# Efficient Chimney Design



## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

I have been wanting to explore a more efficient fireplace and or chimney build design.

Is there a movement anywhere in the states that is seeing alot of this? Im not sure why this area isnt being touched on. 

Perhaps now that fuel is $4 a gallon people might think about it, although im not sure.

I have looked around alittle and there is a unit made by mastercraft masonry that is advertising 1 fire heats all day, pretty impressive if you ask me. 

Then there is the tried and true Rumford. Ive done alot of the kits made by superior clay corp, just cant beat that kind of perfection.

But is that it? Aside from a few different metal inserts is there anything else?

Ive seen the plans on the russian chimney once, I would like to know more about that also. Anyone ever build one?

I saw a graph of a metal insert wood burning fireplace in a wood chase, it got the worst efficiency rating out of all the fireplace designs they tested. Real great, homeowners, hell, even the builders dont know what they are installing anymore.


----------



## jvcstone (Apr 4, 2005)

Had a friend who installed a Russian fireplace once. Problem was it was here in central Texas where a unit like that doesn't make much sense. It takes a long time for all that mass to heat up, and our weather doesn't really allow for continuous fire for long periods of time. The concept seems sound to me though.

My opinion about heat-a-lator type metal fireboxes is pretty low. Good to see that someone has done some actual testing on them.

Can't beat a well built rumford for efficient heating.

JVC


----------



## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

I had built a Rumford in our last house. It was in a 16x25 family room and man o man, it would melt your eyebrows off!


----------



## 2low4nh (Dec 12, 2010)

We build mostly rumfords my grandfather used to build russians all the time they were expensive to build and were not commonly asked for. Sadly it was before my time so we have not built one in at least 10 years. I will stick to rumford style and if I ever get the chance to learn how to build russians i will.


----------



## Rockmonster (Nov 15, 2007)

This has interested me for some time. But where I am, wood is neither cheap nor plentiful. So interest in these is somewhere between zero and none. There is a guy whose work is really nice and interesting, I think he is in VT. William Davenport, who runs Turtlerock Masonry. Looks like he does a lot of design/build, also bread ovens, and I think he has a blog as well. There is a great site with PILES of info out of Canada, but I'm having a hard time pulling it up tonight. Try again tomorrow.


----------



## Michael Olding (Aug 5, 2008)

You know it's going to be awfully difficult to compete with the efficiency of a wood stove.

Rumsfords are great if you have a lot of wood and spend a lot of time in the fireplace room. Our main cabin is the gathering place for our family so in the winter when we all gather for drinks or dinner, the Rumsford works beautifully and is very cheerful.

When I return to my little cabin at the end of the evening though I wouldn't have anything other than a stove. Simple to operate and control. long burn times and can heat my 900 SF cabin with a few logs every 3 - 4 hours.

All masonry innovations of the last 30 - 40 years have been designed to remove as much of the 'mason' from the equation as possible. I wouldn't expect that to change anytime soon.


----------



## Tscarborough (Feb 25, 2006)

These are the most efficient I have seen:

http://www.rustiquebrickinc.com/QueenAir.htm


----------



## Michael Olding (Aug 5, 2008)

I didn't even know they were still making the Queen Air. It doesn't look much different than it did 30 years ago.


----------



## stoneman203 (May 17, 2011)

Buddy of mine has a Queen air system upstate NY, works really well. I have a traditional fireplace that i dropped the raised hearth and made the opening larger the box is not to deep, so it radiates off a lot of heat back into the room, but it take a while before that. My wood burning stove in the basement heats up most of the house.


----------



## ave (Feb 20, 2011)

I prefer a Rosin Style box over a Rumford. You can read about the history of Rosins design at Bellfiresusa.com . They have a a refractory firebox they sell. We hand build all of ours with good old firebrick and just use the rosin design. Bell shaped back wall and no smoke shelf.

I've built several different masonry heaters that heat really well, but they are really expensive to hand build. There are several refractory kits out there. Crossfire and Heat kit out of Canada. They are fairly reasonable in cost and not to tough to put together. Work pretty good to. Crossfire is the cheapest I found, but last time I did one the door stunk. Heat kits door is better but the unit is pricey. Then of course there is the soapstone unit from Tulikivi. All these heaters are Finnish contraflow design. I"ve seen a few russians but never built one.


----------



## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

Interesting fireplace, I noticed it says 50% smaller flue size, what does the building department say?


----------



## Tscarborough (Feb 25, 2006)

Probably nothing, since Rumfords are the same.


----------



## dom-mas (Nov 26, 2011)

super old thread I know. But if you're still interested take a look at mha-net. org(masonry heater assosciation) AKA russian/Finnish./serbian heater. Centuries of testing. Thoswe guys know their heaters and their fireplace design.

You could also look at a book called "The Book of Masonry Stoves" By David Lyle.


----------



## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

*fires*

There was a co. years ago that marketed a masonry stove "kit" called TESS it stood for thermal energy storage system. I sent away for their info. years ago,was impressed but never built one .I do not know if it is still made.


----------



## ave (Feb 20, 2011)

Heaters are a whole different animal. Just put together a Heat-kit unit. Pretty nice unit. I spoke with Norbert the mason that builds the kit. Very informative and helpful guy.


----------



## dom-mas (Nov 26, 2011)

ave said:


> Heaters are a whole different animal. Just put together a Heat-kit unit. Pretty nice unit. I spoke with Norbert the mason that builds the kit. Very informative and helpful guy.


Norbert Senf?? If so, yes incredibly knowledgeable. I took a couple courses from him years ago. One on fireplace design and another on bakeovens. Masonry heaters are another one of his specialties.


----------



## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

Yes building masonry heaters is on my Santa's list. We shall see what he delivers this year


----------



## NYCB (Sep 20, 2010)

I want to play with making one too, but my house is small enough as it is.

A really crafty guy up the road designed his own from salvaged bricks and flues and I was told it works very well. I have been meaning to go ask him about it but he is one of those guys that will talk your ear off for 3 hours when you stop in. So I need to wait until I have some free time.


----------



## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

*stoves*

Guys,is Norbert Senf the guy who made TESS kits? That name rings a bell.Back in late 70s & early 80s i recieved a magizine called NEW SHELTER,i think that is how i first heard of TESS. Are they still produced?


----------



## dom-mas (Nov 26, 2011)

fjn said:


> Guys,is Norbert Senf the guy who made TESS kits? That name rings a bell.Back in late 70s & early 80s i recieved a magizine called NEW SHELTER,i think that is how i first heard of TESS. Are they still produced?



I don't think he did. I googled his name and Tess and all I came up with was a bunch of heater guys tearing one down to install a masonry heater. i think I also read that the company is bankrupt.


----------



## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

*chimneys*

dom-mas Thanks for the info. i wondered about them.


----------

