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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…]

25 Cheap Ways to Keep Your House Warm in Winter

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For those looking to reduce your heating bill without a big investment, we've put together a list of 25 cheap ways to keep your house warm in winter. Some of these options reduce heat loss, others add heat to the home or keep the heat where you need it.

red house house in winter with snow - text "25 cheap ways to keep your house warm in winter"

This post is part of our Winter Home Heating Series, which includes:

Best Ways to Keep Your House Warm – New Construction and Remodeling

Keeping Warm – Winter Prep Check List for You and Your Home

Emergency Heat During a Power Outage and other Winter Storm Preps

[Read more…]

8 Things You Need to Know About Rocket Mass Heaters

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8 Things You Should Know About Rocket Mass Heaters - Learn how rocket mass heaters can save money you money on heating costs, reduce your environmental impact, and keep you warm in the coldest winters.
This is a guest post by Cassie Langstraat.

When I first heard about rocket mass heaters I was kind of skeptical. I read that they could eliminate something like 80-90% of the wood of a conventional stove and I thought, “Bah! That seems like a pretty unreasonable claim to me.”  So I put on my investigative pants and got pretty obsessed.

One of the first articles that I came across was Paul Wheaton's article on rocket mass heaters. He does a good job of breaking down the technology in a way that anyone can understand. So, I am going to relay some of his information as well as some other details I scrounged up! I want to tell you about several of the reasons why rocket mass heating is so important. Let’s jump in. [Read more…]

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