Wood Fireplace Mantels A Cozy Focal Point Element For The Living Room

Historical fire pits were sometimes constructed in the floor, within caves, or at the center of a hut or home. Evidence of ancient, man-made flames exists on all five inhabited continents. The disadvantage of premature indoor fire pits was that they produced toxic and/or irritating smoke within the house.Fire pits grown into raised hearths in buildings, but ventilation smoke relied on open windows or holes in roofs. The great hall typically needed a centrally located hearth, where an open flame burned with the smoke climbing into the vent in the roof. Louvers were developed during the Middle Ages to allow the roof vents to be coated so snow and rain wouldn't enter.

Additionally throughout the Middle Ages, smoke canopies were invented to prevent smoke from dispersing 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 enabled smaller chambers to be heated.Chimneys were devised in northern Europe from the 11th or 12th centuries and largely fixed the issue of fumes, more faithfully venting smoke outside. They made it possible to provide the fireplace a draft, and made it possible to put fireplaces in numerous rooms in buildings conveniently. They did not come into general use immediately, however, since they were more expensive to build and maintain.

In 1678 Prince Rupert, nephew of Charles I, increased the grate of the fireplace, improving the venting and airflow system. The 18th century saw two important developments in the history of fireplaces. Benjamin Franklin developed a convection room for the fireplace that greatly enhanced the efficacy of fireplaces and wood stoves. In addition, he improved the airflow by pulling air from a cellar and venting out a lengthier area on top. In the later 18th century, Count Rumford made a fireplace with a tall, shallow firebox which has been better at drawing the smoke up and out of the building. The shallow design improved greatly the quantity of radiant warmth projected into the space. Rumford's design is the foundation for modern kitchens.

Instead it relied on simple designs with small unnecessary ornamentation. From the 1890s the Aesthetic movement gave way into the Arts and Crafts movement, where the emphasis was placed on supplying quality stone. Stone fireplaces at this time were a sign of wealth, which to a degree is still the idea today.A fireplace is a construction made from brick, stone or metal made to contain a fire. Fireplaces are utilized for its relaxing ambiance that they create and for heating a room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficacy, based upon the design.

Historically they have been used for heating a dwelling, cooking, and heating water for domestic and laundry uses. A fireplace may have the following: a foundation, a hearth, a firebox, a mantelpiece; a chimney (used in laundry and kitchen fireplaces), a grate, a lintel, a lintel pub, home overmantel, a damper, a smoke room, a throat, 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 route to keep rainwater from running down the outside walls. A hood, cap, or shroud serves to keep rainwater from the outside of the chimney; rain at the chimney is a much larger problem in chimneys lined with impervious flue tiles or metal liners than with the standard masonry chimney, that soaks 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 great, but it's not good for you.

Types of fireplacesArtificial fireplaces are made out of sheet glass or metal fire boxes.Electric fireplaces can be built-in replacements for wood or gas or retrofit with log inserts or electric fireboxes.A few types are, wall mounted electric fireplaces, electric fireplace stoves, electrical mantel fireplaces and fixed or free standing electric fireplaces.

Masonry and prefabricated fireplaces can be fueled by wood, natural gas, biomass and propane fuel sources. In the United States, several states and local counties have laws limiting these types of fireplaces. Additionally, there are air quality management problems because of the quantity of moisture they discharge in the room atmosphere, and oxygen sensor and carbon dioxide sensors are safety essentials. Direct vent fireplaces have been fueled by liquid propane or natural gas. They are completely sealed from the area that's heated, and port all exhaust gasses into the outside of the structure.

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AccessoriesA wide assortment of accessories are used with fireplaces, which range between states, regions, and historical periods. For the interior, common in current Western civilizations include grates, fireguards, log boxes, andirons, bark baskets, and fire dogs, all which cradle fuel and accelerate burning. A grate (or fire grate) is a framework, usually of iron bars, to maintain fuel for a fire. Heavy metal firebacks are sometimes utilized to capture and re-radiate heat, to protect the rear of the fireplace, and as decoration. Fenders are low metallic frames set before the fireplace to contain embers, soot and ash.

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

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Hawthorne 51In x 36In Wood Fireplace Mantel Surround

Many defects were found in early fireplace designs. Together with the Industrial Revolution, came big scale housing developments, requiring a standardization of fireplaces. The most famous fireplace designers of the period were the Adam Brothers. They perfected a style of fireplace design which has been used for generations. It had been smaller, more brightly lit, with a emphasis on the quality of the substances used in their construction, as opposed to their dimensions.

By the 1800s most new fireplaces were composed of 2 parts, the surround as well as the add. The encircle consisted of the mantlepiece and sides affirms, usually in wood, granite or marble. The fit was fire burnt, and was constructed of cast iron frequently backed with decorative tiles. In addition to providing heat, the fireplaces of the Victorian age were believed to add a cozy ambiance to homes.

Hawthorne 51In x 36In Wood Fireplace Mantel Surround Video

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 space and a decrease heating load. Fireplace efficiency can also be increased by means 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 are also manufactured from stainless steel. Efficiency is a complicated concept though with open hearth fireplaces. Most efficiency tests consider just the effect of heating of the atmosphere. An open fireplace isn't, and never was, intended to heat the air. The best way to gauge the output 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 for example in Salzburg/Austria). To improve efficiency, fireplaces may also be modified by inserting special heavy fireboxes developed to burn much cleaner and can reach efficiencies as large as 80% in heating the air. These modified fireplaces are usually equipped with a massive fire window, enabling an efficient heating process in two stages. During the first stage the initial heat is offered through a big glass window while the flame is burning. In this time the construction, constructed of refractory bricks, absorbs the warmth. This heat is then evenly radiated for several hours during the next stage. Masonry fireplaces without a glass fire window only provide heat radiated from the surface. Based on temperatures 1 to 2 daily firings are sufficient to guarantee a constant room temperature.wood fireplace surrounds