Technical condition:
Depending on the number of floors and the openness of the room, we recommend a screen-to-chimney ratio of 6:1 to 10:1, as well as a fresh air-to-chimney ratio. This achieves the establishment of minimal negative pressure in the space, which establishes the "chimney suction effect".
Choosing a fireplace:
Production is conceived as individual, so unique is a common construction concept. The default size is the screen. The screen area is the product of its width and height. Screen size is not strictly a function of room size. When the fireplace is placed in the middle of the shorter wall of the room, it is dominant and is usually built with a large screen (width 80 and more cm.). In these other positions, it is usually more discreet and integrated into the other elements of the furniture, rarely with screens over 75 cm wide. The starting ratio is the ratio of the surface of the screen to the chimney, which, depending on the number of floors of the building, is 6-10 : 1.
Example:
Fireplace 75 × 50cm=3750cm, with a medium ratio of 7:1, the area of the chimney is 3750:7=550cm, which corresponds approximately to a solid brick chimney 25 × 25cm.
Competition to the chimney can be formed by:
Vertical open spaces in the building - central halls or open staircases can produce unpleasant negative pressures and represent an unfortunate copy of the American house from the warm belt of the USA;
Attic openings -I often witness that an investor installs very high-quality carpentry with perfect sealing, thermo-bridges, and covers the attic opening with improvised covers made of 5 mm hardboard or non-functional hinged a staircase with chronically broken mechanisms that never close, and not only severely cool the building, but also directly compete with the chimney and can cause a nuisance for the fireplace to smoke;
Kitchen hoods and other fans can produce serious negative pressure in the space;
For pub fireplaces, the investor has repeatedly installed powerful exhaust fans, the effectiveness of which cannot be overcome by any chimney.
All these problems can only be solved by harmonizing the system, where the investor presents all the requirements in the form of a project assignment and they are successfully solved with coordination.
Compositional conditions are a particularly important topic.
The most common mistake is the choice and random installation of a fireplace, which does not necessarily have to be unsuccessful, but in a given interior it represents a complete failure.
Mixing of styles – the most common elements of ethno-architecture in the urban environment, with with the unfortunate use of facade brick or rough stone, then some forged steel, some brass stands, some Bavarian facade, some PVC gondolas, and there's a flea market in the middle of the apartment!
Materials that are already present in the interior should appear on the fireplace, up to three colors and three materials, without unnecessary elements, and we will hardly make a mistake.
Opens up a wide area for creative expression of designers with division of tasks into:
- Designing - Refers to external decoration - integrating the fireplace into the interior, which is the task of the architect;
- Construction - Represents solving thermal, static and technological issues, which is our task.
