Mantle piece and grate designs have altered but the basic structural components of a fireside have not radically modified for centuries. The early mixture of a giant stone or brick opening with a chimney built over it evolved from the clear reality that smoke rises, rather than from a scientific appreciation of how a well-designed flue system works. Consequently early wood and later coal-burning fires were very inefficient and it was not till a certain Benjamin Thompson ( also known as Count Rumford ) created his contention on the foundations of hearth design in 1799 that smaller grates and enhancements in the inner shape of the openings were introduced.

A brick or stone enclosure forms the root of the fireside. Variously called the hearth opening or recess or builders opening, it could be set level with the wall or built out into the room, forming a chimney breast. This chimney breast rises thru the peak of the house, emerging through the roof to form a chimney stack. At the apex of the opening the gather and flue mix to hold the smoke up the chimney. If the chimney is shared by many fireplaces on different floors, it may contain more than one flue.

The masonry over the hearth opening is supported by a lintel or a brick arch. Old inglenook fireplaces used large oak beams, while a powerful iron strap usually supports an early brick arch. Soon after fireplaces may have a straight arch supported by angle iron, and by the twentieth century cast cement lintels were the standard.

A hearth, constructed from non-combustible materials like stone or tile-faced concrete, projects out into the room to offer protection to the floor from falling ashes. In most old homes the hearth was set level with the floor, although occasionally a superimposed one was employed to raise the level. The space in the fireplace opening, known as the back hearth, is usually level with the hearth itself. A dog grate for burning wood or coal can be placed on this back hearth. Yet, by the mid-nineteenth century the mass produced solid iron register grate which filled up the opening, had grown to be the style.

To finish the assembly, a mantelpiece or mantel or fireplace surround, as it is regularly called today is fitted to border the grate or fireplace opening. The mantel may be constructed from stone, slate, marble, wood or cast-iron. The walls around it could be finished with wood paneling, or more commonly with plaster, and in a number of cases the mantel extends upwards to form a formidable chimneypiece. Mirrored overmantels were introduced in the late eighteenth century, and these became the classic feature of Victorian sitting rooms.

Inside this fireplace an open fire burning wood or coal is a contented sight, but if it’s your only source of heat, as it was for hundreds of years, this romantic image can shortly fade especially if the fire does not burn properly. Getting a fire started and keeping it land then becomes a challenge, if not a bore. For wood and coal fires to burn brightly a good supply of air is required under the grate, in addition to a means of escape for the hot gases and smoke. With the fuel safely enclosed in the hearth opening on a grate, free circulation of air is achievable and waste ash can fall through the grate so the fire is not stifled. If the chimney is insufficient or the flow of air is proscribed the fire will not work effectively . To select the righ ones be sure to search all the chief electric fireplace logs and electric fireplace log manufacturer sites.