|
What’s a Masonry Heater?
A masonry heater allows you to heat your home
with wood in a unique way.
Its main distinction is the ability to store a large amount of
heat.
This means that you can rapidly burn a large charge of wood without overheating
your house. The heat is stored in the masonry thermal mass, and then slowly
radiates into your house for the next 18 to 24 hours.
If you burn wood fairly rapidly, it is a clean fuel.
If you try to burn it too slowly, the fire will change from flaming to
smoldering combustion. Atmospheric pollution increases dramatically.
This is important if you are planning an energy-efficient house.
The average energy demand of your house will be quite low. For most of
the time, it may require only 1 to 2 kW of heat. For most conventional
woodstoves, this is below their “critical burn rate”, or the
point where they start to smolder. In other words, woodburning and energy
efficient houses don’t really suit each other very well, unless you
have some way to store heat so that your stove can operate in the “clean”
range all of the time.
Masonry heaters fill the bill perfectly.
If you need even a very small amount of heat, such as between seasons
when you simply want to take off the chill, you simply burn a smaller
fuel charge–yet you still burn it quickly. The large surface is never
too hot to touch. You have a premium radiant heating system with a comfort
level that simply cannot be equaled by convection or forced air systems.
If you would like to see some masonry heaters,
a good place to start is in our Gallery.
Other good places are the MHA Gallery,
and Gallery Row at the the Masonry Heater
Mall
MHA Definition of a Masonry Heater
|
