From the description in the blurb for a book they sell on how and why to construct a masonry stove.
The type of fireplace we built is traditionally called a “masonry stove” or “masonry heater”. It is also called a “Russian fireplace”, but the idea came from eastern Europe more than Russia. The original designs had solid doors like stoves. The type I advocate are made to look like fireplaces yet function as masonry stoves, so they are best described as “masonry fireplaces”. I use the terms stove or heater interchangeably, and fireplace to specify stoves with a visible fire.
Masonry stoves are designed to burn a hot fire, with the air supply and chimney damper wide open. This results in a clean burn, with little visible smoke. The distinctive feature of the heaters is a series of baffles to pull the heat out of the exhaust. The masonry absorbs the heat of the fire, then radiates it gradually back into the room.
Technology as old as the hills brings us the safest, most environmentally friendly heating system in the world.
Want a superb way to heat your house that does not depend on electricity, fossil fuel or a HUGE woodpile out back? Look into masonry heaters - the generic name for tile stoves, kachelofens, heat-storing fireplaces, ceramic stoves, grundofens, Russian or Finnish fireplaces, and fireplace furnaces. Non-polluting, safe and cost-effective, they use less fuel wood per heating season than your ordinary stove or fireplace. The surface is never too hot to touch, the warmth they radiate has been likened to sunshine, and they originated in “the old country.”
For many centuries, the peasants and princes of Europe warmed up hut and palace alike with massive masonry and tile stoves. These ranged from the simplest of whitewashed clay stoves to the ornate, tile-clad masterpieces of the wealthy.
The basic designs for most of the masonry heaters in use today were developed during Europe’s “Little Ice Age” from 1500 to 1800, when wood was in extremely short supply and fossil fuel not yet widely available.
The fire in a Russian fireplace heats the secondary combustion chamber to a high enough temperature to ignite all resins in the smoke. The temperature in the secondary combustion chamber can reach 1800 degrees or more.
The combustion of all resins means not only will the maximum amount of heat be released from the wood burned, but also that there is very little pollution.
The other major feature of a Russian fireplace design is that the exhaust from the fire passes through a maze-like series of baffles before exiting the chimney. This allows transfer of all the heat produced by the complete burn to pass to the masonry mass.
Why am I suddenly interested in masonry stoves? Because it seems to be a time-tested, European designed, way of heating and cooking (masonry ovens make great bread and pizza) that is very efficient and has little environmental impact. It would seem useful to those of us who live in or wish to relocate to areas of the country where it’s not always balmy and 70 degrees year round. If one can fire up one of these stoves once, and have it radiate heat for two-three days, that seems like an efficient use of time and resources to me.
Out (sic) goal on this site is to give you reliable information on all forms of alternative energy.
Naturally we’ll talk about obvious sources such as solar power and wind power, but I think you’ll discover some more unusual energy sources here as well.
Our emphasis will be on small scale energy production. We want home owners to actually be able to produce their own energy from whatever source they have available.
We’ll provide how-it-works descriptions, background information, pros and cons and some sources for more information if you do want to begin generating power yourself.
You’ll also find information here about larger scale non-traditional energy production. Some of these techniques (such as tidal energy) aren’t practical for home energy production but may be viable as commercial renewable energy sources. Knowing about them adds to your overall energy awareness. Plus, I just like writing and thinking about them.
Others, such as solar power generation, use the same principles as home energy producers do on a larger scale.
More useful info, found one masonry heater link that was part of this site, decided this was valuable enough to warrant posting separately.
I’d never heard of them until I was in an auto repair place with one of those glassed in waiting rooms where you can see exactly how loooong it’s going to take to repair your vehilce, and you start looking around to see if there’s something, anything, else to focus on…lo! there sat the Club’s magazine, Handy. Now I am not exactly what you’d call a handyman, heck, not even a handy woman! However, I know good resources when I see them. So I read the magazine, noted their web address, and went home to follow through.
It seems to be fairly inexpensive to become a member; there’s a whole page of member benefits here. If you sign up to do product testing, you can get free tools, etc. to keep after you have tested them out.
But even if you don’t become a member, you can at least read the articles on their website and read their forums (only members may post), which are full of good information on many different topics from real handymen.
I know my dad didn’t have this guy’s list, but the general outline of it is what he did when he was young and strong to become a Mr. Fix-it. Bless him for that. More folks need to emulate him.
This place offers classes, some one-offs that are free, others that last several weeks and cost $$. From looking at their site, I think they are a valuable reference for anyone looking to build their own post and beam type house.
Shelter is committed to working with our clients to create effective homes.
We offer accredited classes in homebuilding, fine woodworking tools, timber frames, and real estate.
At Shelter, we have been evolving durable, adaptable, energy-conscious
building techniques since 1974.
Find us online or at our Woolwich, Maine campus
5 miles north of Bath:
873 Route One
Woolwich, ME 04579
Our store hours:
Monday through Friday: 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Saturday 9:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Contact us:
(207) 442-7938 .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Something new. I saw an article about it in Backwoods Home magazine.
“Examiner.com: “Earthineer is one part Facebook, one part Craig’s List classified bartering, one part eco-blog, and wholly dedicated to the social network of sustainable living””
One more step to at least a bit of self-sufficiency.
Canning is very helpful. Folks should also be aware that dehydration is also an option. Water and oxygen are the primary catalysts for spoilage, and if you can eliminate one or both, you can save yourself a bit of canning, which is arduous and time consuming, and can destroy nutrients. It’s excellent, even indispensable, for some foods. For others that present issues for canning, try pickling and dehydration. Swedes and Norwegians are masters of pickling, and any old timey book on their ways would be useful. Beans especially, which are very prone to spoilage, can be effectively dehydrated. Once dehydrated, they can be re-hydrated for food, as well as replanted for a crop.
As for meat, I myself love pemmican, and it’s pretty easy to make if you have some grass-fed beef and a dehydrator. Its great on trips and my kids seem to like it, and it keeps them away from those white flour and corn-based snacks that are so bad for their metabolisms.
