Living in provincial France, close to the Spanish boarder it can be cold in the winter and homes must be heated. Most people around here have modern climate control systems now which are expensive, bad for the environment and potentially bad for the people they are heating.
The man we are living with built his home with sustainability in mind and the wood burning stove was a logical choice given his location on the edge of a forest. Even when there is no electricity he will still have heat.
As you can see the design is quite beautiful in its setting and having lived here for a week now I can tell you it is incredibly efficient.
Yes, you will need a good supply of dry wood & kindling stocked up and ready for the winter but this can be bought easily enough if you don't happen to live next to a forest. I love the way our new friend shelters the exposed part of his wood from the rain with an umbrella.
The human attachment to fire
There is something particularly enjoyable about collecting a bunch of wood together and setting it alight.
Something ancient and primeval is awoken in us by these flames. It is the simplest and oldest method we know of to keep warm and as such is it most likely to be the safest health wise, assuming you don't burn yourself.
Watching my children get excited about the fire day after day I am reminded of my own childhood interest in man's red flower. Even with an awareness of the pain fire can cause we are still drawn to it. My kids love to watch when I am creating the fire or even just adding a few logs to the pile before giving it a good poke.
Heat through the night
If we add one large log before going to bed it is always still glowing red in the morning and easy to get started again.
There is an air vent at the bottom which must be closed when the fire is blazing, otherwise it will burn out quickly and the house will overheat.
Outlets
The heat flows from the ground floor of the house up into the central section of the 1st floor and out of two air vents. With the heat from the stove itself, this is all that is needed for a three bedroom home.
Maintenence
There is very little to do other than clean out the ash every few days and wipe down the inside of the glass door so we can see what's going on in there.
Whist this method of heating may involve a little more work than a boiler, it is almost certainly cheaper to acquire and more enjoyable to operate.
Other examples of original stove design
Just click on the images to find their source.
Hope you enjoyed this little trip into the world of stoves as much as I have.
Please note that some research points towards the emission of black carbon from wood burning stoves and tells us they are a health risk, so further research is required once you have selected your model.
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I just bought a combo wood/coal fire for 30€ but I am still thinking what is the best strategy to maximize heat in the whole house depending where I place and connect it. I got two chimney's but both have a gas heater at the moment. Altho I can connect straight into the chimney , connecting an extended pipe on the next floor seems like a better idea to spread more heat as there are no vents in the house.
Thanx for the great post , this inspires me to move faster.
Wow! Wish i could help you with that one. One of these days we will settle somewhere at which point I will most likely have to make such decisions myself. Until then it is one subject at a time...
Enjoy getting everything working. Am sure it will be great :)
For the love of fire! The fire signed Aries and future owner of wood stove is resteeming this @samstonehill bro. Lovely pictures!
haha! Brilliant. Had almost forgotten the pleasure of being cold after two years in Bali ;)
Onward & upward we fly!
Short term it indeed seems like a "pleasure", or when you have real fire to warm you up. But south of France is lovely and winters not harsh. I lived close to Avignon 3 years and 2 years in Corsica.
It was such a pleasure to read your article my friend. Excellent time with fire and adding log into it :-))) Now when I leave in Panama I like to read about the nice fire places but only read 😉 Have a warm and fantastic day .
haha! After 2 years in Bali I do know what you mean. Though cold can be fun too ;)
It is a great innovation,just for the fact that,there would be no smoke and home and also wont make the house stuffy,great post,love it.
It can get a bit smokey when we are prodding at the embers to get it started again and I've found that a few times I've had to open the windows to let the smoke out, though there is a very good chance I was doing something wrong! In truth it really is a simple and great innovation.
It's a great idea to keep the atmosphere from pollution, this man is considered a friend of nature
It's certainly a step in the right direction. Thanks for dropping by.
Enjoy Steemit ;)
Designs are really attractive I must say. Nowadays where everybody wants ease and don't want to leave the comfort zone, automatic and electric heaters are getting popularity where you just push a button and your room become hot at whatever temperature you want.
Yes indeed. In the end it is laziness which prevents most people from getting one of these
Setting the house on fire...?
Yes I suppose there is that possibility too...
very well post and great writing dear @samstonehill i like your writing
Thanks very much !