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Historical fire pits were sometimes built in the floor, within caves, or in the center of a hut or dwelling. Evidence of prehistoric, man-made flames exists on all five inhabited continents. The drawback of premature indoor flame pits was that they produced hazardous or annoying smoke inside the dwelling.Fire pits grown into raised hearths in structures, but venting smoke relied on open windows or holes in roofs. The great hall typically had a centrally located hearth, where an open flame burned with all the smoke climbing into the vent in the roof. Louvers were developed during the Middle Ages to allow the roof vents to be covered so snow and rain wouldn't enter.

Also throughout the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were invented to prevent smoke from spreading through an area and vent it outside via a wall or roof. These could be placed against stone walls, rather than taking up the center of the space, and this allowed smaller chambers 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 out. They made it feasible to give the fireplace a draft, and made it possible to put fireplaces in numerous rooms in buildings conveniently. They didn't come into general use 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. Benjamin Franklin developed a convection chamber for the fireplace which greatly enhanced the efficiency of fireplaces and wood stoves. He also improved the airflow by pulling air from a basement and venting a lengthier place on very top. In the later 18th century, Count Rumford made a fireplace with a tall, shallow firebox that has been better at drawing up the smoke and out of the building. The shallow design also improved greatly the amount of radiant heat projected into the room. Rumford's design is the foundation for modern fireplaces.

The Aesthetic movement of the 1870s and 1880s took on a more traditional spectra based on stone and also deflected unnecessary ornamentation. Rather it relied on simple designs with little unnecessary ornamentation. From the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way to the Arts and Crafts movement, in which the emphasis was placed on providing quality gems. Stone fireplaces at this time have been a sign of prosperity, which to some degree is still the notion today.A fireplace is a structure made from brick, stone or metal made to contain a fire. Fireplaces are utilized for its relaxing ambiance they create and also for heating a room. Modern fireplaces change in heat efficacy, based on the design.

Historically they were utilized for heating a home, cooking, and heating water for domestic and laundry uses. A fire is contained in a firebox or firepit; a chimney or alternative flue allows exhaust to escape. A fireplace might have the following: a base, a hearth, a firebox, a mantelpiece; a chimney crane (utilized in kitchen and laundry fireplaces), a grate, a lintel, a lintel bar, home overmantel, a damper, a smoke room, a throat, a flue, and a chimney filter or afterburner.

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On the exterior there's frequently a corbeled brick crown, where the casting courses of brick act as a drip course to keep rainwater from running down the exterior walls. A hood, cap, or shroud functions to keep rainwater from the outside 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 traditional masonry chimney, which divides up all but the rain. A few chimneys have a spark arrestor integrated into the cap or crown.

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

Kinds of fireplacesArtificial fireplaces are made with sheet glass or metal flame boxes.Electric fireplaces could be built-in replacements for wood or gas or retrofit with log inserts or electric fireboxes.A couple of types are, wall mounted electric fireplaces, electric fireplace stoves, electrical mantel fireplaces and fixed or free standing gas fireplaces.

Masonry and prefabricated fireplaces can be fueled by wood, natural gas, biomass and propane fuel sources. In the United States, some states and local counties have laws limiting these types of fireplaces. There are also air quality management issues because of the quantity of moisture they release in the room atmosphere, and oxygen detector and carbon monoxide sensors are security essentials. Direct vent fireplaces are fueled by either liquid propane or natural gas. They are totally sealed in the place that is heated, and port all exhaust gasses into the outside of the structure.

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AccessoriesFor the interior, common in recent Western civilizations include grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, bark baskets, and fire dogs, all which cradle fuel and accelerate burning. A grate (or flame grate) is a frame, usually of iron bars, to maintain fuel to your fire. Heavy metal firebacks are sometimes used to catch and re-radiate heat, to protect the back of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metal frames set before the fireplace to contain embers, soot and ash. Other wider accessories can consist of 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 interest. Early ones were more fire pits compared to contemporary fireplaces. They were used for warmth 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 space, allowing more people to gather around it.

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Many defects were found in early fireplace designs. Along with the Industrial Revolution, came large scale housing developments, necessitating a standardization of fireplaces. The most renowned fireplace designers of this time were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a kind of fireplace design that was used for generations. It had been smaller, more brightly lit, with an emphasis on the quality of the materials used in their construction, instead of their dimensions.

By the 1800s most new fireplaces were composed of 2 components, the surround as well as the add. The encircle comprised of the mantlepiece and sides supports, typically in wood, marble or granite. The fit was where the fire burned, and was built 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 into homes.

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Some fireplace components incorporate a blower that transports more of the fireplace's heat to the atmosphere via convection, resulting in a more evenly heated area 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 made 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 impact of heating of the atmosphere. An open fireplace is not, and never was, intended to heat the air. The best way to estimate the output signal of a fireplace is if you detect you are turning the thermostat up or down.

Most older fireplaces have a relatively low efficiency rating. Standard, contemporary, weatherproof masonry fireplaces still possess 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 developed to burn cleaner and may reach efficiencies as high as 80 percent in heating the atmosphere. These altered fireplaces are usually equipped with a massive fire window, enabling an efficient heating system in two phases. During the first stage the initial heat is provided through a big glass window while the flame is burning. During this time period the construction, built of refractory bricks, absorbs the warmth. This warmth is then equally radiated for several hours during the next stage. Masonry fireplaces with no glass fire window just offer heat radiated from its surface. Depending on outside temperatures 1 to 2 daily firings are enough to guarantee a constant room temperature.fireplace stone