Fireplace device
The device of a modern fireplace with a chimney
The life and development of mankind cannot be imagined without the use of fire. Since ancient times, people have tried to save it, using it for heating homes and cooking. At first it was a simple fire, set up in the center of the cave, then a stone or brick platform in the house, on which brought firewood burned, filling the entire room with smoke. Centuries passed, and stoves appeared in private houses, and fireplaces appeared in impregnable castles and aristocratic estates.
In our time, it would seem, the need for these eaters of firewood and coal disappeared. Indeed, in a modern country house you can carry out heating pipes connected to a portable steam generator, and you can use a modern system with air heating. All this will warm the room at a lower cost, but still living in the soul of a modern person is the desire to lean back in the rocking chair on the second floor of the old house and look at the game of open flame in the half-light.
Of course, a fireplace on the second floor is an additional complication, but modern technologies allow to solve this problem. If the main goal is an aesthetic desire to look at the fire, then you can use an alcohol fireplace. It does not require refractory structures, even the exhaust box for the removal of combustion products is optional.
If such a device does not seem solid enough, you can make an island fireplace right in the center of the room. Since the foundation for the fireplace is quite massive, it should be positioned on the supporting floor slabs, it is desirable to use a suspended chimney that goes to the roof through a decompression chamber.
Island fireplace
Since this design deals with an open source of fire, there are some rules, the observance of which will allow admiring this fascinating spectacle inside the house, reclining in an armchair, rather than running outside, giving instructions to the fire brigade.
Principles of construction
Let us distract from the construction of the fireplace on the second floor and consider any available options. These heating systems have developed over the centuries, but during all this time they have not been able to change the principle of operation, as a result,and remained devices with low efficiency and high fuel consumption.
The concept of the fireplace
Any fireplace is designed to burn fuel, while receiving heat, and bring to the street combustion products with the least inconvenience for those who are inside the room. The result of evolution was a few typical solutions.
The main options for placing fireplaces
- Option A - built into the wall. This construction for implementation requires study even at the design stage of a building, therefore it is completely inappropriate as an option to refine an existing house.
- Option B - a fireplace near the wall. It can be done in an existing building, its advantages are a fairly large area of heat radiating surface, which allows not only to enjoy the beauty of burning wood, but also to get practical benefits from the comfortable temperature in the room.
- Option B - Corner fireplace. A special case, located not at one, but at once at two walls. In this regard, it is more economical in construction, but for the same reason it has a smaller heating area.
- Option G - island fireplace.It can be located in the very center of the room; in fact, it is an old kind hearth of a primitive person in a modern envelope.
Before you start building a fireplace, you must calculate its size. There are proven techniques to do this.
Fireplace dimensions
Firebox and its features
The size of the fireplace is directly dependent on the area of the heated room, and the size of the firebox should be approximately one-fifty the area of the room. For example, let's take its area equal to 25 m2, the area of the furnace in this case is 0.5 m2. On this basis, we find the other sizes. The ratio of height to width is usually taken 2/3. Solve the problem for the 4th grade:
A / B = 3/2
A = 3V / 2
S = AB = 3B2 / 2 = 0.5 m2
B2 = 1/3 m2
B = 58 cm, A = 87 cm.
Check: 0.58 x 0.87 = 0.5046 m2, everything is correct.
So, we know the dimensions of the furnace, we can go further. The depth of the fireplace C should be equal to two thirds of the height found B, in our case we get 58 / 3x2 = 39 cm. This parameter is very important. If you make the furnace too deep, almost all the heat will go down the chimney, and the depth will be too small, the smoke will go into the room.
Starting from one third of the height of the firebox, the slope of the rear wall should begin, at an angle of approximately 20 degrees.In the drawing, this parameter is indicated by the letter L, and in our example it is 58/3 = 19 cm.
Sometimes make fireplaces with a closed firebox, but in this case, the fireplace turns into a kind of stove. For them, they try to purchase ready-made doors with dimensions as close as possible to the calculated ones.
Chimney
In order for the firewood in the fireplace to burn, pleasing the eye, and not smoke, two conditions must be met: the access of oxygen and the removal of combustion products. As a rule, the air enters the furnace directly from the room, this is natural ventilation, it does not require any special costs. However, if the power of the fireplace is large, and the room has few gaps and openings, it is possible to smoke and, in some cases, even reverse thrust, when the air, instead of going out through the pipe, begins to flow through it from the street. To avoid such situations, duct ventilation is used. To do this, a special duct is made, which is held in the furnace directly from the street.
The size of the chimney depends on the power of the fireplace. The height of the pipe should not be less than five meters. If the length of the chimney exceeds 10 meters, the draft can become so large that all the heat simply “flies into the chimney” in the most direct sense.To avoid this, artificial bending and the use of special valves are resorted to. The cross-sectional area of the chimney should be less than 10-12 times the area of the firebox.
The fireplace works in conditions of high temperatures, so its laying is carried out from a special brick. Red Kiln brick can withstand temperatures up to 1000 degrees Celsius.
Kiln brick
When laying a fireplace, it is necessary to take into account that in the process of heating solids (in our case, bricks) have the properties to expand and, as a result, ordinary mortar cannot be used. Due to the different coefficient of expansion of clay and cement, such masonry will crack and will be completely destroyed in the future. Making a real kiln solution requires special knowledge and materials that are not always available, so it makes sense for an amateur beginner to purchase ready-made dry mixes.
Additional elements
The construction of the fireplace will require not only bricks and mortar, but also other components that will have to be purchased or ordered.
Additional equipment for the fireplace
Here is something without which it will be impossible to do:
- Ashpot - slag collection tray.
- The grate - provides access of air to burning firewood, not allowing them to fall down.
- Gate valve - a special device that is placed in the chimney to regulate the thrust.
- Drawings and diagrams
- The scheme of the fireplace
- Masonry layout
- Fireplace with a rough pipe.
- Drawing of a corner fireplace
Location Rules and Requirements
The podium in front of the fireplace should be at least 50 cm wide, and the ledges on the sides of 20-30 cm. Do not place the fireplace in the path of movement of people, the distance from the edge of the fireplace to the end of the wall should be at least one meter.
Electric fireplace device
The use of electric heaters, stylized fireplace, helps to transform the interior, to avoid the negative features of their wood counterparts. Elektrokamin not chadit, does not require the construction of bulky chimneys, does not require wood and coal. His device is quite simple. In fact, this is a common heating element that converts electrical energy into thermal radiation. Using modern materials, you can create fairly elegant designs at no extra cost.
Interesting solutions in the interior
The construction of the fireplace in the house gives an extraordinary space for the flight of fantasy.It can not be limited in any case, but you can see samples, examples of how this structure can be placed in the house.