Their masonry wood heater was a DIY project built with native limestone and includes a baking oven. It was built in the center of the house so that its heat could radiate out and up to keep the whole house cozy and warm in the northern winters. Originally from Australia, Alan lectures and runs workshops across the United States, under the aegis of his furnace construction and consulting company, Ovencrafters, based in Petaluma, California. Masonry heaters Designing, Building and Living with a Piece of Sun by Ken MateszReview written by Thomas J.
The book includes plans to build a style of masonry stove, with enough drawings cut out of other stoves to give the reader many more ideas and inspirations. And while a skilled bricklayer could successfully design and build a masonry heater from this book, I'm afraid the DIYer will find that the text lacks the details needed to continue. Eppel demonstrates the step-by-step process of building a masonry chimney, starting with the foundation and ending with the chimney. Taking the heat-storing capacity of brick beyond the simple chimney, they began building closed masonry stoves (so that the air supply could be outside air instead of the already heated interior air), and they designed the chimney so that the hot gases produced by the fire would flow through a long brick maze.
I came to suspect that I didn't think anyone could go ahead and build their own stove and that, by selling me the parts, I would “get hooked” and, eventually, I would get a contract to build my stove. Even the author of this book insinuated that if you were an amateur, you had to be a little crazy to try to build your own stove. The book details the history, benefits and advantages of masonry heaters and then provides guidance for designing and building your own masonry heater. Since the masonry heater was the first decision that was made when building this house, the rest of the house was designed around the concept.
