Is the (massive) Russian fireplace in use in some Polish homes. It's supposed to keep heating a house for up to three days on an initial small amount of firewood.
Or is the Austrian-German kachelofen ceramic tile fireplace more popular.
I'd like to hear what experience people have had with these wood heat structures.
The piec kaflowy (tile stove) still heats many a home (also village offices, police stations, etc.) in rural and small-town Poland. They are brick-lined and that keeps the heat in for a long time. Often the stove is in a wall meaning that it heats two rooms. These burn coal, coke or wood. In plcaes with lots of deadwood, it means free heating compared to to coal, gas or oil. The evenly spread warmth and the appearance of often intricately decorated tiles gives a certain cosiness to a room.
The piec kaflowy masonary heater is still in wide use throughout Poland (much like the German kachelofan), not just in rural areas, but in towns and cities. Most are still functional and the only means of heating houses and apartments. Many people keep them for their decorative value after installling central heating.
In cities people retro-fit them with electric elements, and use cheap night tariff electricity to heat them. I have one in my house in a small city and in my apartment in Krakow. They are fitted for electricty, but I don't use them.
You can buy antique piec kaflowys on Allegro, some go for over 100,000PLN.
My dream is to install a large 2 story Finnish style masonary heater in my house to replace my central heating. Just have to find someone alive who knows how to build one.
i have a russian slash finnish fireplace and the thing is massive and have not seen one like it yet it is a beast and will blow you out of your house for sure but still have not found one like mine anywhere a fin must have built it becouse what i have seeen online there not much mine is massive in size
i live in maine and i can heat my home with 2 chords of oak no problem at all this thing is great but i think i have a much beter desighn than most i can load mine from 3 different places the longest peace of wood i can burn is 4 foot long
