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Historical fire pits were sometimes built from the floor, in caves, or at the middle of a hut or home. Evidence of prehistoric, man-made flames exists on all five inhabited continents. The disadvantage of premature indoor flame pits was that they generated toxic and/or irritating smoke within the dwelling.Fire pits developed into raised hearths in structures, but ventilation smoke relied on open windows or openings in roofs. The great hall typically had a centrally situated hearth, where a open flame burned with the smoke climbing into the vent in the roof. Louvers were developed during the Middle Ages to enable the roof vents to be covered so snow and rain would not enter.

Additionally during the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were invented to stop smoke from spreading through an area and vent it out through a ceiling or wall. These could be put against stone walls, rather than taking up the middle of the room, and this allowed smaller chambers to be heated.Chimneys were devised in northern Europe from the 11th or 12th centuries and mostly fixed the problem of fumes, more reliably venting smoke outside. They made it possible to give the fireplace a draft, and made it feasible to place fireplaces in multiple rooms in buildings conveniently. They did not come into general usage immediately, however, as they were expensive to build and maintain.

Benjamin Franklin developed a convection room for the fireplace which greatly improved the efficacy of fireplaces and wood stoves. In addition, he enhanced the airflow by pulling air from a cellar and venting out a lengthier place at the very top. At the later 18th century, Count Rumford designed a fireplace with a tall, shallow firebox which was better at drawing up the smoke and out of the construction. The shallow design improved greatly the amount of radiant heat projected into the room. Rumford's layout is the basis for modern kitchens.

Rather it depended 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 placed on supplying quality stone. Stone fireplaces now have been a sign of prosperity, which to a degree is still the idea today.A fireplace is a construction made from brick, stone or metal made to include a fire. Fireplaces are used for its relaxing ambiance they create and also for heating a room. Modern fireplaces change in heat efficacy, based on the design.

Historically they have been used for heating a dwelling, 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. A fireplace might have the following: a base, a hearth, a firebox, a mantelpiece; a chimney crane (used in laundry and kitchen 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 projecting courses of brick act as a drip route to keep rainwater from running down the exterior walls. A hood, cap, or shroud functions to keep rainwater out of the exterior of the chimney; rain in the chimney is a much greater difficulty in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metallic liners than with the traditional masonry chimney, which soaks up all but the rain. Some 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 fireplacesManufactured fireplaces are made with sheet metal or glass fire boxes.Electric fireplaces could be built-in replacements for either gas or wood or retrofit with log inserts or electric fireboxes.

Masonry and prefabricated fireplaces can be fueled by wood, natural gas, biomass and gas fuel sources. In the United States, several states and local counties have laws limiting these types of fireplaces. They need to be suitably sized to the area to be heated. Additionally, there are air quality control issues due to the quantity of moisture that they discharge in the room atmosphere, and oxygen detector and carbon monoxide sensors are security essentials. Direct vent fireplaces are fueled by either liquid propane or natural gas. They are totally sealed from the area that's heated, and port all exhaust gasses to the exterior of the structure.

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AccessoriesFor the inside, common in current Western cultures include grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, bark baskets, and fire puppies, all of which cradle fuel and accelerate burning. A grate (or flame grate) is a framework, usually of iron bars, to maintain fuel for a fire. Heavy metallic firebacks are occasionally used to catch and re-radiate warmth, to protect the back of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metallic frames set before the fireplace to contain embers, soot and ash. For fireplace tending, tools include pokers, bellows, tongs, shovels, brushes and instrument racks.

Over time, 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 chilly days and nights, as well as for cooking. They also functioned as a gathering place within the home. These fire pits were generally based within a space, 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 famous fireplace performers of the time were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a kind of fireplace design that has been used for generations. It had been smaller, more brightly colored, with a emphasis on the quality of the materials used in their construction, as opposed to their dimensions.

From the 1800s newest fireplaces were made up of two parts, the surround as well as the add. The encircle consisted of the mantlepiece and sides affirms, usually in wood, marble or granite. The insert was fire burnt, and was built of cast iron often backed with ornamental tiles. In addition to providing heat, the fireplaces of the Victorian age were believed to bring a cozy ambiance into homes.

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Some fireplace units incorporate a blower that transports more of the fireplace's heat to the atmosphere via convection, leading to a more evenly heated space and a lower heating load. Fireplace efficiency can also be enhanced with the use of a fireback, a sheet of metal which sits behind the fire 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 notion although with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficiency tests consider only the effect of heating of the air. An open fireplace isn't, and never was, designed to warm the atmosphere. The best method to estimate the output signal of a fireplace is if you notice you are turning the thermostat up or down.

Most older fireplaces have a comparatively low efficiency rating. Standard, modern, wood-burning masonry fireplaces though have an efficiency rating of 80% (legal minimum requirement for example in Salzburg/Austria). To improve efficiency, fireplaces can also be altered by adding special heavy fireboxes developed to burn much cleaner and can reach efficiencies as large as 80 percent in heating the air. These altered fireplaces are usually equipped with a large fire window, allowing an efficient heating system in two phases. During the first stage the initial heat is provided through a big glass while the fire is burning. In this time the construction, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the warmth. This heat is then evenly radiated for many hours during the second phase. Masonry fireplaces without a glass fire window just offer heat radiated from the surface. Based on outside temperatures 1 to 2 daily firings are enough to guarantee a constant room temperature.home depot fireplace