A masonry heater (also called a masonry stove) is a device for heating an interior space by means of radiant heating, capturing the heat from the periodic burning of fuel (usually wood) and then radiating the heat at a fairly constant temperature for an extended period. A masonry heater allows you to heat your home with wood in a unique way.
Masonry heaters
are wood stoves with a welded steel or cast iron housing replaced by bricks and mortar. They are very efficient at heating an entire house and produce much higher temperatures with their fuel than standard metal stoves.Like all forms of heating, they have certain advantages and disadvantages. Masonry heaters burn wood much hotter, reflect heat back into the fire for more complete initial combustion, and then what doesn't burn in primary combustion is completed in the secondary chamber, which has another exhaust fan to ignite the mixture of hot gases, so they have very few of these hydrocarbon gases adhering to the chimney. Masonry heaters are often custom manufactured, and these units can meet a wide range of design needs and special requirements. Anyone knows of a masonry heater that is also used to heat a sauna (up to 180 degrees), as well as many other living environments.
The main thing that distinguishes a masonry heater from other wood heating appliances is the ability to store a large amount of heat. The MHA is an association of builders, manufacturers and retailers of masonry heaters and wood-fired masonry cooking ovens whose purpose is to promote industry and sponsor research. This makes masonry heaters much more efficient and, because the combustion chambers are well designed, they produce minimal amounts of harmful emissions. In the United States, the Masonry Heaters Association (MHA), a non-profit organization, combines all the cutting-edge innovation and traditional construction skills in the construction of masonry heaters and promotes their application through education, testing, certification and annual meetings.
How Dana heaters work There's an elegant simplicity to masonry heaters and that's reflected in the concerns you raise. Basically, what happens is that the fuel burns in the combustion chamber, which is like the “engine”, and then most of the heat produced is “absorbed” in the heavy body of the heater, like in a battery, which then slowly releases that heat to its environment, your home. That's not to say it's impossible to overload a heater and be forced to break a window, but this is less likely with a masonry heater than with an iron or steel stove or even a small soapstone living room stove. A heater with a facade thickness of 3 to 4 inches provides moderate heat transfer, not too fast or too slow.
We have a bench with surround heating where smoke passes through after leaving the heater core before climbing up the chimney. From a performance and comfort perspective, masonry heaters take a long time to heat up, but then continue to radiate heat for a very long period of time, typically 18 to 24 hours. And if it's going to be a sunny fall day and you have a lot of south-facing windows, turning on the masonry heater in the morning can cause a period of overheating later on, when solar gain peaks.
