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

Fireplaces are very common in the colder areas of the
world. If you live in one of those places, no one
would know the importance of fireplace better than you.
Have you ever thought about the origin of the fireplace?
Let's go back and find out together! The start of the use
of fire is almost one million years old. Early fires were
built sitting on the ground. The fire holes in the hut roof
acted as the chimney in those times.

It was normal for the fire to be in the center of the hut
for ideal accessibility and heat output. Surprisingly, it
was only after houses had grown into double storeyed
buildings that the fireplace was moved to the exterior
wall. There was hardly any construction material for
building the floor of the second storey, except from wood.
For safety reasons, it was not smart to build a fire on a
wooden floor, so the fireplace was moved into a groove cut
in the wall. Smoke control was bad in those days and smoke
would often spill out into the room.

Eventually the chimney was introduced. The hot air in a
chimney is hotter than the air around it. As a result the
chimney air goes up and carries the smoke with it. The
same principal is also what makes hot air ballons go up.

Subsequently, three progressive fireplace designs were
invented. The first design was invented in the year 1678,
by Prince Rupert. In this the fuel was lifted on a furnace
to enhance the airflow to it. The hot gases moved in a
wider area, and as a result, larger amount of heat was
obtained. There was a flexible joint in the upper part of
the fire opening, to gain high air velocity over the fire
bed during ignition, and to minimize the chances of
smoking. The draw back of this design was that there were
insufficient modes of operation, and smoking was not ruled
out 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.

The fireplace used in modern days are the product of Count
Rumford invented at the end of the 18th century. It has a
seemless variable conduit damper for controlling the air
flow. The sloping fire back helps in radiation.

The modern design is perfect for cold
northern climates. A modern fireplace is compacted inside
the lower portion of a slender chimney heading towards the
roof.

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