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Mantle piece and grate styles have changed but the fundamental structural elements of a fireside have not radically changed for hundreds of years. The first mixture of a giant stone or brick opening with a chimney built over it evolved from the obvious truth that smoke rises, instead of from a scientific understanding of how a well-designed flue system works. Consequently early wood and later coal-burning fires were awfully inefficient and it wasn’t until a certain Benjamin Thompson ( often referred to as Count Rumford ) made his thesis on the rules of fireplace style in 1799 that smaller grates and enhancements in the inner shape of the openings were introduced.

A brick or stone enclosure forms the foundation of the fireplace. Variously known as the hearth opening or recess or builders opening, it could be set flush with the wall or built out into the room, forming a chimney breast. This chimney breast rises through the height of the house, rising thru the roof to form a chimney stack. At the top of the opening the gather and flue combine 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 fire opening is supported by a lintel or a brick arch. Old inglenook fireplaces used big oak beams, whereas a strong iron strap sometimes supports an early brick arch. Later fireplaces can have a straight arch supported by angle iron, and by the twentieth century cast concrete lintels were the norm.

A hearth, built from non-combustible materials such as stone or tile-faced concrete, projects out into the room to offer protection to the floor from falling ashes. In the majority old homes the hearth was set even with the floor, although sometimes a superimposed one was used to raise the level. The space within the fire opening, called 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 cast-iron register grate which filled up the opening, had grown to be the trend.

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

Inside this fire an open fire burning wood or coal is a contented sight, but if it’s your only source of heat, as it was for centuries, this romantic image can shortly fade especially if the fire doesn’t 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 an excellent supply of air is required under the grate, in addition to a technique of escape for the hot gases and smoke. With the fuel safely contained in the fireplace opening on a grate, free circulation of air is possible and waste ash can fall thru the grate so that the fire is not stifled. If the chimney is inadequate or the flow of air is limited the fire will not work efficiently. To select the righ ones be sure to leaf through all the key electric fireplace logs and electric fireplace log manufacturer sites.