Historical fire pits were sometimes constructed from the floor, within caves, or at 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 hazardous or annoying smoke within the house.Fire pits developed into elevated hearths in buildings, but venting smoke relied on open windows or openings in roofs. The great hall typically needed a centrally situated hearth, where an open fire burnt with the smoke rising to the vent in the roof. Louvers were developed throughout the Middle Ages to allow the roof vents to be covered so rain and snow wouldn't enter.
Also during the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were devised to prevent smoke from spreading through an area and vent it outside through a ceiling or wall. These could be placed against stone walls, rather than taking up the center of the room, and this enabled smaller rooms to be heated.Chimneys were devised in northern Europe in the 11th or 12th centuries and largely fixed the problem of fumes, more faithfully venting smoke out. They made it possible to provide the fireplace a draft, and made it possible to place fireplaces in numerous rooms in buildings handily. They did not come into general use instantly, however, since they were expensive to build and maintain.In 1678 Prince Rupert, nephew of Charles I, raised the grate of the fireplace, improving the venting and airflow system. Benjamin Franklin developed a convection room for the fireplace which greatly improved the efficiency of fireplaces and wood stoves. He also improved the airflow by pulling air from a cellar and venting a longer area at the very top. At the later 18th century, Count Rumford made a fireplace with a tall, shallow firebox that was better at drawing up the smoke and from the construction. The shallow design improved greatly the amount of radiant warmth projected into the room. Rumford's design is the foundation for modern fireplaces.
Instead it relied on simple layouts with small unnecessary ornamentation. In the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way into the Arts and Crafts movement, in which the emphasis was placed on supplying quality stone. Stone fireplaces at this time have been a symbol of prosperity, which to some degree is still the notion today.A fireplace is a construction made of brick, stone or metal made 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 dwelling, cooking, and heating water for laundry and domestic uses. A fire is contained in a firebox or firepit; a chimney or other flue allows exhaust to escape. A fireplace may 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 bar, house overmantel, a damper, a smoke room, a neck, a flue, and a chimney filter or afterburner.
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On the exterior there is often a corbeled brick crown, in which the projecting courses of brick act as a drip course to keep rainwater from running down the outside walls. A cap, hood, or shroud functions to keep rainwater out of the outside of the chimney; rain in the chimney is a much greater difficulty in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metal liners compared with the standard masonry chimney, that divides up all but the rain. Some chimneys have a spark arrestor incorporated into the cap or crown.
The EPA writes"Smoke may smell good, but it's not great for you.Types of fireplacesManufactured fireplaces are made with sheet glass or metal flame boxes.Electric fireplaces can be built-in replacements for either wood or gas or retrofit with log inserts or electrical fireboxes.
Ventless Fireplaces (duct free/room-venting fireplaces) are fueled by either gel, liquid propane, bottled gas or natural gas. In the United States, some states and local businesses have laws limiting these types of fireplaces. They need to be suitably sized to the area to be heated. There are also air quality control problems because of the quantity of moisture that they release into the room atmosphere, and oxygen detector and carbon dioxide sensors are safety essentials. Direct vent fireplaces are fueled by either liquid propane or natural gas. They are completely sealed from the place that is heated, and port all exhaust gasses to the outside of the structure.
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Over time, the intent behind fireplaces has transformed from one of necessity 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 served as a gathering place within the home. These fire pits were usually based within a room, allowing more individuals to gather around it.
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Many defects were found in ancient fireplace designs. Along with the Industrial Revolution, came large scale housing developments, requiring a standardization of fireplaces. The most renowned fireplace designers of the period were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a kind 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 most new fireplaces were made up of 2 components, the surround and the insert. The surround consisted of the mantlepiece and sides affirms, usually in wood, granite or marble. The insert was where the fire burnt, and was built of cast iron often backed with ornamental tiles. In addition to providing warmth, the fireplaces of the Victorian age were believed to bring a cozy ambiance into homes.Fireplaceinsert.com, Pearl Mantels Williamsburg Fireplace Mantel Surround Video
Some fireplace components incorporate a blower that transfers more of the fireplace's heat to the atmosphere via convection, leading to a more evenly heated area and a decrease heating load. Fireplace efficiency can also be enhanced 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 are also manufactured from stainless steel. Efficiency is a complex concept though with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficiency tests consider just the effect of heating of the air. An open fireplace is not, and never was, designed to heat the air. A fireplace with a fireback is a toaster, and has done so as the 15th century. The ideal method to gauge the output signal of a fireplace is if you notice you're turning the thermostat up or down.
Most elderly fireplaces have a relatively low efficiency rating. Standard, contemporary, weatherproof masonry fireplaces still possess an efficiency rating of at least 80% (legal minimum necessity such as in Salzburg/Austria). To boost efficiency, fireplaces may also be modified by inserting special heavy fireboxes designed to burn cleaner and can reach efficiencies as large as 80 percent in heating the air. These modified fireplaces are usually equipped with a large fire window, allowing an efficient heating process in two stages. During the first stage the first heat is provided through a large glass window while the fire is burning. During this time period the structure, built of refractory bricks, absorbs the heat. This heat is then evenly radiated for many hours during the next phase. Masonry fireplaces with no glass fire window just offer heat radiated from its surface. Depending on outside temperatures 1 to 2 daily firings are sufficient to guarantee a constant room temperature.fireplace mantel kits
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