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Ancient fire pits were sometimes constructed from the ground, in caves, or at the middle of a hut or dwelling. Evidence of ancient, man-made fires exists on all five inhabited continents. The drawback of early indoor fire pits was that they generated toxic and/or irritating smoke inside the house.Fire pits grown into raised hearths in buildings, but venting smoke relied on open windows or openings in roofs. The medieval great hall typically needed a centrally located hearth, where a open flame burnt 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 wouldn't enter.

Also throughout the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were invented to prevent smoke from dispersing an area and vent it outside via a wall or roof. These can be placed against rock walls, rather than taking up the center of the room, and this enabled smaller chambers to be warmed.Chimneys were devised in northern Europe in the 11th or 12th centuries and largely fixed the issue of fumes, more faithfully venting smoke out. They made it feasible to provide the fireplace a draft, and made it possible to put fireplaces in numerous rooms in buildings conveniently. They did not come into general usage instantly, however, since they were expensive to build and maintain.

The 18th century saw two major developments in the history of fireplaces. Benjamin Franklin developed a convection chamber for the fireplace which greatly enhanced the efficiency of fireplaces and wood stoves. He also enhanced the airflow by pulling air from a cellar and venting a lengthier place on very top. In the later 18th century, Count Rumford made a fireplace using a tall, shallow firebox which was better at drawing up the smoke and from the building. The shallow design improved greatly the quantity of radiant warmth projected into the space. Rumford's layout is the basis for modern fireplaces.

Instead it relied on simple designs with small unnecessary ornamentation. From the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way into the Arts and Crafts movement, in which the emphasis was placed on providing quality gems. Stone fireplaces now were a symbol of prosperity, which to a degree is still the idea today.A fireplace is a structure made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are utilized for the relaxing ambiance that they create and also for heating a space. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, depending on the design.

Historically they were utilized for heating a dwelling, cooking, and heating water for laundry and domestic uses. A fireplace might have the following: a foundation, 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 chamber, a throat, a flue, and a chimney filter or afterburner.

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On the exterior there is 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 cap, hood, or shroud serves to keep rainwater from 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 standard masonry chimney, which soaks up all but the rain. Some chimneys have a spark arrestor incorporated into the cap or crown.

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

Types of fireplacesArtificial fireplaces are made out of sheet metal or glass flame boxes.Electric fireplaces can be built-in replacements for either gas or wood or retrofit with log inserts or electrical fireboxes.

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 restricting these types of fireplaces. They must be properly sized to the area to be heated. There are also air quality control issues because of the quantity of moisture they release into the room air, 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 completely sealed in the area that's heated, and vent all exhaust gasses into the exterior of the structure.

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AccessoriesA wide range of accessories are used with fireplaces, ranging between countries, regions, and historical periods. For the interior, common in recent Western cultures include grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, bark baskets, and fire dogs, all which cradle fuel and accelerate burning. A grate (or fire 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 safeguard the rear of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metal frames set in front of the fireplace to include embers, soot and ash. For fireplace tending, tools comprise pokers, bellows, tongs, shovels, brushes and instrument racks.

Over time, the purpose of fireplaces has changed from one of requirement to one of interest. Early ones were more fire pits than contemporary fireplaces. They have been used for warmth on cold days and nights, as well as for cooking. They also functioned as a gathering place inside the home. These fire pits were usually based within a space, allowing more individuals to collect around it.

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Many defects were found in ancient fireplace designs. Together with the Industrial Revolution, came big scale housing developments, necessitating a standardization of fireplaces. The most famous fireplace designers of this time were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a kind of fireplace design that 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.

By the 1800s newest fireplaces were composed of two components, the surround as well as the insert. The encircle consisted of the mantlepiece and sides affirms, typically in wood, marble or granite. The insert was fire burnt, and was built of cast iron frequently backed with decorative tiles. In addition to providing heat, the fireplaces of the Victorian era were believed to bring a cozy ambiance into houses.

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Some fireplace units incorporate a blower that transfers more of the fireplace's heat to the air via convection, leading to a more evenly heated space and a lower heating load. Fireplace efficiency is also enhanced by means 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 are also manufactured from stainless steel. Efficiency is a complex concept although with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficacy tests consider only 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 since the 15th century. The ideal method to estimate the output of a fireplace is if you detect you're turning the thermostat up or down.

Most elderly fireplaces have a relatively low efficiency rating. Standard, contemporary, weatherproof masonry fireplaces though have 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 much cleaner and can reach efficiencies as large as 80 percent 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 flame is burning. During this time the structure, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the heat. This heat is then equally radiated for many hours during the second phase. Masonry fireplaces without a glass fire window just provide heat radiated from its surface. Depending on temperatures 1 to 2 daily firings are enough to ensure a constant room temperature.double sided fireplace