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Historical fire pits were sometimes constructed from the floor, in caves, or at the middle of a hut or home. Evidence of ancient, man-made fires is present on all five inhabited continents. The disadvantage of premature indoor fire pits was that they generated hazardous or irritating smoke inside the dwelling.Fire pits grown into elevated hearths in structures, but venting smoke relied on open windows or holes in roofs. The medieval great hall typically needed a centrally situated hearth, where an open flame burned with the smoke rising to the vent in the roof. Louvers were developed throughout the Middle Ages to enable the roof vents to be covered so rain and snow wouldn't enter.

Additionally throughout the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were devised to stop smoke from dispersing an area and vent it out via a wall or roof. These could be put against stone walls, instead of taking up the middle of the room, and this enabled smaller rooms to be warmed.Chimneys were devised in northern Europe in the 11th or 12th centuries and largely fixed the issue of fumes, more reliably venting smoke outside. They made it feasible to give the fireplace a draft, and made it possible to place fireplaces in numerous rooms in buildings conveniently. They did not come into general usage 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 room for the fireplace which greatly enhanced the efficiency of fireplaces and wood stoves. In addition, he enhanced the airflow by pulling air from a basement and venting out a lengthier area at the very top. In the later 18th century, Count Rumford designed a fireplace using a tall, shallow firebox that has been better at drawing up the smoke and from the building. The shallow design improved greatly the amount of radiant heat projected into the space. Rumford's design is the basis for modern fireplaces.

Instead it relied on simple layouts with little unnecessary ornamentation. In the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way to the Arts and Crafts movement, where the emphasis was still placed on providing quality stone. Stone fireplaces at this time have been a sign of wealth, which to a degree remains the idea today.A fireplace is a structure made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for its relaxing ambiance that they create and also for heating a room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficacy, depending upon the plan.

Historically they were utilized 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.

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On the exterior there's often a corbeled brick crown, in which the casting courses of brick function as a drip course 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 in the chimney is a much larger 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 integrated into the cap or crown.

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

Kinds of fireplacesArtificial fireplaces are made out of 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.

In the United States, several states and local businesses have laws limiting these types of fireplaces. They need to be properly sized to the area to be heated. There are also air quality control issues due to the quantity of moisture that they release into the room atmosphere, and oxygen sensor and carbon monoxide sensors are safety essentials. Direct vent fireplaces are fueled by either liquid propane or natural gas. They are totally sealed in the area that's heated, and port all exhaust gasses to the outside of the structure.

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AccessoriesFor the inside, common in recent Western cultures comprise grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, bark baskets, and fire dogs, all of which cradle gas and quicken burning. A grate (or flame 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 heat, to safeguard the rear of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metal frames set before the fireplace to include embers, soot and ash. For fireplace tending, tools include pokers, bellows, tongs, shovels, brushes and tool stands.

As time passes, the intent behind fireplaces has transformed from one of requirement to one of visual interest. Early ones were fire pits than contemporary fireplaces. They were used for warmth on cold days and nights, in addition to for cooking. They also served as a gathering place inside the home. These fire pits were generally centered within a space, allowing more people to gather around it.

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Many defects were found in early fireplace designs. Along with the Industrial Revolution, came big scale housing developments, necessitating a standardization of fireplaces. The most renowned fireplace performers of the period were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a style of fireplace design that has been used for generations. It was smaller, more brightly colored, with an emphasis on the quality of the substances used in their construction, instead of their dimensions.

From the 1800s newest fireplaces were made up of two components, the surround and the add. The encircle comprised of the mantlepiece and sides supports, typically in wood, granite or marble. The insert was where the fire burnt, and was built of cast iron often backed with ornamental tiles. As well as providing heat, the fireplaces of the Victorian era were believed to add a cozy ambiance into homes.

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Some fireplace units include a blower which transports more of the fireplace's heat to the atmosphere 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 sheet of metal which sits behind the flame 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 complex concept though with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficiency tests consider just the impact of heating of the atmosphere. An open fireplace is not, and never was, designed to warm the air. The ideal way to estimate the output of a fireplace is in case you detect you are turning the thermostat down or up.

Most elderly fireplaces have a comparatively 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 can also be modified by adding special heavy fireboxes designed to burn much cleaner and can reach efficiencies as large as 80% in heating the air. These altered fireplaces are often equipped with a large fire window, allowing an efficient heating process in two stages. During the first phase the initial heat is provided through a large glass window while the fire is burning. In this time the construction, built of refractory bricks, absorbs the warmth. This warmth is then evenly radiated for several hours during the second stage. Masonry fireplaces without a glass fire window just offer heat radiated from its surface. Based on outside temperatures 1 to 2 daily firings are enough to ensure a constant room temperature.gel fuel fireplace