A masonry heater is not a fireplace and not a wood stove. It burns one short, very hot fire, stores the heat in a large mass of firebrick and stone, and gives that heat back gently for the next twelve to twenty-four hours.

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People have been storing the heat of a fire in masonry for at least two thousand years. The Romans did it under their floors, the stove-setters of central Europe turned it into an art, and a Swedish fuel crisis in the 1760s produced the design most modern heaters still follow.

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Very high efficiency, almost no smoke, one or two fires a day, surfaces that are safe to touch, and heat that keeps coming with the power off. Here is what a masonry heater gives a house.

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