Most masonry heaters heat by radiant heat alone: the storage mass releases its heat into the room where it stands. This one does both — it is a hydro firebox, fitted with a heat exchanger that draws part of the heat from the flue gases and passes it to the water in the heating circuit.
This photograph, taken before assembly, shows the three parts clearly. The firebox with heat exchanger, in black cast iron, carries its water connections at the top. In the centre, the prefabricated vaulted oven. On the left, the ceramic storage flues and their elbows, which will be embedded in the storage mass.
Assembly is more demanding than for a dry heater: it needs a safety loop, an expansion vessel, a controller that decides at every moment where to send the heat, and a buffer tank able to absorb what a single burn produces all at once. None of this shows once the heater is rendered — but it is what allows a two-hour wood fire to feed radiators for the whole day.
Built in 2021–2022, commissioned in January.
Remilly-en-Montagne, in the Côte-d’Or, about thirty kilometres from the workshop.
