Rumford Fireplaces - THEN and NOW, Part II, The Dynamics of the Rumford Fireplace

Rumford Fireplaces - THEN and NOW, Part II

The Dynamics Of The Rumford Fireplace


In conventional fireplaces, most of the air heated by the fire mixes with smoke and is drawn up the chimney, making them inefficient, wasteful, and unclean burning.

In the late 1700s, Count Rumford conducted a serious study of fireplaces. Count Rumford was the first to understand that the only effective and useful heat generated by a fireplace was radiant heat. So, to radiate as much heat out into the room as possible, he utilized the knowledge gained from his studies and experiments to make a very shallow fireplace with a tall and wide opening. He designed it with widely splayed sides, also referred to as copings or jambs. This reflected a much greater amount of radiant heat into the room in a larger arc than a conventional fireplace.

Conventional .................................................Rumford





Although Rumford’s new fireplace design generated much more radiant heat, it also produced a large amount of smoke. To eliminate this smoking problem, Rumford turned his attention from thermodynamics to aerodynamics. He developed a radical new smooth, streamlined throat that would become a vital component of his new Rumford fireplace design. This Rumford throat captures all the products produced by combustion and guides them smoothly and without turbulence up the chimney. Also, because of its streamlined design and efficiency, it also greatly reduces the amount of warm air lost up the chimney.



The tall firebox and streamlined throat have an additional beneficial effect which Count Rumford probably never realized. By keeping the smoke at a higher temperature for a longer time, more polluting particulate is burned, making Rumford fireplaces one of the few clean-burning masonry fireplaces. Rumfords have been laboratory tested and meet wood-burning appliance emission regulations


I hope that this article has led to a better understanding of how and why the Rumford fireplace works so efficiently.


Please visit my website at http://oldeworldebuilders.com/ for more information on Rumford Fireplaces.

Also, learn more about the Rumford fireplace from the expert’s expert, Jim Buckley at http://rumford.com/


Thank you for reading this blog. I guess it’s pretty obvious that I am passionate about the heating efficiency and environmental friendliness of the Rumford fireplace.


I would appreciate hearing about your experiences as well as your opinions regarding Rumford fireplaces.


Please leave a post with any questions you may have about Rumford fireplaces and I will do my best to answer them.


Builder Man (Tony)