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Historical fire pits were sometimes built in the ground, within caves, or at the middle of a hut or dwelling. Evidence of prehistoric, 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 within the dwelling.Fire pits grown into raised hearths in buildings, but venting smoke depended on open windows or openings in roofs. The medieval great hall typically needed a centrally situated hearth, where a open fire burnt with all the smoke climbing into the vent in the roof. Louvers were developed during the Middle Ages to enable the roof vents to be coated so snow and rain wouldn't enter.

Additionally during the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were invented to stop smoke from spreading through an area and vent it out via a wall or roof. These can be put against rock walls, instead of taking up the center of the space, and this allowed smaller chambers to be heated.Chimneys were invented in northern Europe from the 11th or 12th centuries and mostly fixed the issue of fumes, more reliably venting smoke out. They made it feasible to provide the fireplace a draft, and also made it possible to put fireplaces in numerous rooms in buildings handily. They did not come into general usage immediately, however, since they were expensive to build and maintain.

Benjamin Franklin developed a convection chamber for the fireplace which greatly improved the efficacy of fireplaces and wood stoves. In addition, he enhanced the airflow by pulling air from a basement and venting a lengthier area at the top. At the later 18th century, Count Rumford designed a fireplace using a tall, shallow firebox that was better at drawing up the smoke and out of the building. The shallow design also improved greatly the quantity of radiant warmth projected to the space. Rumford's design is the basis for modern fireplaces.

The Aesthetic movement of the 1870s and 1880s took on a more traditional spectra based on stone and deflected unnecessary ornamentation. Instead it relied on simple layouts with small unnecessary ornamentation. From the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way to the Arts and Crafts movement, in which the emphasis was placed on providing quality stone. Stone fireplaces now were a symbol of prosperity, which to some degree is still the notion today.A fireplace is a construction made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are utilized for its relaxing ambiance they create and for heating a space. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, based upon the plan.

Historically they were utilized for heating a dwelling, cooking, and heating water for laundry and domestic uses. A fireplace may have the following: a foundation, a hearth, a firebox, a mantelpiece; a chimney (utilized in laundry and kitchen fireplaces), a grate, a lintel, a lintel pub, home 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 often a corbeled brick crown, where 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 from the exterior of the chimney; rain at the chimney is a much larger problem in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metallic liners than with the standard masonry chimney, that soaks up all but the rain. A few chimneys have a spark arrestor integrated into the crown or cap.

Organizations like the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Washington Department of Ecology warn that, according to various studies, fireplaces could pose a significant health threat. The EPA writes"Smoke may smell good, but it's not good 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.

Masonry and prefabricated fireplaces can be fueled by wood, natural gas, biomass and propane fuel sources. 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 businesses have laws limiting these types of fireplaces. There are also air quality control issues because of the amount of moisture they discharge into the room air, and oxygen detector and carbon monoxide sensors are safety essentials. Direct vent fireplaces are fueled by either liquid propane or natural gas. They are totally sealed from the place that is heated, and port all exhaust gasses into the outside of the structure.

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AccessoriesA wide range of accessories are used with fireplaces, which range between states, regions, and historical periods. For the inside, common in recent Western civilizations comprise grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, bark baskets, and fire dogs, all of which cradle fuel and accelerate burning. A grate (or fire grate) is a frame, usually of iron bars, to retain fuel for a fire. Heavy metallic firebacks are sometimes used to capture and re-radiate warmth, to safeguard the rear of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metal frames set in front of the fireplace to include embers, soot and ashes.

As time passes, the purpose of fireplaces has changed from one of necessity to one of visual interest. Early ones were more fire pits compared to modern fireplaces. They were used for warmth 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 based within a space, allowing more people to collect around it.

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Many flaws were found in ancient fireplace designs. The most famous fireplace performers of this time were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a kind of fireplace design which was used for generations. It was smaller, more brightly colored, with a emphasis on the quality of the materials used in their construction, instead of their size.

By the 1800s newest fireplaces were made up of two parts, the surround as well as the insert. The surround comprised of the mantlepiece and sides supports, typically in wood, granite or marble. The fit was fire burnt, 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 houses.

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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 by means of a fireback, a sheet of metal that sits behind the fire and reflects heat back into the room. Firebacks are traditionally made 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 effect of heating of the air. An open fireplace is not, and never was, designed to warm the air. A fireplace with a fireback is a radiant heater, and has done so as the 15th century. The ideal method to estimate the output signal of a fireplace is in case you notice you are turning the thermostat down or up.

Most older fireplaces have a comparatively low efficiency rating. Standard, contemporary, weatherproof masonry fireplaces though have an efficiency rating of at least 80% (legal minimum necessity for example in Salzburg/Austria). To boost efficiency, fireplaces can also be altered by adding special heavy fireboxes designed to burn much cleaner and may reach efficiencies as high as 80 percent in heating the atmosphere. These altered fireplaces are often equipped with a massive fire window, allowing an efficient heating system in two stages. During the first stage the first heat is provided through a large glass window while the flame is burning. In this time the structure, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the heat. This heat is then evenly radiated for many hours during the next stage. Masonry fireplaces without a glass fire window only provide heat radiated from the surface. Depending on temperatures 1 to two daily firings are sufficient to ensure a constant room temperature.home depot fireplace