Before you continue to read on you must know what a fireplace actually is. A fireplace is an architectural structure that is made for contain fire to be used for heating and even used as cooking historically. The fire is contained by the fire pit, a chimney or other particulate exhaust and flue direct gas to escape. Most households have this as they find the crackling sounds and even the flame itself soothing.
When you go and look for a fireplace you would sometimes see a fireplace for sale made from different materials, now most people would think that the only difference between these fireplaces is that some look better than others and would also cost more. You must come to realize that this is not true. In fact some fireplaces might be more hazardous for you than you realize.
Now there are actually two main types of fireplace and that is what we call the fireplace type and the other is the chimney type, these two are further broken down into more types typically the masonry, prefab and ventless for fireplaces, and masonry, reinforced concrete and metal-lined flue for chimneys.
Let's now talk about the difference between the three types of fireplace. A masonry fireplace is the most common type of fireplace, this type of fireplace is what you would normally see in old movies and such. Prefab fireplace are fireplaces with sheet metal fire boxes. Finally the ventless fireplaces, these types of fireplace are fueled by natural gas, ether gel or LP / Bottled gas. You should also take note that there are some states and even local counties which have laws and ordinances in regard to these types of fireplaces. Ventless fireplaces also require the least installation while also being the most efficient. In fact if you test out the gas burning version of a vent free fireplace you will find out that it actually uses far less fuel, while also being close to 100% fuel efficient. You should also know that the masonry fireplace and the prefab fireplace can use wood, biomass, propane or natural gases as its source of fuel.
Now for the three types of chimneys, the masonry chimney is very much the same as its fireplace counterpart, however if the chimney does not use reinforced masonry it will be susceptible to earthquakes. A reinforced chimney is now rare as it has been discontinued due to the safety hazards it produces. Finally the metal-lined flue chimney which uses double or even triple walled metal pipes that run inside a new or already existing wood framed or masonry chase.