tuliviki continued....

Several people wanted an update on my situation

In summary, I have a TU1000 Tuliviki soap stone stove - It cost 10k, plus installation. My house is on open area house with 3 different levels and over 55 windows and skylights. I cannot install a stove on the lowest area as it has no outside walls. The stove is on the mid level. The majority of my time is spent on the highest level, which has the most square footage. From the lowest level to the highest ceiling is 30 feet - again open.


I finally spoke with a tuliviki installer and here was his thoughts - The stoves are designed to heat the areas on which they are installed. It was installed on the wrong level. (With the foundation that was required, the prior owner could not have installed it on the main level. He suggested I burn the stove hotter. You cannot continually burn a fire is these stoves. I burned a hotter stove during the past cold snap. On the nights it was 12 degrees or below, the stove could not heat the house warmer than 62 degrees, when it's cloudy it cannot heat the house warmer than 62 degrees. if the sun is out, then I heat the house to 73 degrees. On cloudy days, I have to run electric base board heat $$$$$$$

I also found out that the stove had "extensions" added to create more height. The installer said adding additional stove won't solve the problem since I'm trying to heat an area that's above the stove.

Ultimately, the stoves are meant to radiate the heat to the area where the stove is. I think the prior owner thought that the heat would rise to the level above (there is no wall between the middle and upper levels, just a 4 foot wall.

Anyway, I've come to the conclusion that I will be selling the stove once I get over the fact that's it's a beautiful stove. Still, the bottom line is I need a higher BPU or more wall space to install another wood stove.


Thanks for all the comments.

It's hard to describe my house. Every guest who has visited my house are amazed of the layout. Every where you look you see trees, a distant lake during the winter, or a stream along the house. Unfortunately, I have two outside walls on the main level - one is a kitchen and the other is a big sliding glass door with a wall heat pump next to it.

On a more positive note, the prior owner installed steel shutters on on the ground level and doors. I have three oversize sliding glass doors - two of which are on the same level as the stove. By closing them, I've cut down on the negative heating effect of the two doors.

I'll think about it, as I don't want to sell the stove, but as my daughter and wife say, the room with the stove is unusable - too hot.

I am looking for higher a bpu. My neighbors' heat their whole house with coal and pellet - not sure if that's the anwser. I'm hoping that a higher BPU produce by a blower will allow the hot air up to the highest level. The stove works by radiant heat. Since you cannot "see" the stove from the upper level, it does not have the radiant heat effect. I get the best heating on the uppler level when there is a fire in the stove.

Ultimately, I'm trying to push 300 degrees by the end of the burn, but the stove overall temperature is not supposed to exceed 300 and average 200 degrees when I am not burning wood. That just doesn't seem hot enough to heat the upper level.

yes, I have seen that video. I pretty much burn the same way.

I admit you never have to clean your flue with these stoves.

A tuliviki stove is the most efficient stove available. You burn one or two loads of wood 1-4 hours of burn time. The stone retains the heat for 18-24 hours - after the fire dies. Once you've had a couple of days of fires, you want to have the stove maintain an external temperature of 200 degrees. When it drops below, you will want to have another burn. Heat does rise, but according to the manufacture and the installer, it is radiant heat, which means all surfaces must have direct sight contact to heat.

I do use fans - per the original installers design. The original installer also told me that the stove was undersized for what the prior owner was trying to accomplish. The prior owner did things based on status and expense.

Don't forget, a tuliviki stove does not work like regular stoves. It's designed to heat the surfaces of items exposed to it, not generate high BPUs.

Here is the layout. Sorry I can't do much better with drawing. It's not my career. Measurements are wall to wall. I'm not looking to heat bedrooms on main floor. We like it cold. Just looking to heat main dining area and kitchen area. As you can see, not much room for placing a new stove in the middle of any of the rooms.