Author Archive for FireLover
Electric Greenhouse Heaters
As you probably know, an electric fireplace is essentially an electric heater, and is typically on the smaller side is usually portable. Because of this almost any portable heater, if it has an open flame, is something that can be considered an electric fireplace.
A few hours ago, I successfully purchased a new website where I’ll be talking about cheap greenhouses. I’m excited about this. The reason I’m writing about this here is because I just put together a special page on electric greenhouse heaters. This page goes through the different ways you can utilize to acquire an electric greenhouse heater of your own.
This is just a quick note for anyone who might have the need for one of those heaters, rather than a traditional looking electric fireplace.
Popularity: 2% [?]
A Short History of the Electric Fireplace Heater
Fire was first brought inside human habitats in the form of a fire pit, located in the center of the floor of the dwelling. In the 12th century, primarily as a concession to two-story wooden structures, the location of fires was moved to the outside walls of buildings and the chimney was created to allow smoke to rise rather than enter the house. In 1796, Count Rumford designed a shallower, taller fireplace, which allowed the chimney to be brought inside the walls, resulting in the present-day fireplace design.
Following World War II, with the building of many multiple unit dwellings in both Europe and America, fireplaces were mostly replaced by either central heating or room heaters, fueled either by gas or electricity. Although gas fireplaces were used as long ago as the 18th century in Europe, electric fireplaces are a more recent invention.
In Europe, Walter W. Guy invented an “electric fireplace,” in 1928, although it was never produced commercially and Adolph Mungo in Germany developed a “fireplace flame simulating device,” in 1941, subsequently patented in the U.S. But it wasn’t until Harold J. Webber took out his patent for a “flickering effect light controller,” in the U.S. in 1979 that companies in a position to manufacture such a device became interested.
Webber based his invention upon previous research by others in the 1970’s on electronic flicker effects for candles, on an electronic metronome for timing flicker pulses and a device patented by Bergeson and Fuller in 1977 for an “apparatus for simulating the light produced by fire.” Weber’s invention became the source for the first commercial application of simulated fire technology in the Optiflame design produced in 1988, by the North American branch of the Irish firm, Dimplex.
The electric fireplace has come a long way from the original Dimplex design and Weber’s simple invention. Weber had included a “popping acoustical sound translator” in his device and in 1994 Berghoff and Hendrick developed a sound system that could duplicate the crackling logs of a real fire and could be used with either gas or electric fireplaces.
Modern electric fireplaces are available from over a dozen manufacturers and may be wall mounted, inserted into existing fireplace structures or be free-standing and include a frame, mantel and hearth composed of any of a multitude of materials. They offer simulated flames, sound effects and most recently, simulated smoke from atomized water droplets.
Popularity: 4% [?]