Tulikivi in action

[begreen]

I got to see a friend's Tulikivi getting fired up today. It gets two daily firings @ 30# of wood per firing. Rather than loading the firebox full, they run a hot fire fed about every 30 minutes over a 2hr period. The stove is heating about a 2,000 sq ft portion of the house. Outdoors it was 38º and indoors a cozy 70º. The stone at the time of this feeding was around 105º. They also have a cook oven that they use throughout the winter when it's convenient.

 

[moresnow]

Impressive looking appliance. Takes a special individual to take 4 hrs out of every 24 to essentially babysit a giant rock
Dare I say.....

 

[stoveliker]

I like these stoves.

And those numbers (60 lbs over 24 hrs) are similar to what a BK can do. That requires a half hour of effort though, loading and dialing down.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

If one has the space, those look they would be great heaters.

 

[begreen]

I like these stoves.

And those numbers (60 lbs over 24 hrs) are similar to what a BK can do. That requires a half hour of effort though, loading and dialing down.

I think I'd load more wood and let it rip instead of a few loads over 2 hrs, but it's not my stove.

 

[stoveliker]

There are also folks with other stoves who like to play with fire, i.e. adding a piece every now and then.

To each his own.

Is this one on a slab or is there a lot of support in a basement below?

 

[begreen]

s this one on a slab or is there a lot of support in a basement below?

IDK for sure but I suspect that there is slab underneath.

 

[vatmark]

That's wild. Is that soapstone?

 

[begreen]

Yes, Tulikivi makes soapstone mass heaters.

 

[EbS-P]

Is it easy to sweep?

 

[stoveliker]

They say that it's not really needed; that it burns so hot that the channels beneath the stone are never dirty.

Basically give so much air that it burns as hot as one can, and have the long channel through the stove to extract all the heat.

 

[begreen]

Is it easy to sweep?

While there should be little creosote, some soot is produced. Tulikivi states in the manual that all channels in the stove must be cleaned once a year.

 

[stoveliker]

Interesting. My Estonian friend says they don't clean at all.
Not a Tulikivi but masonry stove nonetheless

 

[qwee]

I think they use a vacuum cleaner with an attachment. Those little round parts in the front pop out. But the bell (fruit box sized area) above the oven can't be reached. I guess the ashes fall down the side channels on this contraflow design to the bottom where they can be sucked up by a vacuum. On the horizontal Russian designs, you can get into each horizontal bell section in order to clean it out - usually 4 or 5 little doors/loose bricks.

 

[Todd]

If I ever build another house one of those big rocks will be right in the center of it.

 

[EbS-P]

If I ever build another house one of those big rocks will be right in the center of it.

it’s neat and all but… but any house I build will really well insulated with solar and heatpumps (geo thermal with radiant floor if up north) so that I only need to supplement with wood only for the coldest 5-6 weeks a year. I will have a wood stove. That a large investment for a limited use. Spend the money on more solar and batteries.

 

[stoveliker]

I would much rather spend 20k$ on a masonry stove than on geothermal that depends on electricity and parts that can break....

 

[all night moe]

$20k on insulation and a well designed layout for a tried and true stove.

 

[begreen]

$20k on insulation and a well designed layout for a tried and true stove.

Definitely my preference would be to reduce the energy load first and foremost. The owners of this Tulikivi are not totally in love with it. It can overshoot in shoulder seasons requiring opening windows. And it can be a pain in the butt when one wants to go out for an afternoon and evening, thus missing that firing. My friend said that if they did it again, they would go for a conventional stove. They are actually considering selling the big rock and doing this

 

[stoveliker]

Bummer.
I don't understand though.

Planning would be similar to a wood stove...? :
having a small fire so as not to overheat,.and taking the weather into account will be similar?

 

[EbS-P]

Definitely my preference would be to reduce the energy load first and foremost. The owners of this Tulikivi are not totally in love with it. It can overshoot in shoulder seasons requiring opening windows. And it can be a pain in the butt when one wants to go out for an afternoon and evening, thus missing that firing. My friend said that if they did it again, they would go for a conventional stove. They are actually considering selling the big rock and doing this

Looks really neat though.

Bummer.
I don't understand though.

Planning would be similar to a wood stove...? :
having a small fire so as not to overheat,.and taking the weather into account will be similar?

does it have an air control?

 

[stoveliker]

Even if not, load size and burn frequency is how one takes the need for BTUs based on the weather into account.

 

[all night moe]

Even if not, load size and burn frequency is how one takes the need for BTUs based on the weather into account.

May be a bit trickier with all that mass to factor in.

I plan on pushing my Moe back in the corner more at some point. That's after adding a bunch of bed rock to the walls and bluestone on the hearth. This is where I find the Tulikivi interesting. I wish we had a member on board who runs one.

 

[EbS-P]

May be a bit trickier with all that mass to factor in.

I plan on pushing my Moe back in the corner more at some point. That's after adding a bunch of bed rock to the walls and bluestone on the hearth. This is where I find the Tulikivi interesting. I wish we had a member on board who runs one.

If anyone want to buy one and install it for me I’ll show you how easy and precisely it can be run😉

 

[begreen]

May be a bit trickier with all that mass to factor in.

I plan on pushing my Moe back in the corner more at some point. That's after adding a bunch of bed rock to the walls and bluestone on the hearth. This is where I find the Tulikivi interesting. I wish we had a member on board who runs one.

Yes, it's a big flywheel. Once it's going it stays going until the next feeding. However, it is the need to keep it going before the house gets cold that is their main gripe. It takes quite awhile to get that big rock hot enough to warm up the house.

@qwee runs a masonry heater that he built.