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But the 24/24 problem still there (well in my head ). No need to have a heavy mass to stock heat if the stove burns non-stop, on high or low output.
Just put an electric heater inside of a mass fireplace let it run 24/24, play with the low to high settings as you want to. If you don't STOP it you realise no mass advantage.
Never burned bit but I suppose you don't stop and start the stove each day?

Just put an electric heater inside of a mass fireplace let it run 24/24, play with the low to high settings as you want to

WHAT

It smooths out the highs and lows with a fuel subject to that burn pattern. A house does that too on a day with 80 degree high and 50 degree low.

2001Sierra wrote:Just put an electric heater inside of a mass fireplace let it run 24/24, play with the low to high settings as you want to

WHAT

I think what he means is that, having a mass to retain heat isn't doing any benefit if you never turn the heat source off so it can radiate its acquired heat. That's why you would want a mass heated right? so it has an opportunity to release its heat without its heat source making the heat lol..

Quit it

Hey there,
I have to agree with everybodys objections.
There is a long tradition of building thermal mass heaters for the use of coal (kachelofen) in eastern Germany... My grandparents had 2 like the one shown below: BUT (actually two "buts"):
- the whole point about doing so was reduced fuel consumption by building only two raging hot fires a day with a relatively small amount of fuel and allowing the stove to radiate the stored heat over the following 8-12hrs

- the cheapest coal available in eastern Germany is, and has always been, mainly high volatile bit or high ranking lignite processed into coal briquettes. Both fuels have burn characeristics close to that of wood if you allow enough air in, so the concept of a thermal mass heater for coal is very much like that of an appliance of the same sort for wood. Have two raging fires a day with a small amount of fuel and enjoy radiant heat for the rest of the day.

btw: a stove like the one shown above would need 2 fillings of 6-8lbs of lignite briquettes per day, three fillings in really cold weather.
Mark

Hi Firebug we missed you. Love those stoves.

I am starting to put together a Dahlen original pre AGA. I believe it to be the oldest AGA in existence.This stove which was made in Sweden and is a wood burner. It weighs over a ton (my one ton forklift had it's rear wheels off the ground) and thanks to your post it just occurred to me.

Of course, it can be an intermittent heater and supplier of DHW as the mass will take time to cool down. The water is warmed in a 400 pound copper ( ) jug as it is a batch water heater. I am wracking my brain to see how it can burn anthracite but that is just not going to happen as it has no ash tray to speak of. I am going to clean it off today and post pics. Massivity works too.

Thanks Lightning for the translation. It seems that I should go back to school ...

And about all the littérature I have for thermal mass ,they all specifie that : if wanting the real benefits of a mass heater, you should let the fire dies to get the stored heat back ,released slowly in the house.

2001Sierra, hum hum, your right, my English doesn't help me to ""say"" exactly what I want to.
But if you do some searches, you will learn that: Tulikivi makes mass fireplaces(soap stone) that you can heat up with electricity, by installing elements in the smoke channels.
The idea is to benefit from off-peak electricity. Heat can be stored during the night to be releasd next day. I don't say that it's good or bad but just sending your back

Pierre my quebecois friend, your English is just fine. Hell, better then most in Freetown.

In a stove like this wood should be burned hard and fast. Therefore does that mean that pine wood can be burned in a stove like this?

The preference has been to reject pinewood in a wood stove because they tar and creosote the vent stack faster than woods like oak and other hardwoods. If I do run into a load of pine, I save it anyway but that gets burned in the outdoor firepit. So, can pine be burned in these masonry heaters?

REAL SEASONED pine, spruce, which ever, doesn't create any more creosote then ash or maple which is more likely burned half seasoned anyway. Ya want fast & hot--there's your baby. I'm talkin being seasoned at least a year or more.

I had a masonry heater and used it for 20 years (see post above). Tried softwoods and although they do burn fast, you don't get as much heat out of them compared to the same amount of hardwood and you have to feed the fire more. The denser the wood the more heat is produced. I didn't even like oak because of it's course grain, it retains/absorbs too much moisture unless stored in a completely dry enclosure (shed). Woods like maple, birch, beech, cherry, etc. worked the best.