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Early stoves in Western world
Stove manufacture in Senegal.In Europe, the history of the kitchen stove begins in
earnest in the 18th century. Before that time, people cooked over open fires fuelled by
wood, which first were on the floor or on low masonry constructions. In the Middle
Ages, waist-high brick-and-mortar hearths and the first chimneys appeared, so that
cooks no longer had to kneel or sit to tend to foods on the fire. The fire was built on
top of the construction; the space underneath was used to store and dry wood.
Cooking was done mainly in cauldrons hung above the fire or placed on trivets. The
heat was regulated by placing the cauldron higher or lower above the fire.
Open fire has three major disadvantages that prompted inventors even in the 16th
century to devise improvements: it is dangerous, it produces much smoke, and the
heat efficiency is poor. Attempts were made to enclose the fire to make better use of
the heat that it generated and thus reduce the wood consumption. A first step was the
fire chamber: the fire was enclosed on three sides by brick-and-mortar walls and
covered by an iron plate. This technique also caused a change in the kitchenware used
for cooking, for it required flat-bottomed pots instead of cauldrons. Only in 1735 did
the first design that completely enclosed the fire appear: the Castrol stove of the
French architect Franois Cuvillis was a masonry construction with several fire holes
covered by perforated iron plates. It is also known as a stew stove. Near the end of the
18th century, the design was refined by hanging the pots in holes through the top iron
plate, thus improving heat efficiency even more.

Early stoves in Asia

Raised kamadoChinese and Japanese civilizations had discovered the principle of the
closed stove much earlier. Already from the Chinese Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 206/207
BC), clay stoves that enclosed the fire completely are known, and a similar design
known as kamado () appeared in the Kofun period (3rd - 6th century) in Japan.
These stoves were fired by wood or charcoal through a hole in the front. In both
designs, pots were placed over or hung into holes at the top of the knee-high
construction. Raised kamados were developed in Japan during the Edo period (1603 1867).

Wood stoves (metal stoves, masonry stoves)

Fire in the home stove .Although a good source of light before lamps, an open
fireplace is a very inefficient form of heat for two reasons. First, in order to prevent
air, and therefore smoke, from spilling back into the room you need a large updraft
pulling air (and therefore heat) out the chimney. This both pulls heat away and pulls
air from the rest of the house into the fire and then up the chimney. A fireplace

consumes 200 to 600 cubic feet of air per minute, more for a very large fire. A mostly
closed off fireplace, for example a modern fireplace with glass doors closed will use
50-150 cubic feet per minute. High airflow creates a draft which pulls heated air out
of the house to be replaced with cold air leaking in from the outside. Second, in an
open fire some of the combustible gas coming off the wood escapes does not ignite
and is lost. To resolve these problems masonry heaters were developed, then metal
stoves came into use in the 18th century.
An early, and famous, example of a metal stove is the Franklin stove, a wood burning
stove said to have been invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1742. It had a labyrinthine
path for hot exhaust gases to escape, thus allowing heat to enter the room instead of
going up the chimney. The Franklin stove, however, was designed for heating, not for
cooking. Benjamin Thompson at the turn to the 19th century was among the first to
present a working metal kitchen stove. His Rumford stove used one fire to heat
several pots that were also hung into holes so that they could be heated from the sides,
too. It was even possible to regulate the heat individually for each hole. His stove was
designed for large canteen or castle kitchens, though. It would take another 30 years
until the technology had been refined and the size of the iron stove been reduced
enough for domestic use. Stewart's Oberlin stove was a much more compact metal
stove, patented in the U.S. in 1834. It became a huge commercial success with some
90,000 units sold in the next 30 years. In Europe, similar designs also appeared in the
1830s. In the following years, these iron stoves evolved into veritable cooking
machines with flue pipes connected to the chimney, oven holes, and installations for
heating water. The originally open holes into which the pots were hung were now
covered with concentric iron rings on which the pots were placed. Depending on the
size of the pot or the heat needed, one could remove the inner rings.
By controlling the inflow of air to allow only what a fire needs to burn, metal stoves
reduce the consumption of air to a mere 15-30 cubic feet per minute (this figure is for
a modern stoves. All metal stoves operate on the principle of controlled air flow but
their consumption will vary).
Modern wood stoves also increase the completeness of combustion. More expensive
stoves use a catalytic converter which causes the gas and smoke particles not actually
burned to combust. Other models use a design that includes firebox insulation, a large
baffle to produce a longer, hotter gas flow path and pre-heating the air prior to its
entering the combustion chamber.
A masonry heater is designed to allow complete combustion by burning fuels at fulltemperature with no restriction of air inflow. Because the firebox is masonry (not
metal) the burn temperature can increase to the point where secondary and complete
combustion of the fuel takes place. These heaters capture most of the heat from the
combustion and exhaust through an extended system of flues inside a large thermal
mass before the exhaust is vented to the outside air. A properly fired masonry heater
has little or no particulate pollution in the exhaust and does not contribute to the
buildup of creosote in the heater flues or the chimney. Due to its large thermal mass
the captured heat is radiated over long periods of time without the need of constant
firing, and the surface temperature is generally not dangerous to touch.

In the US, the EPA created stricter emissions standards in the late 1980s. Maximum
smoke output is limited to 7.5 grams per hour and some stoves achieve as little as 1 to
4 grams per hour. Put differently, this is roughly 90% less smoke than older stoves,
which equates to nearly zero visible smoke from the chimney. This is largely achieved
through causing the most possible material to combust, which results in a net
efficiency of 60 to 70% as contrasted to zero to 30% for a fireplace. (net efficiency is
the amount of heat energy transferred to the room compared to the amount contained
in the wood, minus any amount central heating must work to compensate for the
airflow problems described elsewhere in this article.)
Modern enclosed stoves are often built with a window to let out some light and to
enable the user to view progress of the fire. Glass or semi-translucent manufactured
mica are common window materials.

Gas and electric stoves

Many stoves use natural gas to provide heat.All previous stoves were fueled by wood
(or other biofuel), charcoal, or coal. The first gas stoves were developed already in the
1820s, but these remained isolated experiments. (James Sharp in Northampton,
England, patented a gas stove in 1826 and opened a gas stove factory in 1836.) At the
World Fair in London in 1851, a gas stove was shown, but only in the 1880s did this
technology start to become a commercial success. The main factor for this delay was
the slow growth of the gas pipe network. The first gas stoves were rather unwieldy,
but soon the oven was integrated into the base and the size reduced to fit in better with
the rest of the kitchen furniture. In the 1910s, producers started to enamel their gas
stoves for easier cleaning. A high-end gas stove called the AGA cooker was invented
in 1922 by Swedish Nobel prize winner Gustaf Daln. It is considered to be the most
efficient design and is a much sought after kitchen "must have" in certain circles
despite the hefty price tag.
The AGA, and similar products such as the Rayburn Range are examples of alwayson stoves which continue to burn fuel even when cooking is not being performed.
Stoves (or ranges as they are also known) such as these are often used instead of
boilers or furnaces to supply hot water and central heating to the rest of the house.
Thomas Ahearn invented the electric cooking range in 1892 and installed one in the
Windsor Hotel in Montreal. The electric stove was showcased at the Chicago World's
Fair in 1893, where an electrified model kitchen was shown. But like the gas stove,
the electrical stove had a slow start, partly due to the unstable technology, and partly
because first cities and town needed to be electrified. By the 1930s, the technology
had matured and the electrical stove started to slowly replace the gas stove, especially
in domestic kitchens.
The electrical stove technology has developed in several successive generations:
The first technology used resistor heating coils which heated iron hotplates, on top of
which the pots were placed. Though the technology is slowly fading into
obsolescence, coil ranges still provide the best durability out of all electric cook top
implementations.

In the 1970s, glass-ceramic cook tops started to appear. Glass-ceramic has a very low
heat conduction coefficient, but lets infrared radiation pass very well. Electrical
heating coils or infrared halogen lamps are used as heating elements. Because of its
physical characteristics, the cook top heats quicker, there is less after heat, and only
the plate heats up while the adjacent surface remains cool. Also, these cook tops have
a smooth surface and are thus easier to clean, but they only work with flat-bottomed
cookware and are markedly more expensive.
A third technology, developed first for professional kitchens, but today also entering
the domestic market are induction stoves. These heat the cookware directly through
electromagnetic induction and thus require pots and pans with ferromagnetic bottoms.
Induction stoves also often have a glass-ceramic surface.
The iron hotplate technology is still in widespread use, although newly equipped
kitchens nowadays usually get a stove using one of the later technologies.
Electrical oven technology has also advanced: in the convection oven, a stream of hot
air is used for heating food instead of the heat produced by coils directly as in a
conventional electrical oven.
Gas and electric stoves are the most common today in western countries. Both are
equally mature and safe, and the choice between the two is largely a matter of
personal preference and pre-existing utility outlets: if a house has no gas supply,
adding one just to be able to run a gas stove is an expensive endeavour. In particular,
professional chefs often prefer gas cooktop's, for they allow them to control the heat
more finely and more quickly. On the other hand, chefs often prefer electric ovens
because they tend to heat food more evenly. Today's major brands offer both gas and
electric stoves, and many also offer dual-fuel stoves combining gas cooktops and
electric ovens.

Modern corn, pellet or biofuel stove

Main article: Corn and pellet stoves and furnaces
A corn stove is a type of pellet stove which is a type of biofuel stove. The shelled dry
kernel of corn, also called a corn pellet, creates as much heat as a wood pellet but
generates more ash. "Corn pellet stoves and wood pellet stoves look the same from
the outside. Since they are highly efficient, they don't need a chimney; instead they
can be vented outdoors by a four-inch pipe through an outside wall and so can be
located in any room in the home." Encyclopedia of Alternative Energy
A pellet stove uses small, biological fuel pellets which are renewable and very cleanburning. Home heating using a pellet stove is an alternative currently used throughout
the world, with rapid growth in Europe. The pellets are made of renewable material typically wood sawdust or off-cuts. There are currently more than half a million
homes in North America using pellet stoves for heat, and probably a similar number
in Europe. The pellet stove typically uses a feed screw to transfer pellets from a
storage hopper to a combustion chamber. Air is provided for the combustion by an
electric blower. The ignition is automatic, using a stream of air heated by an electrical
element. The rotation speed of the feeder and the fan speeds can be varied to modulate
the heat output.

The fireplace
In many places, coal, wood or peat burning fires are being replaced by cleaner and
often safer natural gas and electric systems. Some governmental agencies have placed
a partial ban on solid fuel burning fireplaces based upon air pollution concerns. Gas
fireplaces very often burn off a small amount of their fuel in a flickering display
meant to recall that of a wood fire. Alternatively, flame-shaped paper streamers wave
vertically in the air, held up by the updraft produced by a heating element.
Wood-burning fireplace with burning log. Some other logs are drying and heating up
around the fire so they'll burn better.Many lower priced new homes are not equipped
with a fireplace at all, its heating function long since taken over by central heating and
its social function by the home entertainment center. Some fireplaces have been
closed off not allowing them to be used, either the top of the chimney has a concrete
slab installed over it or the bottom has had a board nailed to it. This is so the fireplace
doesn't suck out warm air. Prefab fireplaces have become popular because of their
lower construction cost but offer a limited range of sizes and styles. Brick or stone
fireplaces have greater durability and can be designed to meet exact specifications for
opening size, depth, and facing material. They also cost significantly more to
construct.
A fireplace may consist of some or all of the following elements: foundation, hearth,
firebox, facing, ashdump door, chimney crane, cleanout door, grate or iron bars, lintel,
lintel bar, over mantle, breast, damper, smoke chamber, throat, flue, chimney chase,
crown, cap or shroud, and spark arrestor.

Types of fireplaces include:

Masonry (brick or stone fireplaces and chimneys) with or without tile lined flue. Tiles
are used to line the flue to keep the corrosive combustion products from eating away
the chimney flue lining. Unreinforced masonry chimney do not stand up to
earthquakes well.
Reinforced Concrete Chimneys: Popular during the 1970s to 1980s. Fundamental
flaws (the difference in thermal expansion rates between steel rebar and concrete
which caused the chimney flues to crack when heated) bankrupted the US
manufacturers and obsoleted the technique. This type of chimney often shows vertical
cracks on the exterior of the chimney which worsen as the internal rebar rusts.
Manufactured or 'Prefab' fireplace with sheet metal fire box and double or triple
walled metal pipe running up inside a wood framed chase with a chase cover and
cap/spark arrestor at the top to keep birds out and sparks in. Within about one hundred
meters from salt water this type of chimney is subject to rusting. Otherwise it's
competitive to the masonry chimney.

Fireplace tools and Accessories

Fireplace with grate.here are a range of accessories used with fireplaces. For the
interior firepit, the most common are grates, log boxes, and irons and firedogs, all of
which are used to cradle the fuel and accelerate burning. For the exterior adornment
and fireplace tending function, there are fireplace tools including poker, bellows,
tongs, shovel, brush and tool stand. Current versions of all these devices are available,
but there are extant accessories manufactured in Europe which date at least as early as
1550 AD.

http://www.housenotsobeautiful.com/Articles/stove.html
The Carpenter Electric Heating Manufacturing Company invented an electric stove in 1891.
On June 30,1896, William Hadaway was issued the very first patent for one. He went on to
design the first toaster in 1910, a horizontal combination toastercooker manufactured by
Westinghouse. Due to the long integration of electricity supplies and the high initial expense,
it took some time for these stoves to be common among households. It was not until the late
1920s that electric stoves began to compete with gas stoves. They became more popular
because they were easier to clean, cheaper, more efficient to use and had automatic
temperature controls. In some ways, the electric stove took the craftsmanship out of cooking,
making saving time and money more important than a meal lovingly and painstakingly
prepared.
British inventor, James Sharp patented a gas stove in 1826, which was the first of its kind to
appear on the market. By the 1920s, they were found in most households for they solved the
problem of both cleanliness and space at the same time. It was usually in the form of a
windowed, vertical cylinder made of thin steel. It could have up to four burners and sometimes
contained an oven as well. Its one disadvantage (and fortunately this occurred before the age
of television) was that the flames on the burners had to be watched very closely. (Hard to do
when you are watching your favorite show.) If the flames suddenly turned from blue to red and
yellow, the room would soon fill up with black smoke, leave a residue on everything it came
into contact with and, generally speaking, make it a good idea for whoever lived there to think
about moving.
Gas stoves were also costly and this meant that the house had to be heated by other means.
Its increased expense also made it more practical to cook quick, already prepared meals
(enter almost the frozen /TV dinner). It was still a preferred invention, however, due to the fact
that gas stoves offered an infinite variety of flame sizes and temperatures.