I’m soon going to be traveling to the Southwest to take a look at a friend’s new apartment, one which contains a fire place built into the corner of his living room. It’s sparked an interest, as it were, in fire places in general, and I’ve begun checking up on what’s available lately, and after seemingly little advancement from Franklin’s cast iron stove over two hundred and fifty years ago, it seems that there are a growing number of accessories that go with these primal sources of home heating.
Recent developments have arisen to take care of several problems. Inside the fire place, we have such things as grates, logboxes, fireguards, firedogs (some of these terms are self-explanatory, such as a fireguard, but I definitely had to look up a firedog: turns out, it’s a much older device than I had anticipated, and it’s used to hold up logs off the ground and inside the hearth, in order to increase air circulation, providing a better fire). Outside the fire place, you’ll find tools that range from pokers to bellows to shovels to tongs, and toolstands.
Fireplace or wood inserts is a device, as the name suggests, that’s inserted directly into the fireplace. Usually, you’ll find these inserts made from steel or cast iron; ones with with glass doors that are self-cleaning are available, which will let the fire-builders watch the fire, while allowing the doors to be closed, using vents to expel the heat, which makes it far more efficient than a regular open fireplace. Lately, it’s the inserts that have shown the most advancement. These things include fans and controlled thermostats, depending on whether it’s wood burning or gas. You’ll find the inserts placed in categories by fuel type, such as wood or coal, pellet or propane, or even natural gas).
I’m wondering if my friend has any of these inserts or additions to his own fireplace, but it seems, as winter approaches, that at the very least a shopping trip to get one of these inserts would be an excellent idea.