check out tulikivi.com

I have been interested in them myself for quite some time, and am in the design stage for a room dividing type to seperate my kitchen from a new sitting room as part of a large addition my wife and I are undertaking this year. Much technical reading has convinced me to go it alone, with limited contractor assistance. Most people I've talked to have never heard of them anyway, so why pay somebody you have to train too.
I'll hire somebody to lay up the chimney to my specs. so I can get the roof flashed in and shingled, and then I'll build the heater to the side of the chimney once I've gathered everything to complete the job right. I had my architect add the 12" thick dbl. rebar pad area to support it and am working on getting a finished height mark to allow for the floor hearth and insulating concrete pour for the core. It may take me a lot longer to build, but I plan on using options that I don't see in others work. It will be based on the Russian free flow of gases principle, but the second hood will be my bakeoven. I plan on making a scale model with a glass back wall to experiment with air injection placement height and measuring temps throughout with a digital thermometer. Going to be a fun project. I love engineering design.

As a Tulikivi owner, and wife of an installer, I can tell you they are wonderful. However, you should know that they are not a DIY project. We often give homeowners a discount for assisting with the install, but if you do it yourself, you can void the UL listing.

Tulikivi????? That is probably thee masonry heater that is the most well known but gives all masonry heaters in general a bad persona. Not too many interior designs can make one of those look as though it belongs, so it prevents the further research into more asthetically pleasing units that can live more in harmony with Old World, Traditional or many other decors. Industrial-Contemporary style is fading as homeowners are returning to interiors of the past. JMHO

Tulikivi's may look out of place in a mud hut, but ours looks beautiful in our log home. It certainly does not look industrial, and draws rave reviews from all who visit. It looks very much like part of the home. Masonry heaters would be nowhere if it were not for Tulikivi.

Glad the installer's wife is so smitten, but wrong on the facts. Masonry heaters are the heat source for many, but just not in this country due to high labor costs to build one from such a small pool of craftsman, (many states have no MHA presence), that are deemed certified in their construction. So this leaves many prospective customers back to looking at shiny enameled metal fuel pigs or what you deem put the H in heater.

*It's a shame the business of a better way is always a small grass roots effort, and so rarely ever gets off the ground.