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Ancient fire pits were sometimes constructed from the ground, in caves, or at the middle of a hut or home. Evidence of ancient, man-made flames is present on all five inhabited continents. The disadvantage of premature indoor flame pits was that they generated hazardous or irritating smoke inside the house.Fire pits grown into raised hearths in structures, but ventilation smoke depended on open windows or openings in roofs. The medieval great hall typically had a centrally located hearth, where a open fire burnt with all the smoke rising to the vent in the roof. Louvers were developed throughout the Middle Ages to enable the roof vents to be covered so snow and rain wouldn't enter.

Additionally throughout the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were invented to prevent smoke from dispersing an area and vent it out through a wall or roof. These can be put against stone walls, instead of taking up the middle of the room, and this enabled smaller rooms to be warmed.Chimneys were invented in northern Europe in the 11th or 12th centuries and mostly fixed the problem of fumes, more reliably venting smoke outside. They made it feasible to provide the fireplace a draft, and also made it possible to place fireplaces in multiple rooms in buildings handily. They did not come into general use immediately, however, as they were more expensive to build and maintain.

In 1678 Prince Rupert, nephew of Charles I, increased the grate of the fireplace, improving the venting and airflow system. The 18th century saw two important developments in the history of fireplaces. Benjamin Franklin developed a convection chamber 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 area at the very top. In the later 18th century, Count Rumford designed a fireplace with a tall, shallow firebox that has been better at drawing the smoke up and from the construction. The shallow design improved greatly the amount of radiant heat projected into the space. 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 stone 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 placed on providing quality stone. Stone fireplaces now have been a sign of wealth, which to a degree is still the idea today.A fireplace is a structure made from brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are utilized for its relaxing ambiance that they create and for heating a room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, depending upon the plan.

Historically they have been utilized for heating a home, 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 crane (utilized in laundry and kitchen fireplaces), a grate, a lintel, a lintel bar, home overmantel, a damper, a smoke chamber, a neck, a flue, and a chimney filter or afterburner.

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On the exterior there is frequently a corbeled brick crown, where the projecting courses of brick function as a drip course to keep rainwater from running down the exterior walls. A cap, hood, or shroud serves to keep rainwater from the outside of the chimney; rain in the chimney is a far larger difficulty in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metal liners than with the standard masonry chimney, that divides up all but the rain. Some chimneys have a spark arrestor integrated into the cap or crown.

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

Types of fireplacesManufactured fireplaces are made out of sheet glass or metal flame boxes.Electric fireplaces could be built-in replacements for wood or gas 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 United States, some states and local businesses have laws restricting these types of fireplaces. There are also air quality control problems due to the amount of moisture that they release in the room air, and oxygen sensor 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 place that's heated, and vent all exhaust gasses into the outside of the structure.

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AccessoriesA wide assortment of accessories are used with fireplaces, which range between countries, regions, and historical periods. For the interior, common in recent Western civilizations include grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, bark baskets, and fire dogs, all of which cradle gas and quicken burning. A grate (or flame grate) is a framework, usually of iron bars, to maintain fuel for a fire. Heavy metal firebacks are sometimes utilized to capture and re-radiate warmth, to protect the back of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metal frames placed before the fireplace to contain embers, soot and ash.

As time passes, the purpose of fireplaces has transformed from one of requirement to one of interest. Early ones were more fire pits compared to contemporary fireplaces. They have been used for heat on chilly days and nights, as well as for cooking. They also served as a gathering place inside the home. These fire pits were generally centered within a room, allowing more people to gather around it.

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Many flaws were found in ancient fireplace designs. Along with the Industrial Revolution, came large scale housing developments, requiring a standardization of fireplaces. The most renowned fireplace designers of the time were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a style of fireplace design that has been used for generations. It was smaller, more brightly lit, with a emphasis on the level of the materials used in their construction, instead of their dimensions.

From the 1800s newest fireplaces were composed of two parts, the surround and the insert. The encircle comprised of the mantlepiece and sides affirms, usually in wood, granite or marble. The fit was where the fire burned, and was constructed of cast iron often backed with decorative tiles. In addition to providing heat, the fireplaces of the Victorian era were believed to bring a cozy ambiance to homes.

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Some fireplace units include a blower that transfers more of the fireplace's heat to the air via convection, resulting in a more evenly heated space and a lower heating load. Fireplace efficiency can also be enhanced by means of a fireback, a sheet of metal that sits behind the flame and reflects heat back into the room. Firebacks are traditionally made from cast iron, but are also made from stainless steel. Efficiency is a complicated notion though with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficiency tests consider just the effect of heating of the air. An open fireplace is not, and never was, intended to heat the air. The ideal way to estimate the output of a fireplace is in case you detect you are turning the thermostat up or down.

Most older fireplaces have a relatively low efficiency score. Standard, modern, wood-burning masonry fireplaces though have an efficiency rating of 80% (legal minimum requirement for example in Salzburg/Austria). To boost efficiency, fireplaces can also be modified by inserting special heavy fireboxes designed to burn much cleaner and can reach efficiencies as high as 80 percent in heating the air. These modified fireplaces are usually equipped with a massive fire window, enabling an efficient heating system in two phases. During the first phase the initial heat is offered through a large glass window while the fire is burning. During this time period the structure, built of refractory bricks, absorbs the heat. This warmth is then equally radiated for several hours during the second phase. Masonry fireplaces with no glass fire window only provide heat radiated from the surface. Based on outside temperatures 1 to 2 daily firings are sufficient to ensure a constant room temperature.glass fireplace doors