, instead of taking up the center of the room, and this enabled smaller chambers to be heated.Chimneys were devised in northern Europe in the 11th or 12th centuries and mostly fixed the problem of fumes, more reliably venting smoke out. They made it feasible to give the fireplace a draft, and made it feasible to place fireplaces in numerous rooms in buildings conveniently. They didn't come into general use instantly, however, as they were expensive to build and maintain.

In 1678 Prince Rupert, nephew of Charles I, raised the grate of the fireplace, improving the venting and airflow system. Benjamin Franklin developed a convection chamber for the fireplace which greatly improved the efficacy of fireplaces and wood stoves. He also enhanced the airflow by pulling air from a basement and venting a longer place on top. At the later 18th century, Count Rumford made a fireplace with a tall, shallow firebox which was better at drawing the smoke up and from the building. The shallow design improved greatly the quantity of radiant heat projected into the room. Rumford's layout is the foundation for modern kitchens.

The Aesthetic movement of the 1870s and 1880s took to a more conventional spectra based on stone and also deflected unnecessary ornamentation. Instead it relied on simple designs with small unnecessary ornamentation. From the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way into the Arts and Crafts movement, where the emphasis was placed on supplying quality stone. Stone fireplaces at this time have been a sign of prosperity, which to some degree is still the idea today.A fireplace is a structure made of brick, stone or metal made to include a fire. Fireplaces are utilized for the relaxing ambiance that they create and for heating a space. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficacy, based upon the plan.

Historically they have been used for heating a dwelling, cooking, and heating water for domestic and laundry uses. A fireplace might have the following: a foundation, a hearth, a firebox, a mantelpiece; a chimney (used in kitchen and laundry fireplaces), a grate, a lintel, a lintel bar, home overmantel, a damper, a smoke chamber, a throat, 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 act as a drip course to keep rainwater from running down the exterior walls. A hood, cap, or shroud serves to keep rainwater out of the outside of the chimney; rain at the chimney is a far larger difficulty in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metal liners compared with the standard masonry chimney, which divides up all but the most violent rain. Some chimneys have a spark arrestor incorporated into the cap or crown.

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

Kinds of fireplacesManufactured fireplaces are made with sheet metal or glass fire 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.

Ventless Fireplaces (duct free/room-venting fireplaces) are fueled by either gel, liquid propane, bottled gas or natural gas. In the United States, several states and local counties have laws restricting these types of fireplaces. There are also air quality management issues because of the quantity of moisture that they discharge into the room atmosphere, and oxygen detector and carbon monoxide sensors are safety essentials. Direct vent fireplaces have been fueled by liquid propane or natural gas. They are completely sealed from the area that is heated, and port all exhaust gasses into the exterior of the structure.

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AccessoriesA wide range of accessories are used with fireplaces, which range between countries, regions, and historical periods. For the interior, common in recent Western cultures include grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, pellet baskets, and fire puppies, all which cradle gas and quicken burning. A grate (or fire grate) is a framework, usually of iron bars, to retain fuel to your fire. Heavy metallic firebacks are sometimes utilized to catch and re-radiate heat, to safeguard the back of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metal frames set before the fireplace to contain embers, soot and ashes. For fireplace tending, tools comprise pokers, bellows, tongs, shovels, brushes and tool racks. Other wider accessories can include log baskets, companion sets, coal buckets, cabinet accessories and much more.

Over time, the intent behind fireplaces has changed from one of requirement to one of visual interest. Early ones were fire pits than 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 house. These fire pits were usually based within a room, allowing more people to gather around it.

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Many flaws were found in ancient fireplace designs. Together with the Industrial Revolution, came big scale housing developments, necessitating a standardization of fireplaces. The most renowned 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.

From the 1800s newest fireplaces were composed of two components, the surround as well as the insert. The encircle comprised of the mantlepiece and sides supports, typically in wood, granite or marble. The insert was where the fire burnt, and was constructed of cast iron often backed with ornamental tiles. In addition to providing heat, the fireplaces of the Victorian era were thought to add a cozy ambiance into homes.

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Some fireplace units 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 can also be enhanced with the use of a fireback, a piece of metal which 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 just the effect of heating of the air. An open fireplace is not, and never was, designed to heat the atmosphere. A fireplace with a fireback is a radiant heater, and has done so as the 15th century. The ideal way to gauge the output of a fireplace is if you notice you're turning the thermostat up or down.

Most older fireplaces have a relatively low efficiency score. Standard, contemporary, weatherproof masonry fireplaces still possess an efficiency rating of at least 80% (legal minimum requirement for example in Salzburg/Austria). To boost efficiency, fireplaces can also be modified by adding special heavy fireboxes developed to burn cleaner and can reach efficiencies as large as 80% in heating the air. These altered fireplaces are often equipped with a massive fire window, enabling an efficient heating system in two stages. During the first phase the initial heat is provided through a big glass window while the flame is burning. In this time period the construction, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the heat. This warmth is then evenly radiated for several hours during the second phase. Masonry fireplaces with no glass fire window just offer heat radiated from its surface. Depending on outside temperatures 1 to 2 daily firings are sufficient to guarantee a constant room temperature.fireplace mantels and surrounds