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Allentown, PA: Fieldstone Finnish Contraflow Masonry Heater
04 July '10 by admin, under Fire Works Masonry News.
The owners of this new home in Allentown, PA designed the house to accommodate their growing family, reduce their energy bills, as well as include a fireplace as the centerpiece of the main living area. After researching clean burning, efficient fireplaces they decided on a masonry heater.
This masonry heater is an an ideal place: roughly centered in the home, dividing the kitchen and main living area. The kitchen side is faced in brick while the living room is faced with natural, local fieldstone. The kitchen will have access to the rear white bake-oven. the living room side will have a long heated bench and a convenient large wood storage area.
Viewed from the balcony above the living room, the masonry heater’s design includes brick for the bench and heater cap, granite for the mantle and wood box cap, and local Pennsylvania fieldstone for the facing material. About a quarter of the stones used were from the property’s excavation. The chimney will transition to a metal pipe above the masonry, carrying the fireplace exhaust gases safely through the home.
The masonry heater’s white bake-oven is opposite the firebox, centered in the kitchen.
All masonry heaters start with the high temperature core. This Finnish contraflow design uses a Heat Kit core. The core below is wrapped in a fiberglass blanket. The blanket acts to provide a paper thin slip gap between the hot core and the heater’s stone facing. The firebrick heated bench and block chimney base are also completed, awaiting the 4-5″ thick stone veneer application.
Once the core is completed, the brick facing in the kitchen is completed.
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Old Bridge, NJ: Double Bell Masonry Heater Core, Natural Thin Stone Veneer
21 March '10 by admin, under Fire Works Masonry News.
The owners of this home have been remodeling and updating for several years. After a storm badly damaged the existing masonry chimney, they decided to update and improve the fireplace as well. After researching efficient fireplaces they settled on a clean burning masonry heater. The existing fireplace was in an ideal spot for the family to enjoy the masonry heater, dividing the kitchen and living room.
The existing kitchen’s cabinet layout as well as the limited footprint size restricted the masonry stove’s layout. The unique double bell heater core was designed by Alex Chernov of Stove Master.
Once the existing traditional masonry fireplace was demolished to its foundation, the high temperature masonry heater core is started. Below is a photo of the base courses from above. The firebox base supports are to the left, divided by the ash dump channel. To the right of the photo are the heat exchange channels. The top channel is the downdraft transitioning into the smaller updraft channel below.
The core continues. Above the firebox, the black bake-oven starts. Below is a photo if the bake-oven floor. The throat from the firebox is open on the left. The exit from black back oven starts on the center of the photo. The hot gases travel from the firebox throat, heating the black oven and enter the downdraft channel.
The black bake-oven and downdraft channeled are capped with high temperature firebrick tiles. The wooden template supports the arch for the side bake-oven door.
The heater will also be rough faced with a firebrick outer shell. The start of the firebrick facing can be seen below. The completed firebrick masonry shell will be faced with natural thin veneer facing stone. Once the firebrick shell is completed, the natural thin stone veneer gets underway.
The thin stone veneer continues to the ceiling, arching over the side bake-oven door.
Once the stone is completed, the loading, bake-oven, ash box, and clean out doors are installed. The bench is ready for the marble capping stone.
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Perkiomenville, PA Finnish Contraflow Masonry Heater: Heat Kit Core, Heated Bench, and Chimney Installation
21 February '10 by admin, under Fire Works Masonry News.
The owner of this new home in Montgomery County, PA is realizing a life long dream: designing and building a low energy home. The design includes a geothermal system, passive solar heating, high R value insulation, a trombe wall, and a clean burning masonry heater.
The owner placed the heater in the best location possible, roughly centered in the home’s floor plan. He also took advantage of the heater’s thermal mass in the passive solar design. The home and heater are positioned for maximum solar gain during the winter months. The sun’s path tracks over the living room and heater almost the entire day. The masonry heater’s completed Heat Kit core is catching the late afternoon sun in the photo below.
The space above the heater opens to the second floor bedrooms. A photo of the heater’s core. firebrick chimney liner, and heated benches seen from the upstairs catwalk.
The completed brick heater will have a heated bench in front and a heated wood box to the right side of the loading doors. The firebrick liner for the heated woodbox is pictured below. The Heat Kit core is wrapped in a fiberglass blanket to allow for thermal expansion.
Below is a photo of the heater’s chimney liner, built with firebricks. The chimney liner, and entire heater, will be wrapped with a brick facing.
The firebrick lining the bench and chimney will add to the thermal mass of the system and increase the heat transfer form the hot exhaust gases. The opening for the simple slide chimney damper can be seen near the top of the firebrick chimney liner in the photo below.
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West Chester, PA: Fieldstone Finnish Contraflow Masonry Heater
30 January '10 by admin, under Fire Works Masonry News.
This project is a large stone masonry heater in a West Chester, PA home. The family’s old natural gas boiler was due for an expensive repair and servicing or complete replacement. The family decided to go for clean burning masonry heater instead for the home’s primary heat source.
The large fireplace is faced with local Pennsylvania fieldstone surrounding the high temperature core. This is a Finnish contraflow design masonry heater. There is an optional bake-oven for cooking above the firebox as well as a long heated bench. The fire’s exhaust gases travel through this bench before exiting into the fieldstone faced chimney to the right of the firebox.
The fireplace and heated bench are capped with flagstones.
The chimney is faced in fieldstone as well. The chimney transitions to a metal, double wall insulated pipe above the ceiling in the photo below.
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Valley Forge, PA Finnish Contraflow Masonry Heater: Heat Kit Core, Chimney & Bench Installation
27 January '10 by admin, under Fire Works Masonry News.
The owners of this great room addition designed the new space with energy efficiency in mind. This includes high R value wall insulation and windows, maximizing the solar gain from the southern windows and a clean burning masonry heater fireplace.
The client’s researched wood burning fireplaces online and decided to build a masonry heater. For the core, they were impressed by Masonry Stove Builders’ Heat Kit contraflow core.
From the loft, the high temperature concrete capping slabs are visible as well the masonry chimney to the rear. This is a “corner” unit with 45 degree downdraft channels on either side of the loading doors. The clay flue liners in front will be a warming bench. The rectangular holes in the flue tiles are “clean outs” providing seasonal access to clean fly ash out of the heater channels. the masonry chimney is visible behind the heater core.
The flue tiles provide additional heat transfer from the fire’s hot exhaust gases to the masonry stone veneer. The block chimney is located behind the heater. The masonry chimney will transition to a class “A”, double wall metal pipe above the top of the heater.
The Heat Kit’s white bake-oven is located directly above the firebox loading doors. The oven is warmed as the hot combustion gases pass over and under the pre-fabricated oven floor and arched top.
The heater will be faced with 4-6″ native Pennsylvania ledgerock.
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Pipersville, PA: Natural Fieldstone Retaining Wall
06 January '10 by admin, under Fire Works Masonry News.
This long, decorative natural fieldstone retaining wall surrounds the large greenhouse above. The wall replicates the many fieldstone walls on the property, some dating back to the 1700′s.
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Florham Park, New Jersey: Fieldstone Finnish Contraflow Masonry Heater
19 December '09 by admin, under Fire Works Masonry News.
For the client’s desired aesthetics, the heater was built on a 45′ angle to the living room and kitchen. The corner of the heater dividing the two rooms is pictured below.
The far opposite end of the heater radiates into the bedroom and bathroom at the end of the hall. Below is the view of the heater’s stonework from the rooms.
Below is a photo of the start of the Pennsylvania fieldstone facing. The 5″ thick stone facing will absorb and store the fire’s energy for up to 24 hours.
The heater is in an ideal location for any home: dividing the kitchen and main living space. The firebox and viewing doors will warm the living room while the bake-oven will open to the rear into the kitchen, next to the heated bluestone countertop.
Below is the far end of the heater stone work proceeding to the ceiling.
The heater starts with the high temperature core built on a masonry foundation. The core is hand-built from firebricks. Below we see the firebox side of the heater core. The masonry chimney venting the heater exhaust gases stands to the left of the core.
The Finnish contraflow core and chimney are completed and ready for the stone veneer.
- The rear side of the core opens into the kitchen. The rectangular opening on the back of the core is the white bake-oven for cooking.
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Florham Park, New Jersey: Exterior Natural Fieldstone Home Veneer
15 December '09 by admin, under Fire Works Masonry News.
View of the client’s home after a major home renovation. The natural fieldstone stone veneer wraps around the porch providing a focal point for the home’s new look. The new stone chimney is also visible. The chimney vents the new masonry heater warming the home.
The porch top is Pennsylvania bluestone in a random pattern.
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Hampton, New Jersey: Swedish Five Channel Masonry Heater
22 July '09 by admin, under Fire Works Masonry News.
The family’s heater after several seasons of use is seen in the photo below.
The heater viewed from the opposite side is shown below. The bake-oven is in the home’s kitchen.
The owners of this 1970′s Colonial home were delighted to find a secluded, beautiful wooded lot in the rural North West New Jersey. The family decided to take advantage of the ample woods in the surrounding area as a way to reduce energy bills and their impact on the environment. After researching clean and efficient wood burning appliances they arrived at the best choice for burning cordwood: a masonry heater.
The home had an existing traditional, inefficient wood burning fireplace. The fireplace is centered in the home, dividing the kitchen and living room, a perfect location for a masonry heater.
The kitchen view of the rear of the existing fireplace.
The family decided to renovate the original kitchen and open up the floor plan. The heater’s bake-oven and radiant heat will both warm the kitchen.
The existing fireplace is demolished and removed to a local recycling center. The fireplace’s foundation was modified to accommodate the new masonry heater . Once the foundation work is completed, a new concrete hearth pad is poured and capped with a course of firebricks.
The new masonry heater hearth pad with firebrick base course
The facing brick begins around the loading doors.
The brick facing continues.
The facing brick on the rear of the heater, including the bake-oven arch.
A view from the side of the completed brick work.
The first coat of surface bonding cement is applied.
The rear of the heater after the first surface bonding cement application.
A small curing fire burns in the firebox shortly after the first coat of American Clay plaster is applied.
The first coat of American Clay plaster is applied.
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Milford, Connecticut: Finnish Contraflow Masonry Heater.
18 January '09 by admin, under Fire Works Masonry News.
The homeowners warm the downstairs construction project.
- The fireplace is finished before the rest of the ambitious home improvement project.
This simple stucco Finnish contraflow heater warms the center of a 100 year old home in Milford, Ct. The old home is being completed upgraded by the new owners.
When considering the home’s energy plan, the family started by increasing the home’s efficiency and lowering the home’s heat load. The family gutted the old plaster and lathe walls and filled the uninsulated empty voids with insulation. The old single pane windows were replaced next with modern low emissivity energy efficient windows.
The home also had an existing original fireplace. The fireplace was not energy efficient nor safe by modern code standards. When considering energy efficiency in their plan, this fireplace had no place.
The front and rear of the old, traditional fireplace.
The fireplace and chimney were demolished and removed leaving the space open for a wood burning appliance and vented with a new metal double wall insulated chimney pipe.
When considering a heat source for the old home, the family decided on an old wood burning solution; a clean burning masonry heater. The family contacted Amazin’ Masons and the heater design work began.
The family wanted a simple heater to fit the space and design style of the home. They liked the idea of a clay stucco finish on a heater with clean straight lines. A few possible designs were sketched for review.
Once the design for the new heater is finalized, the work can begin on the core. The heater’s core goes up quickly using Masonry Stove Builders’ Heat-Kit.
The firebox is completed and the core continues.
The Heat-Kit core is completed and ready for the capping slabs.
The block veneer begins around the Heat-Kit core. Four inch concrete blocks are used for an inexpensive heater shell.
The block veneer continues above the loading door.
The block veneer rises above the heater core.
Once the block shell and chimney are completed, the first scratch coat is applied.
The second coat of thin-set plaster.
Once the stucco plaster is completed, the doors are installed and the first curing fires begin.
One of the first fires burns down inside the firebox.
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