Count Rumford, for whom the fireplace was named, was born Benjamin Thompson in Wobrun, Massachusetts in 1753. He spent much of his life as a high ranking official of the Bavarian government where he received his title, Count Rumford. Rumford is primarily known for the work he did on the nature of heat. Rumford wrote two essays detailing his improvements on fireplaces. He was well known and widely read in his lifetime and in the 1790's his "Rumford Fireplace" become state of the art worlwide. Rumford thought that fireplaces should be a lot smaller than they were in England in teh 18th century. He also knew from his study of heat that if the fireplace is shallow and the coving are angled a maximum of 135 degrees to the back wall, the fireplace would reflect more heat into the room.

Article by Jim Buckley