Ancient fire pits were sometimes built in the floor, 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 fire pits was that they produced toxic and/or annoying smoke inside the dwelling.Fire pits grown into elevated hearths in buildings, but venting smoke relied on open windows or openings in roofs. The great hall typically had 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 enable the roof vents to be coated so snow and rain wouldn't enter.
Additionally throughout the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were invented to prevent smoke from spreading through a room and vent it outside through a ceiling or wall. These could be placed against stone walls, instead of taking up the center 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 problem of fumes, more faithfully venting smoke out. They made it possible to provide the fireplace a draft, and made it feasible to put fireplaces in numerous rooms in buildings handily. They didn't come into general usage instantly, however, since they were 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 efficacy of fireplaces and wood stoves. He also enhanced the airflow by pulling air from a cellar and venting out a lengthier place at the very top. In the later 18th century, Count Rumford made a fireplace with a tall, shallow firebox that has been better at drawing the smoke up and out of the building. The shallow design improved greatly the amount of radiant heat 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 traditional spectra based on rock and also deflected unnecessary ornamentation. Instead it relied on simple designs with little unnecessary ornamentation. In the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way to the Arts and Crafts movement, where the emphasis was still placed on providing quality gems. Stone fireplaces now were a symbol of wealth, which to some degree remains the idea today.A fireplace is a structure made of brick, stone or metal made to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for its relaxing ambiance they create and for heating a space. Modern fireplaces change in heat efficiency, based upon the plan.Historically they have been used for heating a home, cooking, and heating water for domestic and laundry uses. A fireplace might have the following: a base, 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 throat, a flue, and a chimney filter or afterburner.
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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 route to keep rainwater from running down the outside walls. A cap, hood, or shroud functions to keep rainwater out of the exterior of the chimney; rain in the chimney is a far greater problem in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metallic liners than with the traditional masonry chimney, that soaks up all but the most violent rain. Some chimneys have a spark arrestor integrated into the crown or cap.
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 significant health risk. The EPA writes"Smoke may smell good, but it's not great for you.Types of fireplacesArtificial fireplaces are made with sheet metal or glass fire boxes.Electric fireplaces can be built-in replacements for either wood or gas or retrofit with log inserts or electrical fireboxes.A couple of kinds are, wall mounted electric fireplaces, electric fireplace stoves, electric 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. Ventless Fireplaces (duct free/room-venting fireplaces) are fueled by gel, liquid propane, bottled gas or natural gas. In the United States, some states and local businesses have laws limiting these types of fireplaces. They need to be suitably sized to the area to be heated. There are also air quality management issues due to the amount of moisture they discharge in the room atmosphere, and oxygen detector and carbon monoxide sensors are safety essentials. Direct vent fireplaces have been fueled by either liquid propane or natural gas. They are totally sealed in the area that's heated, and port all exhaust gasses into the outside of the structure.
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As time passes, the intent behind fireplaces has changed from one of necessity to one of visual interest. Early ones were more fire pits than modern fireplaces. They have been used for heat on cold days and nights, in addition to for cooking. They also functioned as a gathering place within the house. These fire pits were usually centered within a room, allowing more people to gather around it.
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Many flaws were found in early fireplace designs. Together with the Industrial Revolution, came large scale housing developments, necessitating a standardization of fireplaces. The most renowned fireplace designers of this period were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a style of fireplace design which was used for generations. It was smaller, more brightly colored, with an emphasis on the quality of the substances used in their construction, as opposed to their dimensions.
From the 1800s newest fireplaces were made up of two components, the surround and the insert. The surround comprised of the mantlepiece and sides affirms, typically in wood, granite or marble. The insert was where the fire burnt, and was constructed of cast iron frequently backed with decorative tiles. In addition to providing warmth, the fireplaces of the Victorian era were thought to bring a cozy ambiance to houses.Osburn 2400. The Osburn 2400 fireplace Insert at OsburnWoodStoves.com Video
Some fireplace components incorporate a blower which transfers more of the fireplace's heat to the air via convection, resulting in a more evenly heated area and a decrease heating load. Fireplace efficiency can also be enhanced by means of a fireback, a sheet of metal which sits behind the flame and reflects heat back into the room. Firebacks are traditionally produced from cast iron, but are also manufactured from stainless steel. Efficiency is a complicated concept although with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficiency tests consider just the effect of heating of the air. An open fireplace is not, and never was, designed to heat the atmosphere. The best way to estimate the output signal of a fireplace is in case 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 still possess an efficiency rating of at least 80% (legal minimum necessity such as in Salzburg/Austria). To improve efficiency, fireplaces may also be modified by adding special heavy fireboxes developed to burn much cleaner and may reach efficiencies as high as 80% in heating the atmosphere. These modified fireplaces are usually equipped with a large fire window, enabling an efficient heating process in two phases. During the first phase the first heat is provided through a big glass window while the fire is burning. During this time the construction, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the warmth. This heat is then equally radiated for many hours during the next phase. Masonry fireplaces without a glass fire window only offer heat radiated from its surface. Depending on temperatures 1 to two daily firings are enough to ensure a constant room temperature.fireplace inserts
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