Schoolhouse Retrofit -- Masonry Heater

Pictures of the Masonry Heater being built.  The Masonry Heater provides a beautiful and efficient way to heat the low heat loss schoolhouse/home.  A typical 50 lb fire of mixed hardwood lasts about two and a half hours, heats up the thermal mass of the heater,
which radiates stored heat for the next day or two.

 

Last winter was somewhat colder than average. For all of January and February, there were a total of 22 firings over 59 days - or slightly more frequent than every third day! That equates to a live fire less than 4% of the time - during the worst of the winter!

 

 

Click on thumbnails to see full size picture
 

After wash down of stone facing

Jay Beckwith doing the stone facing

White bake overn holds five loaves of bread at a time.

Three to four loads of bread bake in sequence per firing.

The completed Masonry Heater

Norbert Senf building the Masonry Heater

South side of heater

Both heater's slab base and solarium floor were stained with inexpensive 'High Yield TM' (agricultural iron sulphate) and Varathaned TM.

From the west

 

 

 

Gary August 6, 2009