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tetrazzini

anyone have a tulikivi?

tetrazzini
16 years ago

just wondering. we got one 5 years ago, retrofitted into our 1968 house. it's the tall, 7' model, dividing the kitchen from the living room. we love it, we grill and bake in it in winter occasionally, and it heats well. (one downside is that if you're grilling meat, it tends to splatter, and we have a couple of grease splatters on the outside to show for it.)

but at the time i didn't think of how it would go with the rest of the house, design and color wise. i'm redoing the kitchen soon and i'm trying to decide if i should try to incorporate it's looks (i.e., dark stone countertops) or just kind of do the kitchen the way i originally envisioned (maple butcherblock)... it also isn't a great match with the orangy cherry floors we have.

anybody have anything to share about living with their tulikivi?

i'm just kind of thinking out loud....

Comments (65)

  • kristens
    16 years ago

    This one is big, but not HUGE. About 5 to 5 1/2 feet tall. It will definitely be a production to get it out. The last owner was a mason and installed it himself. It is black, or maybe you'd call it dark gray? The chimney sweep who inspected it said it was in good shape.

    Does that help?

  • dixielogs
    16 years ago

    maybe you could do the needed repairs? not sure what you mean about it not being insulated properly unless they put it against a wall without a heat shield.

    Chelone,
    many of the units are open on both sides and can be placed into a wall so as to provide access from each room.

  • nhyankee
    16 years ago

    kristen pending a converstion with my wife, I'm interested in seeing what you have. I live in central NH. Click on my name and send me a message regarding how to contact you.

  • chelone
    16 years ago

    If the units are open on both sides do the openings access the same firebox or seperate ones?

  • dixielogs
    16 years ago

    the openings access the same fireboc. Here are photos of the same unit through the wall first the great room side, then the bedroom side

  • chelone
    16 years ago

    Can you access the same chimney flue but have different fireboxes, say, on different floors of the house?

  • dixielogs
    16 years ago

    you cannot share the flue but you can put two flues into one chimney framed area, side by side

  • chelone
    16 years ago

    Interesting. Not the same thing as "code" for woodstoves in my community.

    Thanks for your replies!

  • dixielogs
    16 years ago

    probably because most woodstoves use single-wall pipe and with the Tulikivi we use a double-wall insulated pipe

  • nhyankee
    16 years ago

    Chelone I think Dixielogs is referring to two flues in a chimney chase while I think you are talking about two appliances on the same flue which is against most codes.

    I was able to find some information in the link below about some masonry heater design from Russia which has a setup for a firebox on each floor. I'm not sure how it would stand up to our code system but it is interesting. A warning, the writing is a bit technical and dry.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Multi-story masonry heaters

  • dixielogs
    16 years ago

    OK, temps around here have now hit the point where we are going to do 2 firings of our Tulikivi, one in the morning and one at night.

    Lows have been around 20-25 and the highs are about 40. House cooled down to 62 at night with only one fire a day so we are going to be doing a second fire for those we were interested.

  • chelone
    16 years ago

    It is perfectly within code in my town and my state to have 2 stoves share a common flue. It is against code to have a woodstove "share" a flue with a boiler or furnace. We just built a garage with a two flue chimney (furnace and woodstoves) so I know it is within code to do so. It wouldn't have passed inspection otherwise.

    Thanks for the link you provided. It will be interesting for me to read it carefully when I have more time.

  • practicalgirl
    10 years ago

    We are getting ready to install a Tulikivi into new construction (DH's baby) and I still have an opportunity to select finish for oak flooring (i was thinking just finishing it natural with no stain) and kitchen cabinets, counters etc. I noticed the post about cherry floors not looking the best and was wondering if folks had any pics or ideas of the best woods and finishes that really look great with soapstone? All our doors and trim will be painted since the Tulikivi was a bit of a budget buster. Thanks for any insights!

  • tetrazzini
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I don't have pictures at the moment but I'll see if I can take some. I was the OP seven years ago. We've since remodeled our kitchen with pale stone-look porcelain tile floors. One-foot wide soapstone floor tiles surrounds the Tulikivi on all sides, visually easing it into both the kitchen floor and cherry living room floor. It's quite compatible - the soapstone, cherry and stone color floors are all natural, neutral colored materials and go nicely together.

    It was expensive to buy, but we've paid twice as much for the two cars we've run into the ground since I posted this thread, and the 13 year-old Tulikivi seems like it'll last forever. Our hot water heating system also cost a lot to install, and the boiler has needed a lot of costly service. Viewed this way, the Tulikivi's long term investment makes sense, if you can manage it.

    The number of cords we go through varies a lot with the temperatures, of course. In a mild winter we might go through 3 cords. In a winter with a lot of days in the 20s we might go through 5. Our house is two storeys, 3000 sq. ft., fairly well insulated, but not superinsulated. If the outdoor temperature is in the high 40s or higher, we might only light one big fire a day. Below that we make two. Even in the coldest weather it manages to heat both floors to 62 degrees. Within 20 feet of the Tulikivi it's much warmer, but in the hall and rooms at the back of the house it's about 62. At those times we usually turn on the hot water heaters. Unfortunately the original house was built with lots of separate rooms, each heated by electric heat, so it's not laid out efficiently for a centralized heat source.

    We do love it, love having a fire, and it's a lot lower maintenance than a regular woodstove. But if I were to do it over I might go with a heat pump, ground-source or otherwise because it's more efficient and generates less CO2 than wood burning. Or so I believe!

  • ericsmilner49
    8 years ago

    I have a Tulikivi that has hardly been used that I'm interested in selling. It's the 2700/51 model with the bake oven and bench seats. I live in the Carolina mountains and wondered if there's any interest from anyone here? I have photos available.

  • corinne_dhenin
    8 years ago

    Well I can see that most of these comments are very old but would like to mention a big disadvantage of the Tulikivi that no-one ever seems to mention ! DUST. Everything in my sitting room is covered in it. If I clean it all up, it's back in a week. Apart from that it's brilliant. I live at an altitude of 2000 feet in the French Alps where temperatures can drop to -10°C on winter nights. The house is 100 sq metres on each of 3 floors but the bottom floor is not lived in.

    I haven't used my oil-fired boiler for heating the radiators once in the 5 years I've had the Tulikivi and it's my sole heat source. It's a 1.8 tonne model and is used every evening from 19.00 to 22.00 and all day on cold weekends. I also have a small one in the kitchen / dining room for use when I don't need the big one, as well as a 2 tonne one on the bottom floor which gets used very seldom. The house is fairly open plan and well insulated. Heat flows up to the top floor and makes that the warmest floor when the fire is out.

    My wood is free (I live in a mountain village) so I can keep the stoves running as much as I want. I must confess that I don't really do individual firings on weekends.... just keep the stoves running all day These stoves have changed my life as I can keep warm for the first time ever without having to worry about fuel cost and it's such a pleasant heat. OK, 3 stoves have cost a veritable fortune but I'm really glad I made the investment. The dog and cat like it too and sleep together in front of the fireplace every night. And when I come home from work the next evening, the house is lovely and warm. I wish I had a water heating system though !

  • PRO
    D K and Sons
    8 years ago

    A hot water option is available for Masonry Heaters, but I do not know how extensive a retrofit might be. Ericsmilner, i am interested in your Tulikivi.

  • Ernest Chen
    8 years ago

    I found a Tulikivi soapstone fireplace for sale, but buyer responsible for disassembly. Is it possible to take apart of the fireplace without damaging the soapstone?

  • PRO
    D K and Sons
    8 years ago

    Yes, Tulikivi can be disassembled and rebuilt if several conditions are met. 1. It is important that it was assembled properly, which is likely since Tulikivi has an excellent network of dealers and most heaters are installed by the dealer. 2. The dissassembly is completed by a qualified mechanic who is familiar with Tulikivi or at least Masonry Heater construction. It will be a long and messy process and if care is not taken, you will crack or break some of the soapstone pieces, which will render the reclamation pointless. Probably cheaper to buy a new one and have the dealer install it. Your mileage may vary.


  • Ernest Chen
    8 years ago

    Thanks for much for the note, but the fireplace cost only $500 :( sad that I might have to let it go.

  • PRO
    D K and Sons
    8 years ago

    Those are $5000 units new, depending on the circumstances I would think $1000 to $1500 would get it out and home. (Most likely need a whole new core,which could easily run $2500...) Why are they wanting to get rid of it?

  • Ron Natalie
    8 years ago

    Neighbor has one as well. No down sides other than price. HIs is great looking and heats well.

  • lesleyhamer_nz
    7 years ago

    We moved into a house in New Zealand with a Tulikivi (with a pizza oven - bake oven? at the top). Having read instructions for the Tulikivi online about lighting it and keeping it going all day, all I can say is I must be doing something wrong! It takes about 4 hours for the soapstone to come up to temperature, and I have to be around to make sure it stays alight or the fire will often go out within 2 hours. After this, when there are just embers, I have to put more wood on (the wood is dry). I am going through a lot of wood! Also, in the instructions, it says about keeping the damper on the ash box door closed when adding more wood to avoid smoking - I have found the opposite to be true - there is more likely to be smoke when I leave the ash box door closed! There are markers on the ash box door - I presume one of them is to be used for the combustion phase (but the instructions don't say which marker that is). I light it with the ash box door open, and when the kindling wood is well alight I add some wood then close the ash box door and shut the damper slightly on the ash box door(although sometimes I leave the lever fully open if the fire is not taking off too well). I'm worried about closing the damper fully on the ash box door as the instructions say this can cause carbon monoxide poisoning. At all times during the lighting of my fire and burning, I have the damper open on the main firebox door. I only close this one when going to bed at night after the fire has burned down to embers to retain the heat (and I also fully close the ash box door). However, the Tulikivi is just barely warm in the morning.

    I'm finding it difficult to get on with it, as it takes so long to come up to temperature - and if I'm at work during the day, it's freezing cold when I come home in the evening - I need a much quicker way to heat the house! I also seem to be going through a lot of wood, as the fire burns through it very quickly. Am I doing something wrong with damper lever on the ash box door? I am using native timbers that has been dry for a year.

    Also, the pizza oven (bake oven?) - it seems odd that the instructions say you can't have a fire going in this oven and the main firebox. That would mean I can't use the pizza oven at all during winter, as we are using the main firebox to try and heat the room? Or can I use the heat generated by the main oven to slow cook things?

    I'm quite disillusioned with it to be honest - it seems very labour intensive - having to be home most of the day to make sure it is up to temperature by the evening, and having to constantly monitor it to make sure the flames haven't gone out, or it has just burned through the wood so quickly.

    It wasn't a selling point of our house to be honest - the feedback the real estate agent had before we bought it was very unfavourable towards its looks - some calling it a shrine or cremator! We would like to take it out and sell it, but I believe this isn't a viable option. So now I have to put up with it smoking and making my paintwork dirty, and it not being able to adequately heat the room when I've been out all day.

    Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated!

  • tetrazzini
    Original Author
    7 years ago

    Hi from New York! It sounds like something is very wrong. I can only comment on my experience based on our model, a 2700, built into our existing house about 15 years ago. Last year I looked at Tulikivi's website and noticed that all its models are completely different looking from the ones they had when we bought ours. I don't know if they work differently. If I were you I'd call a dealer, they'll be able to answer specific questions -- much better than trying to go by written directions. If you don't know your model number, take a picture to send them for reference. Just FYI, some dealers here seem more helpful than others, so don't give up until you've gotten a good answer! Our Tulikivi has been great, much better and more user friendly than the two high-end cast iron stoves we had before it. My guess is you haven't figured out yet how to use it properly, which should be easily remedied. If not, then either your wood is poor, the house is terribly insulated, the Tulikivi is very poorly located, or something is broken in it.

    OK, about our Tulikivi which also has a bake oven on top.

    1. On ours, and as far as I know all models at the time we bought ours, you're NOT SUPPOSED to keep a fire going all the time. They're not designed to work that way. (Again, I mean unless they've had a major design change.) They're designed to have ONE HOT fire, ash door air intakes wide open (but not the ash door itself), until the fire goes out, then shut it down. Meaning when the coals are burned out, close the damper (and at this time also close the air intakes.) With a typical metal wood stove, you can't burn it too hot or you warp and damage the stove. On our Tulikivi we were told to let it rip! Sometimes we do two loads of wood before letting it go out, if it's really cold. One of the big advantages is that you DON'T HAVE TO stoke it all the time like you do with an iron wood stove, because it holds so much heat. One fire a day, or a second one at night if it's really cold, is all you need. I don't think it gets as cold in NZ as it does here in NY, so you might not need two. Even a single hot fire will keep our Tulikivi warm for almost 48 hours. Not hot, but you can feel that it's warmer than room temperature. Of course this isn't enough to heat the house unless there's only a slight chill in the air. I'm just saying this because your situation sounds so different.

    2. The reason you can't have fires in both ovens at the same time is they share a damper, and the open position for one is the opposite of the other. so only one can be open at a given time. If I want to use the bake oven, first I open its damper (at the back of the bake oven) as well as the stove's MAIN damper (obviously this one is always open when there's any fire going.) I use smaller logs in the bake oven - maybe a skinny forearm's width or so. And I have to keep adding wood to it for a few hours, depending on how high I want the temperature. In this case you do have to be around to keep adding more because it takes a while to reach temperature. Play around with the opening size on the air intake to create the hottest flames. Now and then I put a regular oven thermometer in there (not directly near flames) to check the temp. (I use that because I'm never sure where the permanently installed thermometer is reading the temperature.) When it reaches the right temp, close its damper and shut the air down. They say to let it sit about a half hour so the heat evenly distributes, but I get lazy about this. At this point you could have a main firebox fire if you wanted to. The warmer the stove is before starting a bake oven fire the quicker it'll heat up.

    3. My Tulikivi is NEVER smoky, while our iron wood stoves always were. I can even open the door on the Tulikivi when the fire is raging and no smoke comes out. (I have the air intakes open and of course the damper open.) But it's in a different part of the house than the iron ones were. I don't know how well a Tulikivi would work if it were at one end of the house. I learned that a regular a stove doesn't work as well, and can be smokier, if the chimney is on an outside wall of the house because it's colder. Tulivikis work best when they're in a central location.

    4. We bought ours because we liked the idea of it, without giving any thought to its looks. I think it's fairly attractive and I like it the way one loves a pet, but never thought of it as beautiful. So it surprised me when every person seeing it for the first time oohs and aahhs over it!

    I'm really sorry you're having such a negative experience with it because we love ours. I hope you can figure out the problem. Don't get rid of it! Working properly it should be a big positive for your house!

  • tetrazzini
    Original Author
    7 years ago

    PS, are you sure it's definitely an actual Tulikivi, and not some homemade or other brand of stove?

  • lesleyhamer_nz
    7 years ago

    Thanks dab07 for getting back to me so quickly! I wasn't optimistic I would get a response, but here you are trying to help me all the way from New York! Here in our part of NZ the temperature can get to just below freezing point. From what I can see with an extensive Google search, there was only one installer of the Tulikivi in the whole of NZ and he now appears to have gone out of business, and there is no-one selling them any more.

    We have the 2050/1 model. It is located at one end of the house in the lounge in the corner, with the chimney located on the outside wall. The whole house is extremely well insulated and the fire is really good quality native timbers that have been dry for a year.

    The smoke is sometimes non-existent, and other times really bad when opening the main firebox door to add some more wood, or to poke the logs if they have almost died out (sometimes they do this, other times they don't - it might have something to do with the draw on the chimney and which way the wind is blowing!). I always make sure the ash door is open when I open the main firebox door - as this is the best way to avoid smoke pouring into the room, but even then on bad days nothing stops the smoke pouring out.

    As my fires were burning out within an hour to two hours, before the soapstone has had chance to get hot, I thought I would close the air intakes just a little to see if that would burn the logs slower. Sometimes that works and other times having less oxygen, the flames go out, and I'm worried about the build up of carbon monoxide doing that.

    There is something just inside the door - a metal part just above the grate that seems out of shape and has a hole in it that I don't think should be there! It was like this when we moved in, so maybe this has something to do with it! Or the chimney being on the outside wall is a problem? The lady who lived here before us said she hardly used any wood and the house was really warm with it, so there's something not right, and with no-one here installing them any more I don't know how to find out what's going wrong other than asking on here.

    As far as heat retention goes, it is hot to the touch after about 4 hours when I damp it down at night (all air intakes closed and damper closed), but only very mildly warm in the morning and cold by lunch time. If I'm at work all day, and not getting home until 6.00pm, this isn't ideal to try and start heating the room (let alone the house), as it takes far too long to heat up.

    I didn't know there was a damper at the back of the bake oven? I haven't used it yet, but there is a door at the back presumably where the ashes are pushed down, but this door self closes, so I can't keep it open. Presumably this is the damper you are talking about as I don't see anything else that looks like a damper in the bake oven?

    We already have a pizza oven outside, but I was quite keen to use the bake oven for slow cooking using the latent heat from the firebox below, but it doesn't seem as though it would be warm enough to do that (the thermometer is broken, but I can get an oven thermometer like you have).

    I must admit though, when it is up to temperature, it's nice to cuddle up next to it! I'm also just in the process of renovating and decorating, so I think I can make it look better just by changing the paint colours and kitchen colour's etc.

    I really appreciate your efforts to try and help me get along with the Tulikivi (or the Behemoth as it has been nicknamed!). It would be nice for me to actually grow fond of it!

    I have attached pics of my Tulikivi and a pic of the deformed metal part that has a hole in it! It's a warm day here today so I haven't lit a fire, just got it all ready to go with the kindling (that's the easy part!).

  • corinne_dhenin
    7 years ago

    Hi... I suspect you're not getting enough suction from the chimney. You can place a gadget on the very top which spins around and increases the suction. It costs about € 200 and can be purchased from a chimney supply shop. Your warped piece of metal is just there to hold the logs in. Mine is so warped it doesn't fit properly any more but it doesn't matter. I get proper heat through the glass door within a few minutes of lighting the fire so yours is definitely not working as it should. What I do is to keep the ash box door wide open for the first hour or so, then gradually close it when I want the fire to tick over. I don't actually use the sliding knob at the bottom at all and it stays in the open position. Do you have an up / down mini lever just above the glass doors ? This, in the open position, creates a small gap so air can flow into the stove from above the glass doors and it makes the fire burn better and keeps your glass clean. It makes a BIG difference to the smokiness and speed of burn. My dealer told me that there's no problem at all in having 2 fires at the same time. ie. one in the main part and one in the oven. I've tried it and it works fine. I may be wrong but the door at the very back of the oven is not a damper. It is just a hinged door which normally allows the smoke to evacuate directly from the main fire. If you have a fire in the oven, the heat will allow it to open to evacuate the smoke. And also for you to push the ash down into the main section afterwards. My dust problem comes when I open the glass doors to put more wood in while the stove is not yet going fully - I think it's because there's cold air in the chimney which hampers the suction. By the way if you haven't used the stove for a while and it's very cold outside, it can be very difficult to start the fire because of the presence of cold, descending air in the chimney. But provided you start with small sticks it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

  • tetrazzini
    Original Author
    7 years ago

    My grate is also warped and it doesn't make a difference. It sounds like Corinne's model is different from mine (no up/down lever above my glass door, one fire at a time.) Your model looks basically similar to mine, though the interior design may differ. My chimney vents straight up through the ceiling.

    In the top back of my bake oven, hanging down from above the hinged ash door, there's a handle. If I push it up the bake oven damper opens, if I pull it down, it closes.

    What I said about a chimney being on the outside wall of the house may not be a blanket rule. Apparently with wood stoves there are a lot of environmental variables, both inside and outside of the house. With your mild winter temperatures I don't think your stove should be feeling cold so soon.

    With the residual heat from the main firebox I can warm things up in the bake oven, but that alone never provides enough heat to bake anything. I haven't tried it for slow cooking. BTW, our dealer told me not to cook watery things in it, like soups or stews. She said too much moisture is the enemy (of what, I don't remember!)

    Would the former owner be able to explain how she used it? Also, I'd still try to contact another dealer or distributor, they're extremely knowledgeable. Or ask Tulikivi who you can contact. Have a chimney service check out your chimney? It is so cozy to sit in front of in winter, or come down to in the morning. You can grill in the main fire box, bake a succession of things in the bake oven as the temperature gradually falls, dry your laundry in front of it.... It's versatile and all around a great contributor to the household :) I hope you get it going because I think you'll grow to love it.


  • corinne_dhenin
    7 years ago

    You could send an email to the manufacturer: tulikivi@tulikivi.fi

    I'm sure they'd be happy to help. I visited their main shop once in Finland and they were very helpful.

  • PRO
    D K and Sons
    7 years ago

    I would concur regarding contacting the company directly, they are very responsive and if you email, someone who speaks English will respond with expert advice. A few observations for you to consider.

    It looks like a Tulikivi Heater with a heated bench. The vent is not readily observable. This may be because it is hidden in the wall, or possibly undersized, causing your smoking issue. Before burning the heater, it should be inspected to insure it is properly constructed and everything is in working order. The discs on the side and (I expect) at the end of the bench and in the wood storage area are inspection ports to allow for cleaning and inspection. While the unit is not burning, open these ports and use a flash light and vacume hose to clean out any ash accumulation. It would be good to have a chimney sweep who is familiar with Masonry Heaters look at the unit and insure it is safe to operate.

    The Masonry Heater Association of North America has a member in Australia who builds and sells a variety of heaters and possibly is a Tulikivi dealer. They are very nice people and I am sure they would be glad to assist you in figuring out the operation of your unit. You will find their contact information in the member section of the MHA website. You will also find a lot of additional info at the site, and perhaps just seeing some pictures of heaters in operation will help you understand what is normal when operating the unit. The first picture on the home page of MHA is a Tulikivi in full combustion mode. There are several video's linked at the MHA website regarding cleaning and operation of a masonry heater.

    I have personally met the president of Tulikivi and he is a very kind man with a lot of knowledge. The whole company is very dedicated to their customers and I am sure if you can connect with them, they will be able to offer a lot of information.

    As you have experienced, once the unit is up to temp, it is very comfortable and once you are able to operate it with efficiency you will have gained a new member of the family.



  • lesleyhamer_nz
    7 years ago

    Thanks for all the help and info guys. I'm beginning to think it may be the draw on the chimney that is the issue. Some days the fire seems to do what it should, and other days it's hard to keep the fire alight as there doesn't seem to be much draw - probably because the wind is blowing in a different direction or something like that!

    I have a small lever at the top of the door on the main firebox, which I push in to open the damper - this always stays open when the fire is going, and only closed when the embers have died down to contain the heat.

    In the bake oven, there is no damper at the back above the ash door as dab07 describes - the only vent is on the front door of the bake oven - a knob which is twisted to open the vent.

    I went on a Tulikivi Facebook page, and someone has contacted me about ordering anything I might need (warped grate and thermometer), and has confirmed there is no-one selling the Tulikivi in New Zealand.

    The lady who owned the house before me, gave me instructions on how to use it, and I follow those (they also agree with the instructions I have downloaded from the internet). She said how efficient it was and how little wood it uses, and how very warm the house was, so I have no idea why it is now not working as it should when I am doing everything that you guys say above, and using the vents and dampers correctly. I am even using the same wood that she used, which has been dry for a year.

    I think I might get the chimney swept again (it was swept about 3 months ago), and also check the inspection ports as suggested by DK and sons. I will also check out the MHA Website.

    Thanks again everyone - it's so nice to feel I'm not the only one in the world with a Tulikivi - although I think they are a rarity in New Zealand!

  • PRO
    D K and Sons
    7 years ago

    You might want to ask the sweep if they are familiar with Masonry Heaters. While they are very common in northern Europe, they are not very well understood in warmer climates where the traditional fireplace is common. I have experienced many situations where the expert was in over his head and didn't want to admit it. If they do not open the inspection ports, they don't know what they are doing.

    Also there has to be a clean out door for the chimney somewhere. I suspect your door is located on the other side of the wall in the picture. Outside perhaps?

  • lesleyhamer_nz
    7 years ago

    Hi D K and Sons, I am going to get the Chimney Sweep in that has always swept the chimney for our fireplace. Hopefully he knows what he is doing! I will check that he opens the inspection ports. There is a clean out door at the bottom of the chimney (our chimney has been built on the outside wall). Thanks for your advice :)

  • tetrazzini
    Original Author
    7 years ago

    Lesley, post a note here if you get it resolved. I'll be that much happier!


  • Saliq Savage
    7 years ago

    I have several tulikivi's installed in several locations. I bought my first one new and then dismatelled another two that I purchased on ebay. Now I am looking for another tulikivi to install in a new house in Western Mass. Anyone looking to sell a used stove? ericsmilner49 Are you still interested in selling yours?

  • jbeckner19
    7 years ago

    We have a tulikivi that was installed in 2007 when we built. It has two dampers on the side about 6 foot high. The installer told us to never adjust the lower one. Open the top one and front one at the fire box to burn and close both when the fire dies. Our chimney sweep guy moved the dampers and we can't recall if the bottom one we never adjusted should be open or closed?

  • tetrazzini
    Original Author
    7 years ago

    What model do you have? Your best bet is probably to call a dealer.

  • PRO
    Blue Ridge Soapstone
    7 years ago

    The lower one is a bypass damper, which is used for a cold start up. The upper one is the main shut off, which is used to retain the heat after the fire has gone out.

  • PRO
    Blue Ridge Soapstone
    7 years ago

    I'm guessing that you have a TTU 2700 model.

  • Jenna Kelfer
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    As of March 3 we will have a Tulikivi fireplace/pizza oven for sale. The oven is on Martha's Vineyard. See photo. Anyone interested? Contact: 00835@reliantmedicalgroup.org for details.

  • pjroth1
    6 years ago

    Would like to get in touch with lesleyhamer_nz regarding Tulikivi fireplace. Contact pjroth1@gmail.com


  • Rob Horne
    6 years ago

    hi i'm in new england, looking to buy a tulikivi but it's installed and needs to be removed. any advice? i'll be looking to resell or trade it, or possibly use it for a new house i want to build in the future.

  • Dan
    6 years ago

    Rob-Are you looking to sell a tulikivi? I live in MA and am looking to buy one

  • tchart111
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    We are thinking about selling our stove in the house we purchased a year ago. I’d have to look the original papers to see what model it is. It was installed maybe 5-7 years ago. Reason for selling is because I am more used to a pellet stove and would like that instead. We used it last winter and it works perfectly and it’s a beautiful stove. But I don’t know if disassembling it is even an option without demaging the stone. It’s a very expensive stove :/

  • Brett Behnke
    6 years ago

    I just purchased a home with a Tulikivi fireplace. The fireplace was just installed October 2017. I would be interested in selling the fireplace. Contact me if interested. I'm located in Colorado Springs CO.

  • Jennifer Hissa
    5 years ago

    tchart111 did you sell your Tulikivi?


  • Brett Behnke
    5 years ago





    Still have this one if interested.

  • Desiree Mccrorey
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Is Tulikivi ownership actually cost effective? They seem incredibly expensive, especially when factoring in the cost of installation, floor reinforcement, chimney installation, etc.

    For $12K - $18K, metaphorically speaking, it seems I could buy and abuse a standard steel box wood heater every other year, including the cost of the wood being delivered, stacked and brought into my house, until I die!

  • tetrazzini
    Original Author
    4 years ago

    It's a big chunk of change and I don't know the answer, but I consider it a long term investment. It was about the price of an economy car when we bought it, and it's going to last forever. The car would have been dead by now, 18 years old, while the Tulikivi is practically as good as new. Whether it's actually cost effective I don't know. It's got some advantages over a metal woodstove though, most of which don't translate directly to cost. You use less wood. You only have to make one or two fires a day because it retains heat so well, you don't have to keep it going all the time. Soapstone is the, or one of the, most heat-retentive materials, but it doesn't get hot enough to burn you like metal does. It lights up better than any other stove I've had and never gives off any smoke whatsoever, even when the door is open. It doesn't rust. It stays warm for a day or more after having a fire and everyone gravitates to it. People are always sitting next to it or hugging it like a pet bear or something. My sheets hang on it and dry faster than in a dryer, with no wrinkles or wadding up. I dry laundry on a rack in front of it all winter. You can grill in it and, in some models, bake in it. I didn't think about this before we bought it, but it's a real conversation piece, people always want to hear about it and think it's beautiful.


    I realize these reasons aren't necessarily persuasive if the bottom line is cost savings, but I think your calculation is off. A standard steel box will not be anywhere near as efficient, will use much more wood, will be leakier and smokier, and not as people friendly.


  • mdhowes
    3 years ago


    This is our second Tulikivi. First was in a previously sold home. My wife is from Finland and we would never do without one. P.S engineered concrete slab in crawl space for support