Benjamin franklin stove cartoon

Type of fireplace

The Franklin stove is a metal-lined fireplace named after Benjamin Franklin, who invented it in ^[1] It had a hollow baffle near the rear (to transfer more heat from the fire to a room's air) and relied on an "inverted siphon" to draw the fire's hot fumes around the baffle.^[2] It was intended to produce more heat and less smoke than an ordinary open fireplace, but it achieved few sales until it was improved by David Rittenhouse.

Benjamin franklin stove cartoon

Benjamin franklin stove cartoon

Benjamin franklin bifocals

Benjamin franklin stove invention

Benjamin franklin lightning rod

Benjamin franklin bifocal glasses

It is also known as a "circulating stove" or the "Pennsylvania fireplace".

History

The two distinguishing features of Franklin's stove were a hollow baffle (a metal panel that directed the flow of the fire's fumes) and a flue that acted as an upside-down siphon.

Baffles in fireplaces

Baffles were used to lengthen the path that either a room's air or a fire's fumes had to flow through ductwork, thereby allowing more heat to be transferred to the room's air temperatures or from the fire's