Journal – Patterns for Fire

This journal includes the latest information from Firespeaking .


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Masonry Heater Clearance to Combustibles

I was invited to examine a masonry heater that was built by another mason in a town one hour north of us. One of the wooden studs immediately behind the heater, in the wall adjoining their bedroom, had been heated to the point that it had at least reached a smoldering point inside the wall….

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Design Development for a Tulikivi Masonry Heater

Designing a masonry heater into a home can be complex. Here is a design chronicle of incorporating a Tulikivi into a floor plan while navigating other important architectural elements such as a staircase, an important structural beam and circulation space on the second floor.

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Masonry Heater Staircases

Staircases and masonry heaters both provide essential functions yet take up substantial floorspace.  Placing a heater near a stair case requires respecting proper clearances to combustibles and can sometimes lead to tricky finish details or awkward spaces.  Why not combine these two important functions into one!?  Here are some ideas…. All images used with expressed

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Details of Plumbing for a Thermosiphon Hot Water System

This article is flagged for needing updating soon!We recommend placing a hot water heat exchanger above the firebox to focus on efficient combustion before heat exchange. The purpose of this article is to share the specifics of one way to plumb a masonry heater to provide hot water for a home. In this project, a

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New heaters in the world – a summer update!

This summer has been an exciting time to deepen our craft in masonry heater building. Here, Jerry Frisch of Lopez Quarries and I are standing in front of a heater that I assisted him on in a new house on the Puget Sound in the state of Washington. It is a basic Finnish contraflow design

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