Wood Heating in Poland!

[claybe]

Here are some pictures of my wife's grandmother's home in Poland. They only heat by wood and have incredible stoves (very ornate). I think this is like a Russian stove, but they use ceramics that I think retain more heat. And, there is a picture of their water heater that works fantastic! Does anyone know of anyone who makes stoves like this in the states?

 

[pistonslap]

I thought this was going to be a joke.

 

[Diabel]

I had no idea...colored pictures were around in pre 1945 :lol:

 

[claybe]

Pic's are from this summer... And, all stoves and the water heater worked better than my insert

 

[caber]

Wow, that's a nice setup.

Somehow I doubt inspectors and insurance companies and builders would allow those kind of tried and true setups to happen in the States.

 

[North of 60]

Pic's are from this summer... And, all stoves and the water heater worked better than my insert

Thanx for sharing. I like the simplicity. It is also prov-en as it has maintained your grandmas existence's through very cold and hard times. I hope you helped her out on her woodpile on your visit. :coolsmile: Again, Thanx for sharing. I,am also now curios of there workings. N of 60

 

[velvetfoot]

The ceramic looks great.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Looks great!

By the way, I was once told that in Poland they never burn logs. They only are allowed to burn poles.

 

[frwinks]

thanks for sharing the pics...a lot of those stoves pull double duties, 100%heating and 100%cooking :coolsmile:

 

[begreen]

That would be a kachelofen, popular throughout central Europe. There's a manufacturer in Canada:

http://www.canadiankachelofen.com/gallery1.htm

And in Oregon:
http://www.kachelofen-usa.com/

 

[Chettt]

Cool photo's! Do they season their wood or burn green? I've heard that some European countries prefer fresh cut over seasoned.How big is the fire box on that unit?

 

[begreen]

Both, same as here. The fire veterans I spoke with used seasoned wood. But not everyone burns this way. I was in a mountain valley last autumn where the night temps were in the 30's. By 4pm the valley was filling with smoke. Some folks were prepared and had good stacks of dry wood. Others were burning wood delivered that day.

The wood loads are generally small, maybe 2 cu. ft.? The stove is lit and then run wide open. The objective is to get a very hot fire going quickly. It burns for about 60-90 minutes and often that is it for the day. If it's cold outside the stove may be fired up again in the evening. With dry wood, kachelofens burn very cleanly and are quite efficient.

 

[Hiram Maxim]

Very Cool!

Thank you for sharing.

 

[ScottF]

By the way, I was once told that in Poland they never burn logs. They only are allowed to burn poles.

I think that was probably true back in the communist days. But they did not burn the ones who obeyed the government rules they only burned the ones who were bad or went against the governments wishes.

 

[Valhalla]

Let's get qualified to build one!

See the link: http://www.kachelofenschool.com/program.htm

And without going to Poland!

 

[begreen]

By the way, I was once told that in Poland they never burn logs. They only are allowed to burn poles.

I think that was probably true back in the communist days. But they did not burn the ones who obeyed the government rules they only burned the ones who were bad or went against the governments wishes.

That probably explains why in neighboring countries they went hungry, or burnt bad checks. :shut:

 

[sl7vk]

Really cool stove.

As to the comments regarding the old look of the pics.... Europeans have a refreshing concept regarding building things to last that do last. Much less of a throw away society then us North Americans. I love it.

We would do well to adopt some of their practicality in the coming years.

 

[karri0n]

It seems like a really good idea to get certified and build one of these things. At 10-20k for a masonry heater installed, unless the training costs are astronomical, it would seem you can't afford NOT to do this. It's been said far too many times that a mason heater is the most efficient way to heat with wood. I know materials can be pricey, but I would imagine it would be around the price of a woodstove + install...

 

[BJ64]

Really cool stove.

As to the comments regarding the old look of the pics.... Europeans have a refreshing concept regarding building things to last that do last. Much less of a throw away society then us North Americans. I love it.

We would do well to adopt some of their practicality in the coming years.

I agree on all counts.

One set of grandparents were from Austria and Croatia and move here as kids after WW I. The concept of building for the generations rather than a lifetime made doing things seem more worthwhile.

I like my stove and enjoy it very much, but this type of heaters, to me seems, to be the ultimate in wood burning. We would do well to adopt these things.

 

[claybe]

I will talk to my father-in-law and ask who built these. His mother does not live in this cabin anymore, but we stayed there when we were there with him. He started the fire every night (40 at night) and moved coals to each room and left the fire going to heat the water. By morning we had hot water showers. He heats in the states now with a VC and he is the one who got me into heating with wood (you all should see his wood pile!). More to come...(and I would love how to build these and my wife does ceramics!)...

 

[bsruther]

By the way, I was once told that in Poland they never burn logs. They only are allowed to burn poles.

I think that was probably true back in the communist days. But they did not burn the ones who obeyed the government rules they only burned the ones who were bad or went against the governments wishes.

That probably explains why in neighboring countries they went hungry, or burnt bad checks. :shut:

Badoom cha.

 

[woodjack]

It fascinates me to see how other cultures do things, but those pics make me proud to be living in the USA.

 

[Techstuf]

Love them pics!

I've loved the 'Rocket Stove Mass Heater' concept for years. Something like this would work beautifully.

Truly inspirational.


TS

 

[leaf4952]

Really cool stove.

As to the comments regarding the old look of the pics.... Europeans have a refreshing concept regarding building things to last that do last. Much less of a throw away society then us North Americans. I love it.

We would do well to adopt some of their practicality in the coming years.

Wow ! Here, Here ! Agreed Agreed ! You might wanna talk to the guys on "Feels like a Moped in the Indi 500" thread. Explain to them about smaller vs bigger, built to last vs throwaway. Of course they won't understand what you'rs saying unless you say it in math equivilant and commercial statistical comparison which still don't prove diddly squat ! They'll probably just make stupid remarks about how they didn't think there were color pics in Poland, like the first smart @$$ on this thread. The stupidity and closed mindedness gets really to be a drag after a while. I sometimes wish they'd just all go to a bitcher's website where they could hone their nastiness skills on each other and leave us alone.

 

[daleeper]

I really love these types of stove. Thanks for sharing the photos.

As to why they have not been popular here in US, keep in mind that house was most likely designed around that stove. Most of us would not build a house that would allow that stove to work. Retrofitting into an existing house will usually not work. Also remember that for all the advantages, there are disadvantages, and I'm guessing most of us would find those disadvantages unacceptable.

I would love one myself, but don't have the house for it.