Classique Fireplace Mantel Surround Wayfair

Ancient fire pits were sometimes built from the ground, within caves, or in the center of a hut or dwelling. Evidence of ancient, man-made fires is present on all five inhabited continents. The drawback of premature indoor flame pits was that they generated hazardous or irritating smoke inside the house.Fire pits grown into elevated 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 a open fire burned with all the smoke rising to the vent in the roof. Louvers were developed during the Middle Ages to enable the roof vents to be coated so rain and snow would not enter.

Additionally throughout the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were invented to prevent smoke from dispersing 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 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 possible to put fireplaces in numerous rooms in buildings handily. They did not come into general usage immediately, however, as they were expensive to develop and maintain.

In 1678 Prince Rupert, nephew of Charles I, raised the grate of the fireplace, improving the airflow and venting system. The 18th century saw two important 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. He also enhanced the airflow by pulling air from a basement and venting out a lengthier area on very top. In the later 18th century, Count Rumford made a fireplace with a tall, shallow firebox that was better at drawing the smoke up and out of the building. The shallow design also improved greatly the amount of radiant warmth projected into the room. Rumford's design is the basis for modern fireplaces.

The Aesthetic movement of the 1870s and 1880s took to a more conventional spectra based on rock and deflected unnecessary ornamentation. Rather it relied on simple layouts 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 stone. Stone fireplaces at this time have been a sign of wealth, which to a degree remains the idea today.A fireplace is a structure made of brick, stone or metal designed to include a fire. Fireplaces are used for its relaxing ambiance they create and also for heating a room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, depending upon the design.

Historically they have been utilized 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 (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 course to keep rainwater from running down the outside walls. A hood, cap, or shroud serves to keep rainwater from the outside of the chimney; rain at the chimney is a far larger difficulty in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metallic liners compared with the traditional masonry chimney, which soaks up all but the rain. A few chimneys have a spark arrestor incorporated into the cap or crown.

The EPA writes"Smoke may smell great, but it is not good for you.

Types of fireplacesManufactured fireplaces are made out of sheet metal or glass fire boxes.Electric fireplaces could be built-in replacements for gas or wood or retrofit with log inserts or electric fireboxes.

Masonry and prefabricated fireplaces can be fueled by wood, natural gas, biomass and propane fuel sources. In the United States, some states and local businesses have laws restricting these types of fireplaces. They need to be suitably sized to the area to be heated. There are also air quality control problems due to the quantity of moisture that they discharge in the room atmosphere, and oxygen sensor and carbon monoxide sensors are security essentials. Direct vent fireplaces have been fueled by 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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AccessoriesFor the inside, common in current Western civilizations comprise grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, bark baskets, and fire puppies, all of which cradle gas and quicken burning. A grate (or flame grate) is a frame, usually of iron bars, to maintain fuel for a fire. Heavy metallic firebacks are sometimes used to capture and re-radiate heat, to protect the rear of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metal frames placed before the fireplace to include embers, soot and ash.

As time passes, the purpose of fireplaces has changed from one of necessity to one of visual interest. Early ones were fire pits than modern fireplaces. They have been used for heat on chilly days and nights, in addition to for cooking. They also served as a gathering place within the home. These fire pits were generally based within a space, allowing more individuals to gather around it.

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The Bossart firesurround in farrowandball Manor House Grey. Can be painted in any colour. Also

Many flaws were found in early fireplace designs. Along with the Industrial Revolution, came big scale housing developments, requiring a standardization of fireplaces. The most famous fireplace designers of this time were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a style of fireplace design which has been used for generations. It had been smaller, more brightly lit, with a emphasis on the quality of the materials used in their construction, instead of their size.

By the 1800s most new fireplaces were made up of 2 parts, the surround as well as the insert. The encircle comprised of the mantlepiece and sides affirms, usually in wood, marble or granite. The insert was where the fire burnt, and was built of cast iron often backed with decorative tiles. In addition to providing heat, the fireplaces of the Victorian era were thought to add a cozy ambiance to homes.

The Bossart firesurround in farrowandball Manor House Grey. Can be painted in any colour. Also Video

Some fireplace components include a blower which transports more of the fireplace's heat to the atmosphere via convection, leading to a more evenly heated space and a decrease heating load. Fireplace efficiency can also be enhanced by means 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 are also made from stainless steel. Efficiency is a complicated concept though with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficiency tests consider just the effect of heating of the atmosphere. An open fireplace isn't, and never was, designed to heat the atmosphere. A fireplace with a fireback is a toaster, and has done so as the 15th century. The best method to gauge the output of a fireplace is in case you notice you are turning the thermostat up or down.

Most elderly fireplaces have a relatively low efficiency score. Standard, contemporary, weatherproof masonry fireplaces though have an efficiency rating of 80% (legal minimum necessity such as in Salzburg/Austria). To improve efficiency, fireplaces may also be modified by adding special heavy fireboxes designed to burn much cleaner and can reach efficiencies as large as 80 percent in heating the atmosphere. These altered fireplaces are usually equipped with a large fire window, enabling an efficient heating system in two phases. During the first stage the first heat is offered through a big glass while the flame is burning. In this time period the structure, built of refractory bricks, absorbs the heat. This heat is then equally radiated for several hours during the next phase. Masonry fireplaces with no glass fire window only provide heat radiated from the surface. Depending on temperatures 1 to two daily firings are sufficient to ensure a constant room temperature.fireplace surround