Essential Fireplace Accessories HGTV

Ancient fire pits were sometimes constructed from the floor, within caves, or at the center of a hut or home. Evidence of ancient, man-made flames exists on all five inhabited continents. The drawback of early indoor flame pits was that they generated toxic and/or irritating smoke inside the house.Fire pits developed into elevated hearths in buildings, but venting smoke depended on open windows or holes in roofs. The great hall typically had a centrally situated hearth, where a open fire burnt with all the smoke climbing into the port in the roof. Louvers were developed during the Middle Ages to enable the roof vents to be coated so snow and rain would not enter.

Additionally throughout the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were devised to prevent smoke from spreading through an area and vent it out through a ceiling or wall. These could be put against rock walls, instead of taking up the center of the room, and this enabled 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 reliably venting smoke outside. They made it feasible to give the fireplace a draft, and also made it possible to put fireplaces in multiple rooms in buildings handily. They did not come into general use immediately, however, as they were expensive to develop and maintain.

In 1678 Prince Rupert, nephew of Charles I, increased the grate of the fireplace, improving the venting and airflow system. Benjamin Franklin developed a convection chamber for the fireplace that greatly improved the efficacy of fireplaces and wood stoves. In addition, he improved the airflow by pulling air from a cellar and venting a lengthier area on 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 from the building. The shallow design also improved greatly the amount of radiant heat projected into the space. Rumford's layout is the foundation for modern fireplaces.

Rather it relied on simple layouts 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 gems. Stone fireplaces now have been a symbol of prosperity, which to some degree remains the idea today.A fireplace is a construction made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for its relaxing ambiance they create and also for heating a room. Modern fireplaces change in heat efficiency, depending upon the plan.

Historically they have been utilized for heating a home, cooking, and heating water for domestic and laundry uses. A fireplace may have the following: a foundation, 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 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 route to keep rainwater from running down the outside walls. A hood, cap, or shroud serves to keep rainwater out of the outside of the chimney; rain at the chimney is a much larger difficulty in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metallic liners than with the standard masonry chimney, which soaks up all but the most violent rain. A few chimneys have a spark arrestor incorporated into the cap or crown.

The EPA writes"Smoke may smell great, but it's not good for you.

Types of fireplacesArtificial fireplaces are made with sheet metal or glass flame boxes.Electric fireplaces could be built-in replacements for either gas or wood or retrofit with log inserts or electric fireboxes.

In the USA, several states and local counties have laws restricting these kinds of fireplaces. They need to be suitably sized to the area to be heated. There are also air quality management issues due to the amount of moisture they release into the room air, and oxygen sensor and carbon monoxide sensors are safety essentials. Direct vent fireplaces have been fueled by either liquid propane or natural gas. They are completely sealed from the area that is heated, and port all exhaust gasses into the exterior of the structure.

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AccessoriesFor the interior, common in recent Western cultures comprise grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, bark baskets, and fire puppies, all which cradle gas and quicken burning. A grate (or flame grate) is a framework, usually of iron bars, to retain fuel to your fire. Heavy metallic firebacks are occasionally used to capture and re-radiate heat, to protect the rear of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metal frames placed before the fireplace to contain embers, soot and ash.

Over time, the intent behind fireplaces has changed from one of necessity to one of visual interest. Early ones were fire pits than modern fireplaces. They were used for heat on chilly days and nights, as well as for cooking. They also functioned as a gathering place inside the home. These fire pits were usually centered within a room, allowing more individuals to gather around it.

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Phenomenal Fireplaces. – SouthEndStyle

Many defects were found in ancient fireplace designs. The most renowned fireplace performers of the period were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a kind of fireplace design that was used for generations. It was smaller, more brightly colored, with an emphasis on the level of the substances used in their construction, as opposed to their dimensions.

By the 1800s newest fireplaces were made up of two components, the surround and the add. The surround consisted of the mantlepiece and sides supports, typically in wood, marble or granite. The fit was where the fire burned, and was constructed of cast iron often backed with decorative tiles. As well as providing heat, the fireplaces of the Victorian age were believed to bring a cozy ambiance into homes.

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Some fireplace components incorporate a blower which transfers 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 is also increased with the use of a fireback, a piece of metal that sits behind the fire 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 notion though with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficiency tests consider only the impact of heating of the air. An open fireplace is not, and never was, intended to heat the air. The best method to gauge 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, modern, wood-burning masonry fireplaces still possess an efficiency rating of 80% (legal minimum necessity such as in Salzburg/Austria). To improve efficiency, fireplaces can 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 stages. During the first phase the first heat is offered through a large glass while the fire is burning. During this time period the structure, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the warmth. This warmth is then evenly radiated for many hours during the second stage. Masonry fireplaces without a glass fire window only offer heat radiated from its surface. Based on temperatures 1 to two daily firings are enough to ensure a constant room temperature.fireplace accessories