Masonry Heater Construction and miscellaneous related seminars

[Cath]

Hey guys, 

I’m not quite sure where to put this due to the potentially diverse areas of interest, so I’ll post it here for now and cross post in DIY and the Green Room. 

I recently contacted the Masonry Heaters Association to express an interest in any seminars they might have in my vicinity.  I also joined their Yahoo Group for laypersons.  I don’t know which of these contacts generated the email I got today but it describes some upcoming Summer seminars out in the N.E. corner of Wa. state “where the Columbia River enters America”.  There is a $50.00 registration fee.  Registration is “by application only”.  I don’t know if the fee is per seminar or not. 

The author of the email refers to construction, which I assume is masonry construction and mentions the use of “appropriate passive solar technology”.  He also mentions “several projects ranging from solar sustainable aqua-culture,
retrofit of existing structures, and some ground up new construction”.
Of additional interest to anyone in the trades is the reference to potential employment opportunities and relationship building (networking).

If I weren’t mortally afraid of managing two toddlers by myself for a week or so I’d take some vacation time and send Craig.  It sounds like something he’d really enjoy.

I think this could be an exciting opportunity for someone in that part of the country.  Or perhaps for someone with some vacation time they need to use.  The author does note that there are B&B;’s, campgrounds, restaurants, cottages, R.V.
parks, etc. in town.

If anyone is interested PM me and I’ll give you the name and email address.  
~Cath


 

[mikeyny]

I have heard that masonry heaters can also act as a big heat sink in passive solar home. The sun comes in through the window wall and heats up the mass. Not always necessary to build a fire.

 

[Cath]

I have heard that masonry heaters can also act as a big heat sink in passive solar home. The sun comes in through the window wall and heats up the mass. Not always necessary to build a fire.

mikeyny,
I hadn't heard that before. What do you do in the Summer? Is it as simple as drawing a curtain?
If so, the only downside is it might be a little dreary.

It occurs to me that I may have wound up on the mailing list in error. I used the MHA "contact us" feature (probably one of several), it didn't have any apparent restrictions or limitations ... and then I found the Laypersons MHA Yahoo Group separately. Shortly after that I got an email from the MHA referring me to the Layperson group.

When I got the email described in my post above there was no link to the Layperson group, which suggests it may have come from the MHA directly, perhaps in error.

As time permits I'll try to re-trace my steps to get a better sense of where it comes from and whether it applies to Joe Layperson or not. Even if it is limited to professionals it might be open to other trades besides Masonry (sic?), if only because one of the secondary purposes seems to be networking which would give masons a chance to make contacts with other trades that are interested in Masonry, which could be good for building business.
~Cath

 

[Cath]

MORE INFO:

Here is the info on Membership (anyone can join!!) and the April annual meeting (which would very likely require membership even if the Summer seminars don't)

Membership plus the one week Annual Meeting would be $275.00 + $350.00 = $625.00 but I suspect it could easily be worth it for some members here, especially anyone in the trades. I am semi seriously thinking about paying for Craig to become a member and go to the meeting as his birthday present since once upon a time he thought about becoming a mason and he built our 75' to 100' granite/curbstone retaining wall with stone he scavenged (maybe I'll post pics someday. It's pretty impressive). Most of the stones weigh anywhere from 200 Lbs to 300 Lbs. He gauged this by how some of them deflated the dolly tires.

If he's feeling ambitious and I am a sufficient "inspiration" (read: "nag", it's the only way I get credit for an "assist"), he may do a complementing circular driveway. And it would be an interesting way to explore whether a modest DIY Masonry Heater is feasible; and in the alternative to see if anyone has info on the humongous soapstone convection heaters.

The Masonry Heater Association of North America
Membership Info
http://mha-net.org/html/membinfo.htm#how much
Currently, the bulk of the membership consists of professional custom heater masons, and in addition includes manufacturers, distributors, and installers, as well as other people with an interest in masonry heating. Membership is open to anyone.
Membership Dues: $275.00 per year

Annual Meeting: $350.00; 4/11 – 4/18
The classroom sessions start at 9:00 AM and end at 7:00 / 7:30 PM
Wildacres Retreat in the Great Smokey Mountains of western North Carolina on April 11th to the 17th, 2008 featuring hands-on workshops, a number of special guests, and an opportunity to network with your peers and develop professionally. 3 meals per day

Annual Meeting Agenda
http://mha-net.org/docs/committee-reports/WildacresAgenda0816-1.pdf
Most of the classroom sessions involve Masonry Heaters or Bake Ovens

Contact page. Note I am including it here since this isn’t found on every page.
http://mha-net.org/#contact

~Cath

 

[Nicholas]

Funny this should come up,
We have decided on a Masonry Heater for the house We built, I will be doing the work myself.
I am a lic builder and spent 15 yrs in the concrete trade, and now rehab and build houses, I lay my own block and cultered stone ("lick em-stick em stone").
I ordered 2 books from the MHA and was looking at joining HMHA and going to Wild Acres, but am feeling slightly "intimindated".
Not sure if a non "master mason" would be welcomed ??, I guess I will have to ask.
I was trying to find out where they "hung out" on the net ? is it the Yahoo group ? do You have a URL for it ?

Thanks,
Nick

 

[Cath]

Nick,
I'm sure you are familiar with the expression: "if it helps one person ... ". It looks like that one person may be you.

Yahoo Group Masonry Heaters (for Laypersons)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MasonryHeaters/

The board isn't very active and I've been a little disappointed in the lack of response to my question. But I was asking about the so called Hybrid soapstone with the iron insert. I suspect your questions may be a little more typical and more likely to be answered.

By the way, if you join the Yahoo Group Masonry Heaters (for Laypersons) you will see that one of the recent postings is of the notice of the Summer sessions on the Canadian border which are in the planning stages. This has the same info as the email described in my first post in this thread.

Good luck and keep us posted.

~Cath