Masonry heaters are clean-burning, efficient and sustainable centerpieces for heating your home. While they may look like conventional fireplaces, masonry heaters have channels inside them that absorb much more of the heat generated by the fire and then give that heat off into the space they are heating over a longer period of time. A well-designed masonry heater is sized so that a 2-3 hour fire in the evening supplies enough heat to the space for it to stay warm until the next evening when it is fired again. Most heaters are used as a house’s primary heat source and do not require electrical power to function. Heaters can include cooking and water heating functions as well.
Masonry heaters are both age-old and cutting edge technology. They are built throughout the world where mild to severe winters are experienced. Their ability to burn a regenerative local fuel extremely cleanly and provide exceptional comfort has been recognized by the EPA:
Masonry heaters are also known by the names Russian Stove, Finnish Contraflow, Swedish 5-Run, German Kacheloven, Austrian Calculated Stoves, Russian Bell and Double Bell Heaters. The Rocket Mass Heater and more recently the Batch Box Heater are interesting designs coming out of the innovative DIY realm and being incorporated into the mainstream.
Masonry Heater Recognition
[Masonry heaters] produce more heat and less pollution than any other wood- or pellet-burning appliance.
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) website
Masonry heaters are typically very efficient heaters, and currently do not require EPA certification.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website
We at Firespeaking have 20 years of experience in designing and building Masonry Heaters and are active at a local, national, and global levels in advocating for and popularizing this technology. We are proud of our elegant design work and continued dedication to the applied craft of their construction.
Recent Articles from the Journal
We have experience in every aspect of masonry heater realization – from conceptual design through documentation to construction.
Masonry Heater Design Resources
Masonry Heaters
A synopsis of codes and standards for masonry heater construction, including information regarding their efficiency for home owners and building officials.
Local Willamette Valley Basalt Ledge Stone with Soapstone Slabs & TileIdaho/Montana Ledge Stone with Blue Stone Slabs & CapMontana Bitterroot Ledge Stone with Granite SlabsAll of these projects are functional masonry heaters putting out 10-20,000 BTU/hr over 24 hours based on one or two 38 lb. firewood loads a day. Learn more about our design […]
We are currently developing a modular approach to custom masonry heater design and construction where the firebox, the heat exchange design, and options like adding an oven are independent of each other so that each can be developed and documented separately and then combined for each specific project. One important aspect is that it focuses […]
This year’s Masonry Heater Association (MHA) Annual Meeting held in April in Little Switzerland, North Carolina, continued the tradition of bringing heater builders together from North America and around the world to share in the techniques and processes of masonry heater and wood-fired oven construction. Here are some highlights of the innovative work and great […]
Conceptual Plans The basic pattern of this heater is called a Contraflow which sees the combustion gases leaving the firebox and splitting into two symmetric downdraft channels before joining in a manifold in the bottom courses and making there way to the chimney. We made a custom 4″x8″ pivoting damper to allow for an operable […]
Here is an email that I recently received from a client that explains a situation that other new masonry heater owners may experience: Hi Max This thing happens that I want your advice on. Occasionally when we fire the stove, we get a lot of smoke in the room during the first 10-15 minutes of […]
Although a bit outdated, here is a comprehensive firing guide for masonry heaters put out by the Masonry Heater Association of North America:
The impetus of this project is to create a single unit that combines a functional cookstove with immediate heat production with an efficient firebox for prolonged masonry heat storage. We will draw from medium-sized “batch-box†development and use bypass dampers as switches to significantly alter the flow through the heater depending on the output desired. An important part of the project will be to experiment with an open-source flow for project development. This project is being developed in the context of a hands-on workshop that will be realized at the Masonry Heater Association’s 2022 Annual Meeting.
Progress is made painfully slowly by isolated individuals and small artesan companies each having to invent and build the wheel themselves. To the extent that each can make contributions to the overall body of knowledge and benefit from the shared resources that result, it might be possible to gather more momentum for this interesting and resilient technology. This article explores the potential for an open-source approach in masonry heater design and construction.
A design review of corner masonry heater designs.
An in-depth article including detailed drawings of a basic foundation strategy for masonry heaters including footing, stem wall, base slab, insulation, and rough opening specifications.
Here is a summary of recent design work showing the core of a versatile masonry heater design. We offer pre-project design assistance, full course-by-course drawings, parts, and hardware for projects like this. If you have questions or want to provide feedback, use the comments section below.
A beautiful masonry heater, built by Noel Adams, with heated benches and finished with natural plaster. Firespeaking provided design, training, a core kit and hardware for this project.
These are some common variations for basic masonry heater design. These heaters are symmetrical and show how you can choose to include an oven and benches around the main volume. Additional options include the see-through firebox which includes a door on both sides and choosing to have the oven face the opposite direction as the firebox.
What a pleasure to help a family get to know their masonry heater by making pizzas with them! We want more people to know that masonry heaters are not only the best way to heat your home with wood but also offer many options for cooking food throughout the cold months of the year!
A Rocket Mass Heater with a custom fabricated cooktop replacing the metal barrel and a long heated bench constructed for the 2016 Masonry Heater Association annual meeting.
This article goes over the basic options for placing a masonry heater in a floor plan you are designing and includes some sample layouts.
This illustration demonstrates the role of masonry heaters in providing heating and cooking capacity for homes in a long-term sustainable flow of energy and resources. Masonry heaters are essentially a solar energy solution. Well-seasoned firewood acts as “batteries” for the solar energy captured by trees in forests through photosynthesis. When the wood is then burned […]
We are excited to share with you the exciting design and beautiful execution of masonry heaters by a Canadian collective name L'Esprit du Lieu (Spirit of Place). A plastered finish on masonry heaters allows for both a timeless feeling of tradition as well as an elegant modern look.
Part of a "How-To" Series: Discusses different methods of mounting and attaching metal doors to masonry.
Part of How-To Series: Details for connecting a masonry heater core to the chimney and insulating at the top of the heater.
If you are an architect, designer or homeowner… try a Tulikivi Soapstone Heater in your next home design or remodel! Here are specs and .dwg files to incorporate into your floor plan.
Part of How-To Series: Describes how to install an expansion joint between the core and facing of a custom masonry heater.
This masonry heater features a “white†oven, ample wood-storage options, and a heated bench. The heater is faced with Idaho Bitter Root Ledge Stone, Sage Ledge Stone and the slab details are Pennsylvania Blue Stone. It serves as a visual focal point, as furniture, and as a resilient energy source for the home!
Here is an outline for a project about masonry heaters. Ideally it would be a publicly available web resource which was developed dynamically. Items would become links as they were written and discussion generated would be incorporated into the text. The big question is how to fund the project. Ideally, people would be moved to […]
The world needs more masonry heaters and masonry heater builders! A shortage of viable plans as well as education opportunities means there are very few masonry heater builders in North America. This design work reflects an effort to simplify things in order to make the process easier for everybody involved.
For the masonry heater we are currently working on, we took a new approach to the design and construction of the core by casting the most complex parts. The goal of this is to simplify both the design and construction process so that we can streamline the process for our own projects as well as produce a viable strategy and parts for other masonry heater builders.
We believe that bypass dampers are an important part of masonry heater function. They provide an easy way to heat the main chimney in order to then pull heated gases through a much longer heat exchange pathway.
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….
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.
These are the kinds of drawings that I wish I had had more exposure/access to when I was starting out in masonry heater building. It still takes a somewhat trained eye to understand the overall flow of gases through these sections. Further refinement and artistry would render them more understandable still. Basically, wood is burned […]
Here are two heaters that we completed in 2018 which are now getting fired up (with early client feedback)!
North America Stone House Kachelofen – Hand Made Warmth L’Esprit Du Lieu Europe Firetube Matthias Jacob Lehmofenbau Ofenbau Kummer We are building a list of masonry heater builders worldwide who inspire us to serve as a design resource. Suggest a link for us to add!
Your choice of brick for a project will have a big impact on the final feel. There are two principle suppliers of brick in the Willamette Valley. Willamette Graystone supplies brick from the following manufacturers: McNear H. C. Muddox Pacific Clay Belden Mutual Materials makes their own brick in the Pacific North West.
Here are some section drawings for the core of an upcoming custom masonry heater we are building. Firebox facing the living room and oven facing the kitchen/dining.
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 […]
This is the beginning of a list of resources of people we like to (or would like to… )work with to help you in understanding the scope of possibility in working with us. Contact us if you would be interested in working with us. Metolius Tile Artisan Tile Absolutely gorgeous artisan-made tile out of Bend, […]
We think that there are no current US federal-level tax credits for the installation of masonry heaters. We do not know about any specific state-level programs either. If you know of any examples to draw resources from, please let us know! Here is a tiny step of progress towards having Masonry Heaters recognized as legitimate […]
The Tulikivi TTU 2700 series is powerful and versatile. It comes with an extra-large firebox option which was designed specifically for the North American market. Model options include bake ovens facing either way, the addition of a second firebox door to make a see-through firebox, and both pre-designed as well as custom bench solutions. The […]
These photos document the build process of the Shop Cabin Stove. This is a project in continuous development. The best way to receive updates is to join our mailing list. This documentation is provided on an open-source basis. You can derive a lot from knowing that the bricks lay out to a modular 4″ x […]
 Links: The Cabin Stove Page – the main cabin stove page documenting this project.
This heater was built as part of the Sustainable Shelter Workshop Series at Aprovecho. It completely turned around the residents’ experience of their home in winter time. Their previous propane heater provided a “wet” heat that also didn’t reach the outlying bedrooms causing mold issues. The design is a Cabin Stove with heated bench. The […]
The Harlan Cabin Stove was built during a two-day workshop in December 2015. While I am very happy with it architecturally, it is an iteration of the design that shows it still needs some fine tuning. I suspect that we need to tighten the gap beneath the metal of the cooktop in order to get more […]
Here are some initial Testo results of the original Sidewinder we built in the shop. The build as well as some insight of Mathew Walker’s on the data is documented at the original Cabin Stove 2.0 post. We mostly share this as an example of more testing we hope to do.
Some videos showing recent work in the shop. ?The first two are for a masonry heater that I am building and the last one is a prototype for an improved firebox door for the barrel oven kits.
http://www.handprintpress.com/home-heating/rmh-research I have just posted this article about recent research on rocket mass heaters to Hand Print Press with this same title. It is a synthesis that I have been wanting to write for some time since the experiences at the MHA gatherings have been so rich. I’ve wanted to make sure that others could […]
This spontaneous essay is a response to this great piece by Alex Chernov, as presented in the MHA News. From: Max Edleson max (at) firespeaking.com To: MHAmembers@yahoogroups.com Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2011 07:52:43 -0800 Subject: Re: [MHAmembers] member news Indeed, Alex, the article you have written is great and this area of research you are […]
Important note: I have preserved this post as-is for archival purposes. On-going development of the Cabin Stove is documented at The Cabin Stove Page. A good part of the month of August has been dedicated to the research, development and construction of a small multi-functional masonry heater I have been calling “The Cabin Stove”. Eva […]
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 stainless steel heat coil in the firebox was connected to a well-insulated water tank above it which then work together through a passive thermosiphoning process to […]
This is part of a series of articles on heating hot water with masonry heaters and other wood-fired stoves: See also Details of Plumbing for a Thermasiphon Hot Water System We are currently reading “Handmade Hot Water Systems” by Art Sussman and Richard Frazier. This book has a really down-to-earth late-70’s approach to using your […]
In our continual search to come up with functional, beautiful AND affordable solutions for sustainable living, we are very excited about and currently experimenting with the use of Compressed Earth Blocks (CEBs) for masonry heater construction. As natural builders, we decided that masonry heaters provide the very best solution for heating homes. It is the […]
“Take the German stove, for instance – where can you find it outside of German countries? I am sure I have never seen it where German was not the language of the region. Yet it is by long odds the best stove and the most convenient and economical that has yet been invented. To the […]
Se enterraron del mejor video sobre la construccin natural? Vean el corto de “El Barro, Las Manos, La Casa”…. Amigos, Acaba de terminar de leer un libro fascinante sobre el asunto de estufas de albailera de alto rendimiento y pensaba tratar de compartir algunas de las conclusiones y algunos planos. El titulo del libro traducido […]
- Masonry Heaters Integrated with Staircases
- Design Development for a Tulikivi Masonry Heater – applies to the process of selecting and locating any type of masonry heater.