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Ancient fire pits were sometimes built from the floor, within caves, or in the middle of a hut or dwelling. Evidence of ancient, man-made flames is present on all five inhabited continents. The drawback of early indoor flame pits was that they produced toxic and/or irritating smoke inside the dwelling.Fire pits grown into elevated hearths in buildings, but ventilation smoke relied on open windows or openings in roofs. The great hall typically needed a centrally located hearth, where a open fire 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 coated so rain and snow would not enter.

Also throughout the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were devised to stop smoke from spreading through a room and vent it outside via a ceiling or wall. These can be put against stone walls, rather than taking up the middle of the room, and this allowed smaller chambers to be warmed.Chimneys were devised in northern Europe from the 11th or 12th centuries and largely fixed the issue of fumes, more reliably venting smoke out. They made it feasible to give the fireplace a draft, and also made it possible to put fireplaces in multiple rooms in buildings conveniently. They didn't come into general use instantly, however, since they were more expensive to develop 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. In addition, he improved the airflow by pulling air from a basement and venting out a longer area on top. In the later 18th century, Count Rumford made a fireplace using a tall, shallow firebox which was 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 basis for modern kitchens.

Instead it relied on simple layouts with small unnecessary ornamentation. In the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way into the Arts and Crafts movement, where the emphasis was placed on supplying quality gems. Stone fireplaces at this time have been a sign of prosperity, which to some degree is still the idea today.A fireplace is a structure made of brick, stone or metal made to include a fire. Fireplaces are used for the relaxing ambiance they create and also for heating a room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficacy, based on the design.

Historically they were used for heating a dwelling, 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 base, a hearth, a firebox, a mantelpiece; a chimney (utilized in kitchen and laundry fireplaces), a grate, a lintel, a lintel pub, house overmantel, a damper, a smoke chamber, a neck, 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 outside walls. A hood, cap, or shroud functions to keep rainwater from the outside of the chimney; rain at the chimney is a far greater difficulty in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metallic liners than with the standard masonry chimney, that divides up all but the most violent rain. A few chimneys have a spark arrestor incorporated 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 can pose a substantial health threat. The EPA writes"Smoke may smell good, but it is not great for you.

Types of fireplacesManufactured fireplaces are made with sheet metal or glass fire boxes.Electric fireplaces could be built-in replacements for gas or wood or retrofit with log inserts or electrical fireboxes.

Ventless Fireplaces (duct free/room-venting fireplaces) are fueled by gel, liquid propane, bottled gas or natural gas. In the United States, several states and local counties have laws restricting these kinds of fireplaces. Additionally, there are air quality management problems because of the amount of moisture they discharge in the room atmosphere, and oxygen sensor and carbon monoxide sensors are safety essentials. Direct vent fireplaces have been fueled by liquid propane or natural gas. They are totally sealed in the area that's heated, and port all exhaust gasses into the exterior of the structure.

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AccessoriesA vast 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, pellet baskets, along with fire dogs, all of which cradle fuel and accelerate burning. A grate (or fire grate) is a framework, usually of iron bars, to retain fuel for a fire. Heavy metallic firebacks are occasionally utilized to capture and re-radiate heat, to safeguard the rear of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metallic frames placed before the fireplace to contain embers, soot and ashes. For fireplace tending, tools comprise pokers, bellows, tongs, shovels, brushes and tool racks.

As time passes, the purpose of fireplaces has changed from one of requirement to one of interest. Early ones were fire pits compared to modern fireplaces. They have been used for heat on chilly days and nights, in addition to for cooking. They also functioned as a gathering place within the home. These fire pits were usually centered within a space, allowing more people to collect around it.

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Many defects were found in ancient fireplace designs. Together with the Industrial Revolution, came big scale housing developments, requiring a standardization of fireplaces. The most renowned fireplace designers of this period were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a style of fireplace design which has been used for generations. It had been smaller, more brightly colored, with an emphasis on the quality of the substances used in their construction, as opposed to their dimensions.

By the 1800s newest fireplaces were composed of two components, the surround as well as the add. The surround comprised of the mantlepiece and sides supports, typically in wood, granite or marble. The insert was fire burnt, and was constructed of cast iron frequently backed with decorative tiles. As well as providing warmth, the fireplaces of the Victorian era were thought to bring a cozy ambiance to homes.

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Some fireplace components include a blower which transfers 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 increased with the use of a fireback, a sheet of metal that sits behind the flame and reflects heat back into the room. Firebacks are traditionally produced from cast iron, but can also be made from stainless steel. Efficiency is a complicated concept although with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficacy tests consider only the impact of heating of the air. An open fireplace is not, and never was, intended to heat the atmosphere. A fireplace with a fireback is a toaster, and has done so as the 15th century. The ideal way to gauge the output of a fireplace is in case you detect you are turning the thermostat down or up.

Most elderly fireplaces have a relatively low efficiency rating. Standard, contemporary, weatherproof masonry fireplaces still possess an efficiency rating of 80% (legal minimum necessity for example in Salzburg/Austria). To boost efficiency, fireplaces may also be altered by adding special heavy fireboxes developed to burn much cleaner and can reach efficiencies as high as 80% in heating the air. These altered fireplaces are often equipped with a large fire window, enabling an efficient heating process in two stages. During the first stage the initial heat is offered through a big glass while the flame is burning. During this time period the construction, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the heat. This warmth is then equally radiated for many hours during the next phase. Masonry fireplaces without a glass fire window just offer heat radiated from its surface. Depending on outside temperatures 1 to two daily firings are sufficient to guarantee a constant room temperature.limestone fireplace