Masonry heaters are extremely clean burning devices producing no smoke or ash mess. Our heater uses about two cords of firewood a year. We enjoy a fabulously romantic real fireplace, generate clean wood ash for fertilizer or deicing, and have the most comfortable heating around.
Masonry heaters burn materials so completely that you can burn softwoods, like pine, and you may never have to clean your chimney. We’ve had one or two small, short fires in our masonry heater every winter day since 1995 and our chimney is still clean. We’ve even fired pottery because of the high temperature inside of the heating unit.
If you are concerned about utility bills and don’t mind spending a couple of days each year getting healthy exercise picking up free firewood that your neighbors are throwing out, a masonry heater might work well for you. You can even grow your own firewood on your property. Does a cozy fire on a cold winter day sound appealing? It even works when your power goes out.
Many people with inefficient fireplaces are switching to outdoor boilers, which we believe is a big mistake. Two neighbors have them and they are so inefficient that they have to burn 12 to 14 cords of firewood to heat smaller homes. In addition, the smoke created by these units envelops their home in a potentially toxic cloud. You don’t even see any smoke coming out of our chimney because of the high efficiency masonry heater.
Masonry heaters can be designed into a new or existing home and cost from $8,000 to more than $20,000, depending on the size and features you want. Once it’s built it will last as long as your home and is virtually free to operate. |
