3 ms·

>The drawback of taking a long time to heat up shouldn’t be overlooked either. Anyone who has lived in a stone or brick house could tell you... But have you ev

>The drawback of taking a long time to heat up shouldn’t be overlooked either. Anyone who has lived in a stone or brick house could tell you... But have you ever lived in a home with a tile stove like described in the article? The time it takes to heat up isn't really an issue in my experience. Yes, it takes a bit longer than with radiators but unless you're out on holiday your house wouldn't be completely cold, would it? You get up, it's still warm from the previous night, then you throw some fresh wood in the oven and start a new fire. Especially with well insulated homes as they're built these days it works well. But here's the actual problem, apart from taking up space like you already mentioned: The fire has to be maintained. I'm pretty sure that's the main reason they've fallen out of use. It just doesn't fit into our fast paced lifestyle with small families and busy parents anymore. Back in the day there generally used to be someone home, either the housewife or the greatparents or one of the 15 children or so. Wood fired stoves just got automated out of existence like most other stuff. Central heating can be set to a certain temperature and be forgotten about. Sure, you can do that now by getting a modern gas burning tile stove, or retrofitting an old one with modern tech. But by now most have already fallen in disuse. I find it unlikely they will be revived outside of niche cases for the simple reason that fossil fuel is on it's way out. Floor heating is great and can be electric, powered by green energy.

masklinn 5y ago
> But here's the actual problem, apart from taking up space like you already mentioned: The fire has to be maintained. I'm pretty sure that's the main reason they've fallen out of use. TBF masonry heaters with modern enclosed fireplaces can slow-burn at high efficiency, and even if the fire goes out because the fireplace remains very warm and the flow is active restarting it is generally easy. Per the few friends who have masonry heaters, if you throw a log on before going to bed, with ventilation set low, odds are high you'll still have embers in the morning and will just need to throw a new log on and stoke a bit to get it going again. So while the convenience is a bit lower than with central heating it's hardly a back breaker. The cost of installation and structural requirements (masonry heaters weigh literal tonnes), as well as awareness of the option, are more likely. The latter factor should not be discounted, most people don't really go out their way to look for options (if they're even doing / ordering the building in the first place, which for masonry heaters is a requirement: retrofitting a masonry heater in an existing building is very risky), so they'll get one of the options they're provided with.

masklinn 5y ago

> But here's the actual problem, apart from taking up space like you already mentioned: The fire has to be maintained. I'm pretty sure that's the main reason they've fallen out of use. TBF masonry heaters with modern enclosed fireplaces can slow-burn at high efficiency, and even if the fire goes out because the fireplace remains very warm and the flow is active restarting it is generally easy. Per the few friends who have masonry heaters, if you throw a log on before going to bed, with ventilation set low, odds are high you'll still have embers in the morning and will just need to throw a new log on and stoke a bit to get it going again. So while the convenience is a bit lower than with central heating it's hardly a back breaker. The cost of installation and structural requirements (masonry heaters weigh literal tonnes), as well as awareness of the option, are more likely. The latter factor should not be discounted, most people don't really go out their way to look for options (if they're even doing / ordering the building in the first place, which for masonry heaters is a requirement: retrofitting a masonry heater in an existing building is very risky), so they'll get one of the options they're provided with.