Masonry Heaters: Designing, Building, and Living with a Piece of the Sun

Ken Matesz

Chelsea Green Publishing, Sep 7, 2010 - Technology & Engineering - 352 pages

Masonry Heatersis a complete guide to designing and living with one of the oldest, and yet one of the newest, heating devices. A masonry heater's design, placement in the home, and luxurious radiant heat redefine the hearth for the modern era, turning it into a piece of the sun right inside the home. Like the feeling one gets from the sun on a spring day, the environment around a masonry heater feels fresh. The radiant heat feels better on the skin. It warms the home both gently and efficiently. In fact, the value of a masonry heater lies in its durability, quality, serviceability, dependability, and health-supporting features. And it is an investment in self-sufficiency and freedom from fossil fuels.The book discusses different masonry heater designs, including variations extant in Europe, and explains the growth of their popularity in the United States beginning in the late 1970s. For the reader who may be familiar only with open fireplaces and metal woodstoves, Masonry Heaterswill bring a new understanding and appreciation of massive heat storage and gentle-but-persistent radiant heat. Masonry heaters offer a unique comfort that is superior to that from convection heat from forced-air systems, and more personal than that offered by "radiant" floors. As Matesz demonstrates, the heat from the sun or from a masonry heater is genuine heat instead of just insulation against the loss of heat.Those who are looking to build, add onto, or remodel a house will find comprehensive and practical advice for designing and installing a masonry heater, including detailed discussion of materials, code considerations, and many photos and illustrations. While this is not a do-it-yourself guide for building a masonry heater, it provides facts every heater builder should know. Professional contractors will find this a useful tool to consult, and homeowners considering a new method of home heating will find all they need to know about masonry heaters within these pages.

What people are saying

Review: Masonry Heaters: Designing, Building, and Living with a Piece of the Sun

User Review  - Elizabeth - Goodreads

There aren't many books about masonry heaters. I found this one to be very informative, with a balance of what masonry heaters are, how they function, along with plenty of great pictures. I'm ...

Contents

• PART ONE Redefining the Hearth: 1
• PART TWO Designing a Piece of the Sun: 83
• PART THREE Building a Piece of the Sun: 169
• PART FOUR Living with a Piece of the Sun: 231
• Appendices: 291
• Endnotes: 307
• Index: 313
• About the Author: 327

About the author

Ken Matesz first learned about masonry heaters in the early 1980s, built his first one in the early 1990s, and opened the Masonry Heater Store, LLC after the turn of the new century. Matesz's first solo heater project in 1994, a Finnish-style heater in his own home, gave his family heating energy independence. Now, with his new book, Masonry Heaters, he hopes to show many others how they can achieve the same freedom and a better standard of living using this simple but elegant way of heating. He lives in Swanton, Ohio.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Masonry Heaters: Designing, Building, and Living with a Piece of the Sun
• Author: Ken Matesz
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2010
• ISBN: 1603582134, 9781603582131
• Length: 352 pages
• Subjects: Dwellings; Dwellings - Heating and ventilation; Dwellings/ Heating and ventilation; House & Home / Design & Construction; House & Home / Do-It-Yourself / Masonry; House & Home / General; House & Home / Sustainable Living; Stoves, Masonry; Technology & Engineering / Construction / Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning; Technology & Engineering / Construction / Masonry