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Historical fire pits were sometimes constructed in the ground, in caves, or in the center of a hut or home. Evidence of prehistoric, man-made fires exists on all five inhabited continents. The drawback of early indoor flame pits was that they produced toxic and/or annoying smoke inside the house.Fire pits developed into raised hearths in buildings, but venting smoke relied on open windows or openings in roofs. The great hall typically had a centrally situated hearth, where an open flame burnt with all the smoke climbing into the vent in the roof. Louvers were developed throughout the Middle Ages to allow the roof vents to be coated so snow and rain would not 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 put against rock walls, instead of taking up the center of the room, and this allowed smaller rooms to be heated.Chimneys were invented in northern Europe from the 11th or 12th centuries and largely fixed the problem of fumes, more faithfully venting smoke out. They made it feasible to provide the fireplace a draft, and made it feasible to put fireplaces in numerous rooms in buildings handily. They did not come into general usage immediately, 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 that greatly improved the efficiency of fireplaces and wood stoves. He also enhanced the airflow by pulling air from a cellar and venting out a longer place at the very top. In the later 18th century, Count Rumford made a fireplace with a tall, shallow firebox which has been better at drawing up the smoke and from the building. The shallow design also improved greatly the quantity of radiant warmth projected to the room. Rumford's layout is the foundation for modern kitchens.

The Aesthetic movement of the 1870s and 1880s took to a more traditional spectra based on rock and deflected unnecessary ornamentation. Instead it depended on simple layouts with little unnecessary ornamentation. From the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way into the Arts and Crafts movement, in which the emphasis was placed on supplying quality gems. Stone fireplaces now have been a sign of wealth, which to some degree is still the notion today.A fireplace is a construction made of brick, stone or metal made to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for the relaxing ambiance that they create and for heating a room. Modern fireplaces change in heat efficacy, depending on the plan.

Historically they have been used for heating a dwelling, 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 may have the following: a base, a hearth, a firebox, a mantelpiece; a chimney (used in kitchen and laundry fireplaces), a grate, a lintel, a lintel pub, 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 is often a corbeled brick crown, where 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 from the exterior of the chimney; rain at the chimney is a far greater problem in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metallic liners than with the standard masonry chimney, which divides up all but the most violent rain. A few 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 various studies, fireplaces can pose a significant health threat. The EPA writes"Smoke may smell good, but it is not great for you.

Kinds of fireplacesArtificial fireplaces are made out of sheet glass or metal fire boxes.Electric fireplaces could be built-in replacements for either gas or wood or retrofit with log inserts or electrical fireboxes.A few types 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 propane fuel sources. Ventless Fireplaces (duct free/room-venting fireplaces) are fueled by either gel, liquid propane, bottled gas or natural gas. In the USA, several states and local businesses have laws limiting these types of fireplaces. They need to be properly sized to the area to be heated. There are also air quality control problems because of 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 is heated, and vent all exhaust gasses to the exterior of the structure.

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AccessoriesFor the inside, common in current Western cultures comprise grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, pellet baskets, and fire puppies, all which cradle fuel and accelerate burning. A grate (or fire grate) is a frame, usually of iron bars, to maintain fuel for a fire. Heavy metallic firebacks are occasionally used to catch and re-radiate warmth, to protect the back of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metallic frames set before the fireplace to include embers, soot and ash.

Over time, the intent behind fireplaces has changed from one of necessity to one of interest. Early ones were more fire pits than contemporary fireplaces. They were used for heat on cold days and nights, in addition to for cooking. They also functioned as a gathering place inside the house. These fire pits were generally based within a room, allowing more individuals to collect around it.

Vantage Hearth Direct Vent Gas Fireplace Standard Stratos Luxury

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Many defects were found in early fireplace designs. Along with the Industrial Revolution, came big scale housing developments, necessitating a standardization of fireplaces. The most famous fireplace designers of the time were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a kind of fireplace design that was used for generations. It was smaller, more brightly colored, with a emphasis on the level of the substances used in their construction, instead of their dimensions.

From the 1800s newest fireplaces were composed of two components, the surround and the insert. The surround consisted of the mantlepiece and sides supports, typically in wood, granite or marble. The insert was fire burnt, and was built of cast iron frequently backed with decorative tiles. As well as providing heat, the fireplaces of the Victorian age were thought to bring a cozy ambiance into homes.

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Some fireplace units include a blower which transports more of the fireplace's heat to the air via convection, resulting in a more evenly heated area and a lower heating load. Fireplace efficiency can also be increased by means of a fireback, a sheet of metal which sits behind the fire 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 concept although with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficiency tests consider only the impact of heating of the air. An open fireplace is not, and never was, designed to warm the atmosphere. The best method to estimate the output of a fireplace is in case you notice you are turning the thermostat up or down.

Most older 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 developed to burn much cleaner and may reach efficiencies as large as 80 percent in heating the atmosphere. These modified fireplaces are often equipped with a massive fire window, allowing 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 period the structure, built of refractory bricks, absorbs the warmth. This heat is then evenly radiated for several hours during the next stage. Masonry fireplaces without a glass fire window only offer heat radiated from its surface. Depending on outside temperatures 1 to two daily firings are sufficient to guarantee a constant room temperature.fireplace