[deMolay]

This design was invented by the Roman's. It works my neighbor has one in his loghome. Here in Northern Alberta it can get 50/60 below 0.F, he uses about 3/4 pickup loads of wood each winter. You only burn a fire every 2/3 days. Labor intensive to build but no moving parts. http://www.timelyconstruction.com/Mason ... ussian.htm

[Specop_007]

Dear God, couldnt they have made it a bit more visually appealing??

[deMolay]

OK here is some more info with some better pictures and a drawing of internals. http://www.hollowtop.com/cls_html/do-it ... stoves.htm

[Curmudgicus]

Check out www.biofire.com. They make a German version of the Russian stove called a Kachelofen. You can get them tiled or stuccoed.

Also, Tulikivi's soapstone ovens are essentially Russian stoves as well.

[cornholio]

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl= ... D%26sa%3DN

a link to others that aren't quite so ugly... : )

[skyemoor]

The important criteria concerning these stoves is;

- Mass: the more mass, the greater thermal storage capacity, and to some extent, storage time. Some of the smaller stoves don't have much (i.e., Tulikivis I have seen)

- Flue configuration: The flue must zigzag back and forth across the thermal mass's surface area in order to efficiency exchange heat. Again, IMO many pre-fabricated stoves don't have enough heat exchange area.

These Masonry Heaters need to be placed in the center of activity areas, as they radiate heat, instead of heating the air.

Much more information can be found at;
http://www.mha-net.org/

[Triffin]

Has anyone integrated a hydronic heating system
with one of these masonry stoves ?? You could run
your piping in the flue system when you built the stove ..
add water and a small circulating pump and you
get domestic hot water and space heating ..

Triff ..

[DR_STU]

I see in the second link that the design allows for cleanout of each area where the flue gas passes back and forth through the fireplace. This is important as any type of wood burning appliance that tries to extract heat from the flue gas is going to build up creosote, which will lead to chimney/flue fires. This would be especially critical for fireplaces/stoves that do not have a secondary combustion area where the flue gas can be combusted prior to leaving - this secondary combustion reduces the number of condensable flue gasses and gets you more energy per unit of wood. Also, as creosote builds up it creates a significant barrier to thermal transfer of heat, reducing the effectiveness of such an appliance.

So you have to balance the need to get as much heat as possible from burning wood with the risk of creating a chimney fire hazard. If the chimney and flue areas are cleaned regularly then fine, if not you're asking for trouble.

[Caoimhan]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('DR_STU', 'I') see in the second link that the design allows for cleanout of each area where the flue gas passes back and forth through the fireplace. This is important as any type of wood burning appliance that tries to extract heat from the flue gas is going to build up creosote, which will lead to chimney/flue fires. This would be especially critical for fireplaces/stoves that do not have a secondary combustion area where the flue gas can be combusted prior to leaving - this secondary combustion reduces the number of condensable flue gasses and gets you more energy per unit of wood. Also, as creosote builds up it creates a significant barrier to thermal transfer of heat, reducing the effectiveness of such an appliance.

So you have to balance the need to get as much heat as possible from burning wood with the risk of creating a chimney fire hazard. If the chimney and flue areas are cleaned regularly then fine, if not you're asking for trouble.

[Curmudgicus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Triffin', 'H')as anyone integrated a hydronic heating system
with one of these masonry stoves ?? You could run
your piping in the flue system when you built the stove ..
add water and a small circulating pump and you
get domestic hot water and space heating ..

Triff ..

[DR_STU]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Caoimhan', 'N')aturally, if you use very green or sappy wood, you're not going to get a fast enough burn, but I know from personal experience that 1" diameter dry kindling in a paper grocery bag will keep a large home with an open floorplan nice and toasty all night long in Wisconsin in January.

[Caoimhan]

I think most of the time, if it's the original builder living in the home, they made a careful choice to install a masonry heater, and understand how it is meant to be used.

When the home is resold, the new owners may not be so knowledgeable. I can just see their faces when they burn 5 hours of wood one evening, and the house becomes 100 degrees around 2 AM.