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Franklin Stove

The Franklin stove is one of Benjamin Franklin's numerous inventions. Although not as well-known as some of his other accomplishments such as the lightening rod, the postal system, or of course, some of the ideas in our founding documents, its a big deal to people with home heaters! Its really the forefather of modern wood stoves.

In the 1700s, most homes used hearths ,fireplaces, or even open firepits for heat. These setups, while simple, are incredibly inefficient for heating purposes. In addition, because most of the houses back then were made entirely of wood, it was a massive fire hazard. Any spark could light the house up in flames. In addition, these hearths were smoky and hard to control.

Franklin recognized these hazards and inefficiences and set about designing a new stove. He added a front metal closure that prevented sparks and flames from popping out, significantly reducing the fire rish. He also designed an air intake for the back, which kept fires burning hot and a flue system for guiding smoke and waste upwards in a controlled fashion. Sounds simple today, but back then it was revolutionary. Amazingly, Franklin didn't patent the stove and put it out for free to all stove makers. However, the design still bears his name today.

You'll also see this called a circulating stove or a Pennsylvania fireplace.

 

 

 

                                                               
                                              

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