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Ancient fire pits were sometimes constructed from the floor, in caves, or at the center of a hut or home. Evidence of prehistoric, man-made fires exists on all five inhabited continents. The drawback of early indoor fire pits was that they produced toxic and/or irritating smoke within the house.Fire pits grown into elevated hearths in buildings, but ventilation smoke depended on open windows or holes in roofs. The medieval great hall typically had a centrally situated hearth, where an open fire burned with 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 rain and snow would not enter.

Also throughout the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were devised to prevent smoke from spreading through an area and vent it outside via a ceiling or wall. These can be placed against stone walls, instead of taking up the middle of the space, and this enabled smaller rooms to be warmed.Chimneys were devised in northern Europe in the 11th or 12th centuries and largely fixed the problem of fumes, more reliably venting smoke out. They made it feasible to provide the fireplace a draft, and made it feasible to put fireplaces in multiple rooms in buildings handily. They didn't come into general use instantly, however, since they were more expensive to develop and maintain.

The 18th century saw two important developments in the history of fireplaces. Benjamin Franklin developed a convection room for the fireplace which greatly enhanced the efficacy of fireplaces and wood stoves. He also improved the airflow by pulling air from a basement and venting a longer area on top. In the later 18th century, Count Rumford designed a fireplace with a tall, shallow firebox which has been better at drawing the smoke up and out of the building. The shallow design improved greatly the amount of radiant warmth projected to the room. Rumford's design is the foundation 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, where the emphasis was still placed on providing quality stone. Stone fireplaces at this time were a sign of wealth, which to some degree remains the idea today.A fireplace is a construction made from brick, stone or metal designed to include 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 upon the design.

Historically they have been utilized for heating a dwelling, cooking, and heating water for domestic and laundry uses.

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

Organizations such as the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Washington Department of Ecology warn that, according to different studies, fireplaces can pose a significant health threat. The EPA writes"Smoke may smell great, but it is not great for you.

Kinds of fireplacesManufactured fireplaces are made with sheet glass or metal fire boxes.Electric fireplaces can be built-in replacements for either wood or gas or retrofit with log inserts or electric fireboxes.

Masonry and prefabricated fireplaces can be fueled by wood, natural gas, biomass and propane fuel sources. In the USA, some states and local businesses have laws limiting these kinds of fireplaces. There are also air quality management problems because of the amount of moisture that they discharge into the room air, and oxygen sensor and carbon dioxide sensors are safety essentials. Direct vent fireplaces are fueled by either liquid propane or natural gas. They are totally sealed in the place that's heated, and vent all exhaust gasses to the exterior of the structure.

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AccessoriesA vast assortment of accessories are used with fireplaces, ranging between states, regions, and historical periods. For the interior, common in current Western civilizations include grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, pellet baskets, along with fire puppies, all of which cradle fuel and accelerate burning. A grate (or fire grate) is a framework, usually of iron bars, to retain fuel to your fire. Heavy metallic firebacks are sometimes 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 contain embers, soot and ash. For fireplace tending, tools include pokers, bellows, tongs, shovels, brushes and tool racks.

Over time, the intent behind fireplaces has transformed from one of requirement to one of visual interest. Early ones were more fire pits compared to modern fireplaces. They have been used for warmth on chilly days and nights, in addition to for cooking. They also served as a gathering place inside the house. These fire pits were generally centered within a space, allowing more people to collect around it.

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Many defects were found in early fireplace designs. Along with the Industrial Revolution, came big scale housing developments, requiring a standardization of fireplaces. The most renowned fireplace designers of the 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 size.

From the 1800s newest fireplaces were composed of 2 components, the surround as well as the add. The surround comprised of the mantlepiece and sides affirms, usually in wood, granite or marble. The fit was fire burnt, and was constructed of cast iron frequently backed with decorative tiles. In addition to providing heat, the fireplaces of the Victorian age were thought to add a cozy ambiance to homes.

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Some fireplace units include a blower that transports more of the fireplace's heat to the air via convection, leading to a more evenly heated area and a lower heating load. Fireplace efficiency is also 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 can also be manufactured from stainless steel. Efficiency is a complicated notion though with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficacy tests consider just the effect of heating of the atmosphere. An open fireplace isn't, and never was, designed to heat the air. The best method to estimate the output of a fireplace is in case you notice you're turning the thermostat down or up.

Most elderly fireplaces have a comparatively low efficiency rating. Standard, modern, wood-burning masonry fireplaces though have an efficiency rating of 80% (legal minimum necessity for example in Salzburg/Austria). To boost efficiency, fireplaces can also be altered by adding special heavy fireboxes designed to burn cleaner and can reach efficiencies as large as 80 percent in heating the air. These modified fireplaces are often equipped with a large fire window, enabling an efficient heating process in two phases. During the first stage the first heat is offered through a large glass window while the fire is burning. In this time the construction, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the heat. This warmth is then equally radiated for several hours during the second stage. Masonry fireplaces without a glass fire window only provide heat radiated from the surface. Depending on temperatures 1 to 2 daily firings are sufficient to guarantee a constant room temperature.media fireplace