A short history of smoking chimneys

Smoking and poor performing chimneys have been a problem for many thousands of years. Early cave dwellers didn't even have chimneys, they simply let the smoke rise to the top of the cave and find it's way out. We can only imagine what type of odor problems they had in their homes!

Fast forward to Americans colonial times, and our most famous and industrious citizen, Mr. Benjamin Franklin. Mr. Franklin was perplexed by the fact that most fireplaces poured smoke into the living quarters and therefore took to studying the problem and possible solutions. In 1787, he published a document called "Observations on the Causes and Cure of Smoky Chimneys" which, as the title implies, attempted to explain the problem and possible solutions. Among his many words or wisdom were the following:
“ . . . smoke is really heavier than air; and that it is carried upwards only when attached to, or acted upon, by air that is heated, and thereby rarefied and rendered specifically lighter than the air in its neighborhood.” In other words, what Mr. Franklin found out was that chimneys which kept the smoke warm were most likely to draft better.

A good friend of Mr. Franklins, named Count Rumford, also contributed much to modern fireplace design by figuring out the relationship between flue size and fireplace size. His calculations are still used today. You can find out more about Rumford fireplaces at http://www.rumford.com.

Houses in colonial days had no insulation, and the windows and doors lacked weather stripping. As a result, small amounts of smoke leaking into a home were hardly noticed due to the vast amounts of fresh air constantly entering.

In the late 1800's coal became the primary fuel for home heating and fireplaces were used much less. Poor chimneys now posed an even larger problem - the backup and spillage of coal fumes (carbon monoxide) killed hundreds each year. Chimney technology improved in order to try and solve this problem. Flue liners and even poured insulation around flues became common during this time.

In the early 1900's, oil and gas started to replace coal as the primary home heating fuel. By 1940 the transformation was nearly complete, and the building of proper masonry fireplaces became somewhat of a lost art. The oil shocks and energy crisis of the 1970's revived the burning of wood, and millions of Americans rediscovered their fireplaces. Countless others installed free standing wood and coal stoves into masonry chimneys. However, they soon found out that many chimneys were not up to snuff. As a result, an entire industry was born to supply enhancement, improvements and safety measures to masonry chimneys. The most common enhancements are:
Chimney Liners
Chimney Caps
Top Sealing Dampers
Draft Inducing Fans
and now......Extend-a-Flue™

If you have questions about our company or our product line, please contact us at bcholloway@att.net

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