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Historical fire pits were sometimes constructed from the ground, within caves, or at the center of a hut or home. Evidence of prehistoric, man-made fires exists on all five inhabited continents. The disadvantage of premature indoor fire pits was that they generated hazardous 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 great hall typically needed a centrally situated hearth, where an open fire burnt with the smoke rising to the port in the roof. Louvers were developed during the Middle Ages to allow the roof vents to be covered so snow and rain would not enter.

Also throughout the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were devised to prevent smoke from dispersing an area and vent it outside via a ceiling or wall. These could be put against rock walls, rather than taking up the middle of the room, and this allowed smaller rooms to be heated.Chimneys were devised in northern Europe in the 11th or 12th centuries and mostly fixed the issue of fumes, more reliably venting smoke outside. They made it possible to provide the fireplace a draft, and also made it feasible to put fireplaces in numerous rooms in buildings conveniently. They didn't come into general use instantly, however, as they were expensive to build and maintain.

Benjamin Franklin developed a convection chamber for the fireplace that greatly improved the efficiency of fireplaces and wood stoves. He also improved the airflow by pulling air from a cellar and venting out a lengthier place at the very 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 from the construction. The shallow design improved greatly the amount of radiant warmth projected into the room. Rumford's design is the basis for modern fireplaces.

The Aesthetic movement of the 1870s and 1880s took on a more conventional spectra based on stone and deflected unnecessary ornamentation. Rather it depended on simple designs with little unnecessary ornamentation. In the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way into the Arts and Crafts movement, where the emphasis was still placed on supplying quality stone. Stone fireplaces at this time were 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 for heating a space. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, depending upon the design.

Historically they were utilized for heating a home, cooking, and heating water for domestic and laundry uses. A fire is contained in a firebox or firepit; a chimney or other flue allows exhaust to escape.

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On the exterior there is often a corbeled brick crown, where the projecting courses of brick act as a drip route to keep rainwater from running down the exterior 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 problem in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metal liners compared with the traditional masonry chimney, which soaks up all but the rain. A few chimneys have a spark arrestor integrated 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 out of sheet glass or metal fire boxes.Electric fireplaces could be built-in replacements for wood or gas 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.

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 kinds of fireplaces. Additionally, there are air quality management issues due to the quantity of moisture they release in 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 in the area that's heated, and port all exhaust gasses into the outside of the structure.

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

As time passes, the purpose of fireplaces has transformed from one of necessity to one of interest. Early ones were more fire pits than contemporary fireplaces. They were used for heat on chilly days and nights, as well as for cooking. They also served as a gathering place within the home. These fire pits were generally based within a room, allowing more people to collect around it.

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Many defects were found in early fireplace designs. The most renowned fireplace performers of this time 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 most new fireplaces were composed of two parts, the surround and the insert. The encircle comprised of the mantlepiece and sides affirms, usually in wood, marble or granite. The insert was where the fire burned, and was built of cast iron often backed with ornamental tiles. In addition to providing warmth, the fireplaces of the Victorian era were thought to add a cozy ambiance to homes.

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Some fireplace components incorporate a blower that transports more of the fireplace's heat to the atmosphere via convection, resulting in a more evenly heated space and a lower heating load. Fireplace efficiency can also be increased by means of a fireback, a piece of metal which sits behind the fire and reflects heat back into the room. Firebacks are traditionally made from cast iron, but are also made from stainless steel. Efficiency is a complex concept though with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficacy tests consider just the impact of heating of the air. An open fireplace is not, and never was, designed to warm the air. The ideal way to estimate the output signal of a fireplace is in case you detect you are turning the thermostat down or up.

Most elderly fireplaces have a comparatively low efficiency score. Standard, contemporary, weatherproof masonry fireplaces still possess an efficiency rating of at least 80% (legal minimum requirement for example in Salzburg/Austria). To boost efficiency, fireplaces may also be altered by inserting special heavy fireboxes designed to burn cleaner and can reach efficiencies as high as 80 percent in heating the air. These altered fireplaces are often equipped with a large fire window, enabling an efficient heating system in two stages. During the first phase the initial heat is provided through a big glass window while the fire is burning. During this time period the structure, built of refractory bricks, absorbs the warmth. This heat is then equally radiated for many hours during the second phase. Masonry fireplaces without a glass fire window only offer heat radiated from its surface. Based on outside temperatures 1 to two daily firings are enough to ensure a constant room temperature.stacked stone fireplace