Hanging fireplace

Fireplaces of the suspended type are becoming increasingly popular. At first, they were not seriously perceived, but as time went on, interest in such unusual structures became more and more, and today this is a full-fledged piece of furniture recognized as very original and stylish.

The very first suspended fireplaces originated in the south of France in the last century in the 60s. They were created in a small workshop in the provincial center of Viol-le-Forte, which was opened by Dominique Imbert, who received a higher education, a lover of travel and philosophy.

You could call the workshop with a big stretch, there were no conditions there: the roof was leaking, there were no windows at all, and in the winter the snow lay right on the floor.

Dominic simply froze in this room, and it hindered him in his creative experiments. So he was forced to invent something that could warm him. This device turned out to be a home-made hanging fireplace, which the man attached to the wall.

This construction was called Antefocus, and a year later, in 1968, a new fireplace appeared, called Gyrofocus, but its appearance, which has reached our days, remains the same. Suspended fireplace is made by hand, used for the work of polished steel with a black matte finish and visible welds.

Gyrofocus, the first of a series of suspended fireplaces capable of rotating 360 degrees, has won many exhibitions and has been shown in three respected museums. And this is due not only to the technical perfection of the design, the design of the Gyrofocus is a delight and surprise - a fiery look through the steel squint.

The guests who visited the workshop to the master did not cease to be amazed at this miracle of technology, and were not averse to having such a round fireplace in their dwellings. But for a long time the conservatives stood their ground and did not rush to accept Imber's innovations, so at first the fate of his new invention rested solely on individual customers - they were artists, architects by profession and representatives of Bohemian society.

What is so different about the round hanging fireplace, and what is the difference between imported fireplace extract from the smoke box from Russia?

Nowadays, there is no longer any dispute over the "floating" fireplaces, the shock has gone, Russia has become accustomed to such an unusual part of the home interior. In the Russian market, suspended structures appeared closer to the sunset of the 90s and confidently began to win their place in the market.

For modern decoration of apartments, suspended fireplaces are the most striking expression of deconstruction. With them, the very idea of ​​comfort and a family hearth looks different. Basically, because such fireplaces are attached to the ceiling, although there are similar structures and fastened to the wall.

The classical preference for massiveness and brutality today is no longer as relevant as before, they were replaced by lightness, irony and free flight of design ideas. Products of this form look like they talk about their independence and that they are alone in this world.

It would seem that hanging fireplaces are a challenge to functional and rational theories, but in fact they turn out to be very practical and have a very aesthetic look. Such a “floating” structure can be found in any part of the room with suitable carrier characteristics.These designer foci are not so much weighed, and therefore perfectly suited for places where a special load on the roof and floors is not recommended.

The practicality of hanging fireplaces is also to save space, but the smoke box at such a hearth can be quite high. Two-tone models have a very beautiful view. They play the role of vertical dominance, visually making the room even higher. With such a hearth in any room, the atmosphere becomes somehow inexplicably special.

In the overwhelming majority of cases, these are metal products, which determines the moderation of their weight. In terms of operational capabilities, suspended structures show excellent results, and this, of course, is a merit of high fire resistance characteristics of both stainless steel and cast iron.

The exterior finish is irrelevant here, because this is an unnecessary weighting of the whole structure. Diversity in style is achieved by selecting colors of different shades, a method of chrome plating and gloss or matte surface.

As a rule, a hanging fireplace is a modular construction and is fairly simple to assemble. It does not require much effort and time and installation.In appearance - this is an ultramodern model that can perfectly fit into such an interior as high-tech and the like.

On metal, the designers did not choose their choice by accident, because this is quite a plastic material, thanks to which the shape of hanging fireplaces can sometimes be fantastic. Here there is where to turn around to bold design ideas, and as a result, not just the corners and lines of strict geometric rules are born, but also models resembling metal sculpture.

A design idea does not stand still, and there are more and more new bizarre forms such as exotic plants, alien ships, sea periscopes or crystals of intricate shapes.

There is no limit to imagination and creativity, and in collaboration with modern technologies for the processing of metal products, the models are very accurate in calculations.

As has already become clear, high-tech - this is what in style is most consistent with the design of hanging fireplaces. This unusual style, and bold design, and strict forms, and restraint in choosing colors.The most common models of suspended structures can safely be considered such:

• FireObr with a tree-oriented hearth, a chimney pipe, with a universal design and with three possible colors. The shape of the hearth in this case is an inverted whirligig and a glass door of a panoramic type. Without decor, everything is extremely concise, but also quite stylish.
• Antrax is considered a rather unusual model, with considerable dimensions, but due to the openness of the firebox on three sides, there is no feeling of congestion. Here is possible and the option of firebox wood, and biofuel with fascinating and riveting the fire. Perfectly this design looks in the middle of the room, surrounded by soft furniture in the form of sofas and armchairs;
• Bubble is a round hanging structure that is relevant both in the middle of the room and near the wall. Firebox option - wood open.
• Arion - fireplace type suspended, which is installed in the corner of the room. Attached such a design - to the wall, the trapezoidal furnace, heat-resistant glass.

A hanging fireplace will take root in any high-rise building, in any cottage, because the weight of the firebox is significantly lighter than the weight of the firebox of a conventional fireplace model.The metal firebox of a suspended fireplace is never trimmed with stone or ceramics, and the maximum weight of the whole structure never exceeds 50 kg. Installation of the structure does not require the arrangement of a special foundation, in isolation of the walls.

There are no problems in order to assemble such a suspended structure yourself, even in the conditions of your apartment, you only need equipment and drawings.

The fuel in the suspended structures can be:

1. a fireplace with a solid fuel (usually a tree);
2. electric fireplace (in this case, heating coils are arranged inside the furnace);
3. hearth consuming biofuels. The difference in this version of the hearth is that it does not need a chimney, that is, it is the optimal model of a hanging fireplace for any apartment.

In a spacious room, an open fireplace will be preferable.This is possible when the room is often and thoroughly ventilated. If we are talking about a house with double-glazed windows, then a forced ventilation system will be needed. The firebox should also be forced to be supplied with fresh air, because in the open version the volume of oxygen consumed will be much greater than when the fire burns in a closed type firebox.

There are also wall fireplaces of suspended type, they are placed near the wall, they are soaring, that is, they are fixed only on the ceiling without any rest against the floor. In this case, the overlap must be sufficiently reliable, because even the whole structure will not exceed 150 kg, but for the ceiling it is still a considerable load.

At first glance it may seem that a hanging fireplace is a very complicated and incomprehensible system, but this is only at first glance. The design may well be created independently if the necessary materials, tools and some knowledge are available.

In this case, metal has much more advantages than brick. And not every apartment is suitable for installing a classic type of fireplace with a serious foundation.The advantages of metal in cost, higher efficiency, low weight and reliable strength.

Its disadvantages include a limited lifetime, increased fire risk and poor heat transfer. Metal is much easier to process, and its strength can be compared with the strength of a ceramic product.

If you have the necessary equipment, just looking at the photo of the model that you liked, it’s quite realistic to make a hanging fireplace by yourself. After all, in fact, it is a simple stove, which is attached to the chimney through the ceiling.

Perhaps the most popular in this case is stainless steel. It will withstand an impact at 600 ° C for two hours. The fireplace is recommended to be made of sheet steel with a thickness of at least 4 mm. But this design can not be used constantly, it is for short-term heating, and intensive operation will lead to rapid burnout of the hearth.

The industry produces a fireplace, suspended on a pipe, from such a material as heat-resistant steel. Modern technologies have made it possible to use even steel with a thickness of 1.5 mm, and it does not lose its working condition for 20 years or longer.Low weight, decent heat capacity and thermal conductivity - all these are components of high efficiency.

But only a specialist with appropriate equipment and owning modern welding technology can make a suspended structure of such steel. Craft production in this case will not work. Processed in artisanal, stainless steel with heat-resistant properties, will lose its qualities, and the cracked product will become worthless.

Instead of steel, you can use cast iron. Its advantage is a fairly low cost. The fireplace can be mounted from a sheet with a thickness of 6 mm. If the thickness is less, the product will also simply crack. This is not a very thermally conductive material, although to accommodate the small size of its thermal conductivity will be enough.

First of all, before the manufacture and installation, you need to purchase all the necessary components. You will need a metal sheet with a thickness of 4-5 mm. Both the firebox and the chimney hood will be made from it. The simplest and most reliable solution will be to purchase the products in question, in finished form.Independently achieve the desired aesthetics is unlikely to succeed, but if it is only a matter of practicality, then you should take a chance and try.

The drawing in this case is a useful thing, but you have to develop it yourself using a photo, which is troublesome, and therefore for such a simple construction it is better to do without it.

In modern designs there is a special electronics for the forced supply of air masses to the hearth, as well as the method of forced withdrawal of waste substances.

Also in the pipe will need special restrictions for hot air masses. This will relieve the troubles faced by the owners of suspended structures. If the flow of hot air masses go from above, then the design of the chimney was wrong.

Whatever model of fireplace you use, first of all, you should be very serious about compliance with fire safety rules. Especially it concerns models with an open fire chamber.It is necessary to ensure that there are no objects near the fire that are easily ignited.

Basically, suspended foci are installed as a very original and unusual decoration of the room, because in this case there is no talk about reliable full-fledged heating. Of course, there is heat from such a hearth, but there is not much of it.

For this reason, this design differs in that it will become an indispensable winter evening, when it is so nice to sit by an open fire, sipping fragrant tea.

An even greater effect from such an exotic fireplace design can be achieved if the firebox is made rotating - it is clear that this will require some additions in all the equipment of the hanging fireplace.

There are also interesting models with lifting glass and a rotating chimney.

Today it is already difficult to say whether a round fireplace is better than a round fireplace or not, and how it differs from its chimney hood from a smoke box,but still their main feature is that they can rotate, turning in any direction and change the appearance of the entire interior.