Code Requirements
There are a few basic requirements for all masonry heater installations. To determine whether you are able to install a masonry heater check your City and State regulations.
- If a masonry heater is placed near a non-combustible material such as a dry-wall interior wall you must be a minimum of 4” from the wall. We typically install our units at 5” simply because we have found that it allows the most room for the rear of the unit to radiate the heat into the surrounding room while still being close to the wall.
- The building code requires a non-combustible floor in the hearth area (spark protection zone in front of the firebox). Please check with your building department. ASTM E 1602-94 recommends 16” depth in front of the firebox and a width that extends 8” on each side of the firebox. You can achieve this by making the foundation or pad beneath the heater with this added space or we can install a FOAMGLAS insulating barrier. The FOAMGLAS allows us to build the heater on combustible materials such as a wood floor. The 16” area in front and 8” to the sides of the fuel door can be then covered with any tile or non-combustible finishing material.
- All of our masonry heaters require a double-wall insulated fluepipe. The smaller units will have a 6” inside diameter pipe and the larger units will use an 8” inside diameter fluepipe.
Sustainability is often defined by “design with nature.” Masonry heaters are a historical way to heat your home using all natural stone (thermal mass) and renewable fuel (wood) to create heat. Not only is this process utilizing natures resources the emissions from a masonry heater are far less harmful to the environment than any other wood burning heating appliance. Our heaters combine the resources of the earth with design and engineering to not only function extremely well but to be comfortable and attractive while doing it. Our masonry heaters play a major role in “green” home building and off the grid living. We integrate sustainability into our products, our attitudes and our lifestyles.
Air quality is an ongoing concern both inside your home and outside in the atmosphere. It is proven that the particulate emissions of masonry heaters are in the super-low category of 1-2 g/hour; in comparison to the current EPA requirement of 7.5 g/hr limit. Most wood stoves and fireplaces fall within the 5-7.5 g/hr range.In 2009 the Cold Climate Housing Research Center recommended to the EPA that masonry heaters receive “exempt status” paralleling current EPA language based on “inherent low emissions.” As a result, the EPA does not require certification for masonry heaters.
Discover the benefits of safe, comfortable, allergy reducing wood heat. Join the movement towards a cleaner, safer environment and freedom from imported fossil fuels. Masonry heaters are the cleanest way to heat with wood, period. Our heaters have a smaller carbon footprint than even the most efficient gas furnaces, stoves or fireplaces and consistently test cleaner burning that even the best EPA certified wood stoves.