Slept on top of your stove lately......?

[Wade A.]

http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2008/12/tile-stoves.html

 

[begreen]

Great article, thanks for posting. As noted, Russian and Ukrainian peasants usually slept on the stove/fireplace. With dad and mom getting the prime position, though that would be given over to aging parents if they were still alive. These were smoky dwellings and not nearly as efficient or elegant as the kachelovens. While in Vienna we visited the emperor's palace. In well to do home I saw in Austria through Bulgaria these stoves with no fronts. They were fed from the back to keep the mess and smoke away from the occupants. In the emperors palace in Vienna there is a complete maze of hidden inner corridors linking these ovens so that the staff could keep them fed continually.

 

[BrotherBart]

My bed is around seven feet directly above the 30-NC. Does that count?

 

[argus66]

masonry heaters best heat there is. man i wish i had one.

 

[dougand3]

Interesting to see "internal" flue. In cast or steel stoves, we want two 45* elbows rather than a 90*. Below x-section shows nine 90* elbows. Stays hot enough to draft, I guess?

 

[HotCoals]

.

 

[nelraq]

Interesting to see "internal" flue. In cast or steel stoves, we want two 45* elbows rather than a 90*. Below x-section shows nine 90* elbows. Stays hot enough to draft, I guess?

I had a tempcast masonry heater built in my last house. The flue gases actually entered the chimney approx. 8" below the firebox.

Couldn't see how this could work at all, but it drafted beautifully. Except for a while at startups, there was never any visible smoke--just a little wisp of vapour - like the neighbours' gas furnaces.

 

[hardwood715]

Darn facebook I read cool articles and cool replies, ...I'm looking for the like button!! BB yes your seven feet above and just as warm right! I use that little fan in the corner of the stairwell to bring heat up! Good article Ploughboy!

 

[Martin Strand III]

Yes, it's true folks.

There is nothing quite like the pleasure of being around
thermal mass stored radiant heat in winter.

One kudo:
Chimneys frequently begin at floor level in these
monoliths as the flame paths internally exceed 15'.
This represents contact time for heat to be absorbed
into the masonry mass. Thus, the delta between firebox
(1800* F) and chimney (280* F).

Another kudo:
No draft problems. Never back drafting.

Aye,
Marty

 

[Oldhippie]

Really interesting article and you can see where many of the modern stoves have a heritage to.

 

[Asoul]

Agree, very interesting, but it costs $40,000 to have your chimney swept and stove cleaned

How would you ever clean out ash + creosote deposits? Or do they burn hot enough deposits are not much of a problem

 

[ScotO]

neat article......heck the way things have been going for me lately, that oven stove would have probably been easier to install than the ZC fireplace I'm putting in.....lol...

 

[Martin Strand III]

Agree, very interesting, but it costs $40,000 to have your chimney swept and stove cleaned

How would you ever clean out ash + creosote deposits? Or do they burn hot enough deposits are not much of a problem

There is a floor level clean out port with metal door (about 6" x 10") on the back side of the heater. This gives access to clean some light fly ash
from the base of the chimney, around the HD damper and two horizontal flame runs coming to it. Another port is on the exposed opposite side midway
from the back. The only creosote I have ever encountered forms early with a cold heater, first fire, on the bake oven door. It is vaporized before my eyes after
the fire gets roaring in about 15 minutes.

When I don't clean it myself, the sweep's bill runs $160. total for this and my basement unit (2 units, 2 chimneys, $160.).

Aye,
Marty

 

[begreen]

Wise man Marty. This stuff has been worked out over generations by people that had no alternative and wanted to be comfortable in brutal winters with a minimum of fuel.

 

[ScotO]

Wise man Marty. This stuff has been worked out over generations by people that had no alternative and wanted to be comfortable in brutal winters with a minimum of fuel.

well said BeGreen .......kinda what we are all after here on the hearth!.......

 

[Martin Strand III]

Wise man Marty. This stuff has been worked out over generations by people that had no alternative and wanted to be comfortable in brutal winters with a minimum of fuel.

The truth is this basic technology of thermal mass storage
with long heat and smoke exhaust exchange channels
"is" hundreds of years old (Europe, Russia). Todays units
are more refined not to mention costly. That's the good news.

The bad news is the need for heat was so great, that vast area
was picked clean of wood and, in the scarcity of fuel, people actually
burned their wood furniture to keep from freezing. I guess this equates,
roughly, to here in North America our native american brothers burned
dry buffalo dung in their teepees for the same reason.

Aye,
Marty
Grandma used to say,
"Count your blessings and be happy.
Someone else is always worse off."

 

[firecracker_77]

Great article. I have seen pictures of these elaborate stoves in Russia and did not know what they were. I also ran into a 2,000 pound soapstone stove that sold for $6,000. I could not understand what that was or how a person would benefit from so much stone on a relatively small firebox. This will give me something to research.

 

[firecracker_77]

here's one. only 9,000 pounds weight....i wonder what would happen if you kept stoking it all day. says 2 to 3 hours gives you 24 hours heat.

http://www.soapstonesupply.com/314.htm

 

[begreen]

Wise man Marty. This stuff has been worked out over generations by people that had no alternative and wanted to be comfortable in brutal winters with a minimum of fuel.

well said BeGreen .......kinda what we are all after here on the hearth!.......

It's the history of the new world. We had cheap and abundant fuel and our lifestyles developed around the concept of this being a "limitless" resource. It's why we ended up with bigger stoves, houses, cars, forced air heating systems instead of hot water, etc.. The good side is that it pole-vaulted our society ahead in development. The downside is that this time has passed and too many are having a very hard time kicking the habit of cheap, seemingly limitless energy. As resources run out, it will be tough for Europe, but it's going to be hell here for those that have not adapted.

 

[ScotO]

It's the history of the new world. We had cheap and abundant fuel and our lifestyles developed around the concept of this being a "limitless" resource. It's why we ended up with bigger stoves, houses, cars, forced air heating systems instead of hot water, etc.. The good side is that it pole-vaulted our society ahead in development. The downside is that this time has passed and too many are having a very hard time kicking the habit of cheap, seemingly limitless energy. As resources run out, it will be tough for Europe, but it's going to be hell here for those that have not adapted.

again well said!...I may have to steal this line for my signature.....and you will get the credit for it, too! ;-)