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What You Need to Know About Masonry Heaters for Radiant Heat

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Pros and cons of masonry heaters, plus the things you need to consider before adding a masonry heater to new construction or remodeling project.

Masonry heaters store heat from wood, gas or electricity in brick, concrete, ceramics or stone, and releases the stored heat via radiant heat transfer over time. Our unit burns at over 1500°F, but the flue gases that go up the chimney are only around 300-350°F. That heat is absorbed by the thermal mass of the masonry stove, and then transferred to the house – not up the chimney.

This is an ancient heating technique used for thousands if not tens of thousands of years. Masonry heaters were used long before the Romans, with some underground and cave masonry heaters dating back well over 5000 years.

Masonry heaters include masonry stoves or masonry ovens and even the modern cousin the rocket mass heater. Larger masonry heaters can have benches or seats built into them. Some also include a baking oven or even a full cooking stove. We will focus on wood fired masonry heaters, but most of the concepts apply to other heat sources. [Read more…] about What You Need to Know About Masonry Heaters for Radiant Heat

Building an Eco Home – part 6 of 8 – the Deck, Cabinetry and Woodwork

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Building an Eco Home part 6 - The Deck, Cabinetry and Woodwork @ Common Sense Home

The “Building an Eco Home” series is nine articles that were originally published in The Healthy Independent while we were in the process of building our current home. I have made only minor edits to include links and format for the online publishing. I will be discussing green building and remodeling in more detail in upcoming posts, so if you want to know more about a topic, please make a request.

Moving In!

Moving day finally arrived on June 22nd, 2005. After a flurry of packing and final push to make the house livable (there was no running water as of 6/20/05), we were in. The next two weeks continued to feature an array of craftsmen finishing odds and ends around the house, much to the surprise and dare I say dismay of our exchange student, Carlota. [Read more…] about Building an Eco Home – part 6 of 8 – the Deck, Cabinetry and Woodwork

Building an Eco Home – part 5 of 8 – Floor Plans

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Building an Eco Home - Floor Plans @ Common Sense Home

The “Building an Eco Home” series is nine articles that were originally published in The Healthy Independent while we were in the process of building our current home. I have made only minor edits to include links and format for the online publishing. I will be discussing green building and remodeling in more detail in upcoming posts, so if you want to know more about a topic, please make a request.

For those of you who are new to our “eco-home”, let me provide a brief overview of progress to date. Our goal at the start of this project was to build a home that conserved energy and resources, was accessible for family and friends with physical limitations, and had enough acreage that we could fully pursue our interests in organic gardening, orcharding, heirloom plants and livestock and other outdoor pursuits.

Finding the right property in our budget was a challenge, but we did it. (Read more about that in part 2.)  House placement and access presented some more challenges, but we finally broke ground in October 2004. Just about everything that could happen to slow things down, did, but we are finally nearing completion. Hopefully by the end of May or early June we will be moving into our new home. [Read more…] about Building an Eco Home – part 5 of 8 – Floor Plans

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