Fireplace Infos
Fireplace Information
People gather around a fireplace for conversation, planning, relaxing, telling stories or enjoying sex in a more intimate fashion.
A fireplace is an architectural element consisting of a space designed to contain a fire, generally for heating but sometimes also for cooking. The space where the fire is contained is called a firebox or firepit; a chimney or other flue allows gas and particulate exhaust to escape the building. While most fireplaces are constructed in building interiors, sometimes outdoor fireplaces are created for evening warmth, outdoor cooking or decorative purposes.
In colder climates throughout the world, the fireplace or hearth has traditionally been a central feature of the household, as it gives warmth to aid survival through an extended winter. The sensation of direct heat, and the mesmerizing leaps and flickers of a wood fire, make its use enjoyable in cold conditions even today.
As a result, people gather around a fireplace for conversation, planning, or sex in a more intimate fashion. After the workday, it is often the place a family meets at night before retiring to sleep. One famous use of this tradition in the United States during the Great Depression was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “fireside chats”, weekly radio addresses in which he made use of the family gathering time to state his views on issues of national importance.
In many places, coal, wood or peat burning fires are being replaced by cleaner and often safer natural gas and electric systems. Some governmental agencies have placed a partial ban on solid fuel burning fireplaces based upon air pollution concerns. Gas fireplaces very often burn off a small amount of their fuel in a flickering display meant to recall that of a wood fire. Alternatively, flame-shaped paper streamers wave vertically in the air, held up by the updraft produced by a heating element.
A fireplace may consist of some or all of the following elements: foundation, hearth, firebox, facing, ashdump door, chimney crane, cleanout door, grate or iron bars, lintel, lintel bar, overmantle, breast, damper, smoke chamber, throat, flue, chimney chase, crown, cap or shroud, and spark arrestor.
There are a range of accessories used with fireplaces. For the interior firepit, the most common are grates, logboxes, andirons and firedogs, all of which are used to cradle the fuel and accelerate burning. For the exterior adornment and fireplace tending function, there are fireplace tools including poker, bellows, tongs, shovel, brush and toolstand. Current versions of all these devices are available, but there are extant accessories manufactured in Europe which date at least as early as 1550 AD.