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Fireplace
by Calordela Chienean
http://www.www.fireplacewarmth.com

The fireplace is a common household feature in cold
climates. If you live in a cold region and have a fireplace
no one knows the value of a fireplace better than you. Have
you ever wondered where fireplaces came from? Lets take a
look back to the origin of the fireplace. Scientist believe
the use of fire to have begun over one million years ago.
In the begining fires were built simply on the ground.
Holes were placed in the tops of huts and acted as a crude
chimney.

The fires were built in the center of the hut so the room
could be heated evenly. Only after buildings began to
have more than one floor did the chimney move to an
outside wall. The only building material available in the
early days was wood . Naturally it was not a good idea to
have a fire under a floor made of wood so the fire moved
to a place in the wall. Controlling the smoke from a fire
was not very good in those days and the rooms would
often be filled with smoke.

Eventually the concept of chimney was introduced. The warm
air in the chimney is lighter than the air encompassing it,
so it goes up the chimney, carrying the smoke along. This
is the principal that regulates hot air balloons too.

There have been three progressive fireplace designs since
the fireplace was invented. The first design was invented
by Prince Rupert in the year 1678. In this, the fuel was
raised on a furnace to enhance the oxygen flow to it. The
hot air moved in a broader area, and as a result, larger
amounts of heat was obtained. There was a moveable joint in
the upper part of the fire opening, to gain high air
velocity over the fire bed while building the fire, and to
reduce the chances of smoking. The downside of this design
was that there were insufficient modes of operation, and
smoke filling the room was not solved completely.

A more advanced form of the Rupert's design was put forward
by Benjamin Franklin. It incorporated number of novel
ideas. Similar to the above mentioned design, it had an
elongated gas path for maximum heat extraction. The
difference however was that the hot gases circulated around
an empty riser, providing heat to the air present in it.
The heated air ran into the room through a slit at the top,
consequently both radiated and convected heat was obtained.
The most effective feature of this design was that the air
was supplied from beneath the floor, for combustion and
otherwise, thus curtailing the flow of unheated air into
the room.

Modern fireplaces are very open products and were invented
by Count Rumford at the end of the 18th century. The air
current in a modern fireplace is controlled by a variable
slanted to help the heat go into the room. Modern fireplaces
are generaly constructed using thick bricks and
masonry to help provide heat into the rooms through the
chimney itself.

Most constructions in modern days have replaced wood with
solid masonry walls and for extra warmth the chimney is
integrated inside the wall. This is just perfect for cold
climatic conditions and is common in Northern Europe.
Instead of building the fireplace against an exterior wall,
the fire place is compacted within the lower portion of the
slender chimney heading towards the roof.

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