Join us this May for a masonry heater build here at LTI. Masonry heaters are a fuel-efficient and beautiful way to heat homes that have been used for over a thousand years. Instead of a slow-burning, sooty woodstove, masonry heaters burn fast, hot, and clean, using their mass to absorb and then radiate heat into the home for hours. An armful of wood can often provide heat for a day. We are excited to welcome a knowledgeable and experienced stove mason, Jim Schalles of Tallgrass Hearth and Home, member of the Masonry Heater Association of North America, to teach this four-day workshop.
Masonry Heaters
Masonry heaters have been used in northern Europe for centuries, but the concept of using large amounts of mass to store wood-fire heat dates back millennia. The Romans used elevated hypocaust floors with fires beneath them to heat bath houses. The Koreans have used ondol floors to heat homes as far back as 5,000 BCE.
Most modern fireplaces and wood stoves send a considerable amount of heat up the flue and out of the building. Masonry stoves route the flue gasses up and then into chambers lined with firebrick, which absorb heat as the exhaust works its way towards the chimney. This allows the majority of the heat to be left in the heater before exhaust reaches the outside. Over the next twelve to twenty-four hours, that heat will dissipate and radiate into the room.
Because the mass of the masonry acts as a heat battery, storing energy from the fire and releasing it slowly into the room, a masonry stove does not need to be continually stoked with firewood. It can be fired once or twice day and the fires can be hot and fast. This means that the exhaust produced is clean, with practically no creosote or other particulates. This is the opposite of most wood stoves, which have restricted airflow to prolong a lower-temperature burn, releasing unwanted compounds to build up in the chimney.
This masonry heater will be built as part of LTI’s Ten-Mile-Building Challenge, where we have tasked ourselves with creating a small home using as many local materials as possible. This timber-frame structure will be primarily heated with this masonry heater in the great room, fueled by local wood.
Workshop Details
Over four days, you’ll learn the basic concepts and theory of masonry heaters, including sizing, materials selection, code issues, and practical considerations. Participants will get hands-on experience laying bricks, mixing mortar, installing door hardware, following plans, and more. We will discuss and may have an opportunity to apply plasters.
We’ll start each morning around 8:00 a.m., break for lunch, and wrap up around 4:00 p.m. Please bring work gloves (a pair of abrasion-resistant and a pair of waterproof would be ideal) and a few options of work clothes and layers (average high/low temp. 63F/42F, record 93F/19F). The build will take place in a structure and active work site, so protective shoes or boots should be worn. Hair ties, bandanas, etc. are a good idea but loose jewelry is not.
Participants can potentially stay on site (a rear parking pad can accommodate smaller RVs and tent spots may be available) or in Stoughton, WI, a 10-minute drive from LTI (Visit Stoughton provides a list of hotels and other accommodations). Tea, coffee, water, and other beverages will be available and a lunch will be provided each day. Dinner is “on your own”: Stoughton has a grocery store as well as many restaurants (see Visit Stoughton’s restaurant page; our favorites are Wendigo, Yeti’s Pizza, and Viking Brewpub.
The cost of this workshop is $600 per person, with a class size limited to eight. We recognize that this may be prohibitive for some, so we offer a “scholarship rate” of $400 and “sponsor rate” (for those in a position to help others) at $800. You can register on our online store. Be sure to indicate if you are an omnivore or vegetarian and if you are interested in camping.
Other places to find masonry heater workshops include the MHA gathering ($550-950/5 day, which Jim has also taught in the past) and Northhouse Folk School ($400/3 day, not offered every year).
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