The secret to the highly efficient heating achieved by masonry stoves, which surpasses even most modern systems, is their ability to store heat. This means that they can give off warmth many hours after the fire has gone out, making them truly green alternatives to an oil- or gas-fired heating system.
Masonry Stoves – sometimes known as Tile Stoves because they were traditionally tiled on the outside – are fully contained, and use doors much like a steel or cast iron woodburning stove to control the burning process. But they differ from the traditional woodburner in one major way, and that is the key to their astonishing efficiency of around 90%.
Instead of sending smoke – and a lot of heat – straight up the chimney and into the atmosphere, masonry stoves use the heat from the fire and the gases produced to heat up a large thermal mass of masonry. Using a system of flue passages built into the stove, the flue gases are moved through the stove – from side to side and up and down – so that almost all the thermal energy is dispersed into the masonry. Depending on the design, the heat is stored for up to 20 hours within the masonry, creating a heater that gives off warmth long after the fire has gone out. With a masonry heater, the warmth from last night’s fire will still be filling your home the following lunchtime!
But the benefits of the masonry stove don’t stop there. By using the thermal mass they are encased in, masonry heaters are able to push heat efficiently away from the stove through low frequency heat waves. This means that instead of overheating the room where it sits, as many conventional stoves do, a masonry heater will gently push heat to the far extremities of your home. It truly is a marvel of engineering, and should certainly be considered by any family looking to move to a sustainable but effective heating solution for their home.
With their unrivalled practicality, durability and efficiency, we at Gondwana Green Heat would suggest that masonry heaters may also be a great choice for a Scottish business wanting to heat its premises sustainably.
