Imagine heating your entire home with wood all winter for a fraction of the cost of oil, gas or electricity. Then factor in a way to do this without polluting the air or contributing to the greenhouse effect caused by fossils fuels. Add to this a method of heating that is gentle, healthy, and safe. Finally, picture an elegant stonework fireplace, hearth, maybe a bake oven or heated benches, a centerpiece in the heart of the home handcrafted of natural materials such as soapstone, brick, clay or tile, a place where family members gather as it radiates warmth and comfort.
All of these benefits can be found in a masonry heater, a wood-burning unit constructed of soapstone, brick, tile, clay or other masonry material. Used for centuries in northern Europe, Scandinavia and Russia, masonry heaters burn a fraction of the wood needed by conventional wood stoves or fireplaces, and heat the home with healthful radiant heat stored in the masonry mass of the heater. The heater works using a small, hot fire built in its firebox, which releases hot gases as it burns. These gases traverse through heat- exchange channels in the unit’s interior mass, where their warmth is absorbed by the masonry and then slowly released for hours after the fire has burned down.