principleswoodburning-blog

[principleswoodburning-blog]

Ever since primitive mankind discovered how to make fire, he or she had to cope with its capricious temper and its tendency to produce choking, life-shortening smoke particles. And even after holes in the roof gave way to chimneys, which cleared the air somewhat, most of the effective heat was still going up in smoke.

It took a surprisingly long time to invent the 'better mousetrap' of fireplace technology by finding a way to enclose the heat and improve combustion.

The Old English word 'stofa' referred to any enclosed space, and then became used as a term for a heated room in an otherwise cold house. It was much more recently that it transmuted into the 'stove' that we know today.

Various inventors have been given the honour of inventing the device but it seems that the first fully-enclosed metal boiler using cast iron plates was made a foundry in Lynn, Mass., USA in 1642.

That boxy design has a direct lineage to what we see today, and other pot-bellied and cylindrical designs were to develop over time.

There was a parallel design trend which kept the open front of conventional fires but sought to make them smokeless and more efficient by forcing a downdraught through the grate or bowl of the fire. Andre Dalesme introduced such a design in France in 1686 and published a fireplace design book that was read by Benjamin Franklin in the USA.

Franklin produced his own design of 'Franklin stove', but it was another open-fronted design and did not sell well although its draught-inducing properties influenced later makers. Despite patriotic American claims on behalf of the great man, he was not the creator of the woodburning stove that we know today. Maybe George Washington was trying to emulate him when he chopped down the cherry tree (whose wood is prized by stove users).

In 1735 another Frenchman, Francois Cuvills, introduced what became known as the 'stew stove', an enclosed design that had a flat top you could heat food on. At the beginning of the 19th century, Benjamin Thompson from the USA created a large stove that doubled as a cooker for big canteens and stately homes. In the 1830s, more compact models emerged that could be used in the average kitchen, such as Philo Stewart's patented US design and others from Europe.

The freestanding metal models are the direct ancestors of those we know today. There was another lineage, deriving from experiments with firebricks that heated up slowly and retained their heat: these are the forebears of the space heater. 18th century models such as the designs of Carl Johan Cronstedt in Sweden had metal fireboxes and complicated flues; today, some stoves have firebrick linings, and in all built-in designs, heat insulating material is used around the machine to fulfil some of the same function.

http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/ http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/blogosphere.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/home-heating-repair.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/estimate-heating-for-home.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/delaware-heating-air-conditioning-713-millcreek-ln.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/heavy-duty-wood-stove.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/troubleshoot-and-repair-gas-heaters.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/mortion-heating-and-cooling-kansas-city.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/center-stove-and-fireplace.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/home-and-hearth-zelienople-pa.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/how-to-replace-dishwasher-heating-coil.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/wood-stove-rebates.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/article_list.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/sitemap.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/feed.xml http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/central-heating-va-beach.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/trane-heating-and-cooling-lowest-rates.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/eilte-heating-air-custom-plumbing.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/dyson-heating.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/parts-for-a-20year-old-crown-6-burner-stove.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/britt-heating-and-air-salado-tx.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/aluminum-bronze-frictional-heating.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/arrow-wood-burning-stoves.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/michigan-heating-cooling-training.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/heritage-wood-stove.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/12v-cooking-stove.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/wilson-plumbing-and-heating.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/looking-for-oil-filled-heaters.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/wood-pellet-central-heating-systems.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/heating-ductwork.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/how-to-bleed-air-baseboard-heating.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/heating-duct-cleaning-brushes.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/roper-cook-stove-1993.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/wolf-stove-repair.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/browns-heating-and-cooling.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/pellet-stove-logs.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/heavy-duty-stove.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/water-heaters-anode-replacement.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/pellet-stove-ballston-spa-ny.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/carrier-15-series-heating-and-air.php http://woodburning.onlinetopservices.com/englander-corn-stove.php