CERAMIC WOOD STOVES

[buildingmaint]

I heard that in Sweden they require that all new homes built have to have a ceramic wood stove installed in new homes. Rumours say that all you have to do is build one fire a day and it will heat your house for a day. Can anyone confirm this or is this just bunk?

 

[stoveguy2esw]

havent heard it but theory is sound, a material that will absorb and release heat very slowly would be needed, i know my BGE smoker stays warm after i shut it down for a pretty good while so with that as my only measuring stick i think it would be feasable , but a lot of engineering would have to be put into a house heating size ceramic stove, properties would likely be similar in a way to soapstone which holds heat longer than cast iron or steel. pretty neat idea i wouldnt mind looking at specs for this type heater

 

[begreen]

Interesting that it is a requirement. What if one chooses to have a pellet stove? Can you point me to the article? I'd like to read up on it to understand what is meant by a ceramic wood stove. Is this a Swedish version of the German kachelofen?


PS: Dig this Canadian site for them:

http://www.kaheat.com/

 

[Hogwildz]

Could this be similar to a masonry heater? Same theory? I would think it would have to be fairly large to heat the house.

 

[Burn-1]

I don't know about Sweden but I remember looking at the MHA website some time back and reading that masonry heaters were a requirement in new construction in Finland if you wanted a government sponsored mortage, (probably like our FNMA, FHA type loans). The Scandinavians, (except the Finns) call it a kakkelovn but these are essentially masonry heaters.

In the 1980's there was a company here in NH which imported the German WESO stoves. These were essentially cast iron stoves with a ceramic outer layer which could be removed. There were a couple other European imports which were similar. They looked like this. (broken link removed) Not unlike the space heaters that Erich at KaHeat sells.

For a look at what some of the ceramic stoves available in Europe look like, you could check out this site, (in Danish)

(broken link removed to http://www.kakkelovn.dk/kakkelovn_billeder.htm)

This is a Dutch company that makes a somewhat 'portable' modular heater. I think there may be distributor for these in NC. As with most European stuff, well-engineered, built to last, not cheap. Tigchels tile stove

If anyone in New England is ever going through Alton, NH near Lake Winnipesaukee there is a Swiss restaurant, the William Tell Inn and during the winter they have their kachelofen fired up. It is conveniently located...next to the bar. Good food as well.

Hog, you're right in that these heaters would need to be big in order to heat a whole house, but in Sweden and most of Europe houses are much smaller so they can probably carry most of the load.

 

[Martin Strand III]

Masonry v Ceramic

Masonry: Stonework. Technically, natural rock, granite, soapstone, etc but also used to include...

Ceramic: Made from clay and hardened by heat. Bricks, fire brick, pottery, porcelain, tile, etc.

Basically, the difference is semantics. My masonry heater is made mostly from ceramic materials; core is fire brick, facade is solid brick and tile. Others may contain natural rock in the facade or be all soapstone.

Aye,
Marty

 

[buildingmaint]

If my memory is right I think I heard it on the ALL NEW THIS OLD HOUSE.They were doing one of their make old look new and installed a ceramic FIREPLACE, not wood stove. Sorry for my confusing anyone.As far as the country that it was ,it could of been Finland.

 

[restorer]

If my memory is right I think I heard it on the ALL NEW THIS OLD HOUSE.They were doing one of their make old look new and installed a ceramic FIREPLACE, not wood stove. Sorry for my confusing anyone.As far as the country that it was ,it could of been Finland.

As I remember recently there was a listing on eBay for a German Ceramic stove. I was interested but stove was too far away and two large and heavy to ship. Seems it was between 3 and 4 feet square and over seven high. /bet it put out the heat.