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Historical fire pits were sometimes built from the floor, in caves, or in the center of a hut or dwelling. Evidence of prehistoric, man-made flames exists on all five inhabited continents. The disadvantage of early indoor fire pits was that they generated toxic and/or annoying smoke within the house.Fire pits grown into elevated hearths in buildings, but venting smoke depended on open windows or holes in roofs. The medieval great hall typically needed a centrally located hearth, where a open flame burnt with the smoke rising to the port in the roof. Louvers were developed during the Middle Ages to enable the roof vents to be covered so rain and snow would not enter.

Also throughout the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were devised to prevent smoke from dispersing a room and vent it out through a ceiling or wall. These could be put against rock walls, rather than taking up the middle of the room, and this allowed smaller chambers to be warmed.Chimneys were invented in northern Europe in the 11th or 12th centuries and mostly fixed the issue of fumes, more faithfully venting smoke out. They made it feasible to give the fireplace a draft, and also made it feasible to place fireplaces in numerous rooms in buildings conveniently. They didn't come into general use instantly, however, since they were expensive to develop and maintain.

Benjamin Franklin developed a convection room for the fireplace that greatly enhanced the efficacy of fireplaces and wood stoves. He also enhanced the airflow by pulling air from a cellar and venting out a longer area on very top. At the later 18th century, Count Rumford made a fireplace with a tall, shallow firebox that has been better at drawing up the smoke and from the construction. The shallow design improved greatly the quantity of radiant heat projected into the space. Rumford's design is the basis for modern kitchens.

The Aesthetic movement of the 1870s and 1880s took on a more traditional spectra based on rock and also deflected unnecessary ornamentation. Rather it relied on simple designs with small 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 at this time were a sign of wealth, which to some degree is still the notion today.A fireplace is a construction made of brick, stone or metal designed to include a fire. Fireplaces are used for its relaxing ambiance they create and for heating a room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, depending upon the design.

Historically they were used for heating a home, cooking, and heating water for laundry and domestic 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 foundation, a hearth, a firebox, a mantelpiece; a chimney crane (utilized 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's often a corbeled brick crown, where the casting courses of brick function as a drip route to keep rainwater from running down the outside walls. A cap, hood, or shroud serves to keep rainwater from the outside of the chimney; rain in the chimney is a far greater problem in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metal liners compared with the traditional masonry chimney, that divides up all but the rain. Some chimneys have a spark arrestor incorporated into the cap or crown.

Organizations such as 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's not great for you.

Kinds of fireplacesArtificial fireplaces are made with sheet metal or glass fire boxes.Electric fireplaces can be built-in replacements for gas or wood 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 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 amount of moisture that they release in the room air, and oxygen sensor and carbon dioxide sensors are security 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 outside of the structure.

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AccessoriesFor the inside, common in recent Western cultures comprise grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, pellet baskets, along with fire dogs, all which cradle fuel and accelerate burning. A grate (or flame grate) is a frame, usually of iron bars, to maintain fuel for a fire. Heavy metal firebacks are occasionally used to capture and re-radiate warmth, to protect the back of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metal frames set before the fireplace to include embers, soot and ash. Other wider accessories can include 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 fire pits than modern fireplaces. They have been used for heat on cold 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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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 performers of the period were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a style of fireplace design which was used for generations. It had been smaller, more brightly colored, with a emphasis on the level of the materials used in their construction, as opposed to their dimensions.

From the 1800s newest fireplaces were composed of 2 parts, the surround and the insert. The encircle comprised of the mantlepiece and sides supports, typically in wood, marble or granite. The fit was fire burnt, and was built of cast iron often backed with ornamental tiles. As well as providing warmth, the fireplaces of the Victorian age were believed to bring a cozy ambiance into houses.

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Some fireplace units include a blower that transfers more of the fireplace's heat to the atmosphere via convection, leading to a more evenly heated area and a lower 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 produced from cast iron, but are also manufactured from stainless steel. Efficiency is a complex concept though with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficiency tests consider only the effect of heating of the atmosphere. An open fireplace isn't, and never was, designed to warm the air. A fireplace with a fireback is a radiant heater, and has done so since the 15th century. The best method to gauge the output of a fireplace is if you notice you're turning the thermostat up or down.

Most older fireplaces have a comparatively low efficiency rating. Standard, modern, wood-burning masonry fireplaces though have an efficiency rating of at least 80% (legal minimum requirement such as in Salzburg/Austria). To improve efficiency, fireplaces may also be altered by adding special heavy fireboxes developed to burn cleaner and can reach efficiencies as large as 80 percent in heating the atmosphere. These modified fireplaces are usually equipped with a massive fire window, enabling an efficient heating system in two stages. During the first stage the first heat is provided through a big glass window while the fire is burning. During this time the structure, built of refractory bricks, absorbs the heat. This warmth is then equally radiated for several hours during the second phase. Masonry fireplaces without a glass fire window just provide heat radiated from the surface. Depending on outside temperatures 1 to 2 daily firings are sufficient to guarantee a constant room temperature.wall mount fireplace