Stove or boiler?
Modern manufacturers are vying with each other to offer a huge selection of boilers: gas, electric, solid fuel, pellet, liquid fuel, waste, combined. If you are the happy owner of gas in the house, you can not consider other options for stoves or boilers.
I was provided with an open field without gas and electricity with unclear prospects (nothing has changed in three years). Heating a house with electricity using a diesel generator is the ruin of the purest water (plus or minus one hundred euros). However, the announced price of electricity consumption for the corresponding boiler did not inspire - more than fifteen thousand rubles in winter for one hundred and fifty square meters of a well-insulated house.
As a result, the choice arose between a long-burning solid fuel boiler (below we are talking about it) and a long-burning stove.
The advantages of such a long burning boiler:
- economical fuel consumption;
- high heat transfer;
- heating 1-2 times a day, depending on the model and the temperature outside;
- relatively even heat distribution.
Minuses:
- high cost (purchase plus turnkey installation with a guarantee of at least one hundred to one hundred and fifty thousand rubles);
- control, control and more control! (overheating of the system, undermining from radiators and pipes must not be allowed, uninterrupted electricity is needed for a variety of automation sensors, timely addition of antifreeze and much more);
- a separate boiler room, equipped according to all SNIPs;
- well, and the risk of an explosion (unmotivated from the point of view of logic and conscience), which more or less decent sellers of this equipment honestly warn about.
As a result, after comprehending and weighing, I decided to install the oven. But which one?
Heated water ovens
In accordance with tradition, the unit that heats the steam room must heat the water for washing. Naturally, the company also produces such models. First of all, this is the Termofor stove with a Biryusa 2013 water tank. Here, the container is built into the body and is located directly above the firebox, which does not mean at all that the water is heated directly. The device is shown in the figure:
As you can see, there is a gap between the combustion chamber and the tank, and only a closed heater is directly heated. It turns out that in this design we have a samovar-type tank, which is one piece with the body of the unit. This technical solution gives the sauna stove an original external design and shape.
For reference. On any bath heater Termofor, you can install a separate samovar-type tank. It can be included with each model as an option.
The water tank in the steam room is not convenient for everyone. The water in it boils quickly and must be changed, supplemented with cold water. For those who like to take a carefree steam while the stove heats up the water in a remote tank located in an adjacent room or in the attic, Termofor stoves with a heat exchanger are offered. In particular, these include the well-known Tunguska model, whose design can be seen in the figure:
The stove device traditionally includes a stove, open at the top, but without ventilation. In order to avoid quick burnout from direct contact with the flame, the bottom of the stove is made of 6 mm thick metal. I must say that the installation of the Thermofor furnace in this case has its own characteristics, namely, the connection of the heat exchanger to the storage tank. The latter can be located in the washing room or in the attic, as long as it is above the level of the heat exchanger.Then, as it heats up, water will circulate from it to the container in a natural way.
Advice. For the section passing in the steam room, it is strongly not recommended to take any polymer pipes.
The manufacturer offers not only a wide range of sauna stoves, but also accessories for them. Most of the products with a remote combustion channel can be equipped with a panoramic screen, turning a conventional unit into an attractive fireplace stove. Sitting at the table in the room adjacent to the steam room, you can relax and enjoy the view of a real flame through heat-resistant glass.
Overview of ovens
There are three types of ovens:
- Handmade brick oven.
- Factory furnaces made of cast iron and metal.
- Something homemade, with dubious results in terms of heat dissipation and safety. We will not consider them - very individually.
Hand-made brick ovens are an excellent option for large country houses built on a monolithic (ideally deeply buried) foundation, or cottages with a basement. Any intelligible stove requires a separate, personal, foundation.
If you decide to acquire such a stove in a lumber, log, frame house built on a strip foundation, take care of the foundation for the stove in advance, before starting construction. And by the way, the project of the house in this case, should also be planned to "dance from the stove."
Advantages of a handmade brick oven:
- durability;
- high heat transfer;
- versatility (heats, cooks, bakes and you can lie down);
- small consumption of firewood;
- safety (in full serviceability and correct operation).
Cons of this oven:
- price (including the purchase and delivery of materials, masonry);
- extensive preparatory work;
- long installation and drying;
- difficulty in finding a good specialist (friends had a "very cool" one, as a result the stove lived for six months, after which it made a strong-willed decision to fall apart);
- maintenance (chimney cleaning, inspection of bricks, heating in a certain way at least once a season).
Such a stove is perfect for people living in a country house all year round. If you visit the patrimony exclusively from May to October, it is definitely not worth the candle.
Factory furnaces can be divided into five broad categories:
- Sauna / bath stoves (provide a high temperature in a room of 6-12 m2).
- Fireplace type (open or partially open fire).
- "Potbelly stoves" (they quickly warm up the room, keep it warm while they are burning).
- Cooking and heating (heating, plus the ability to cook food, including in the oven).
- Long burning stoves (maintain heat for seven to ten hours on one tab of firewood).
On the Russian market, factory furnaces are presented in a very good assortment. Today, there are more than thirty leading domestic and manufacturers who are ready to offer the widest range of prices (from three to seventy thousand rubles). Long-burning stoves are especially popular:
- "Termokraft" (www.termokraft.ru)
- "Teplodar" (www.teplodar.ru)
- "Professor Butakov" (www.professor-butakov.ru)
- Ermak-Thermo (www.ermak-termo.ru)
- "Laoterm" (laoterm.fis.ru)
- Bayern Munich (www.pechnik-spb.ru/pechi-bavariya.php)
- Vesuvius (www.vezuviy.su)
- "Termofor" (www.termofor.ru)
And not without reason. "Our" ovens are adapted to the climate, easy to operate, have a clear instruction manual. Level design. There are no problems with "spare parts" (ash pan, doors, chimneys, etc.). Warranty periods are adhered to impeccably - thanks to high competition. Installation of the chimney is quite simple, if you have hands, a head and the ability to read the instructions, it is quite possible to install it yourself.
From foreign "long burning" can be noted:
- "MBS" (Serbia)
- "Thorma" (Germany-Slovakia)
- "Contura" (Sweden)
- "Edilkamin" (Italy)
- Ferlux (Spain)
Design features
At the moment, for heating a steam room, the company offers more than 20 models of various sizes, configurations and shapes, taking into account new items. All wood-burning stoves for a home with a sauna are made of 2 types of high quality steel:
- structural low-carbon;
- stainless steel alloyed with chrome.
Note. You can determine in which model the firebox is made of stainless steel from the name. Such furnaces have the word Inox at the end, carbon metal aggregates have the word Carbon in the name.
Since the range of units is very wide, we will select several of the most popular modifications, by the example of which we will make sure that the company's designers do not eat their bread in vain. To begin with, there is the Termofor-Angara sauna stove, which is a middle class of units designed to serve steam rooms with a volume of up to 20 m3. The product has an open-top heater and a remote firebox equipped with panoramic heat-resistant glass. The device is shown in detail in the diagram:
The combustion chamber in this model is made of carbon steel or stainless steel - to choose from. The metal partitions, welded in the upper part in a special way, represent a vortex-type heat exchanger that intensively removes the heat of the combustion products rising to the chimney. It should be noted that almost all Termofor bath heating stoves are equipped with a secondary air supply channel for afterburning the emitted pyrolysis gases. This helps to improve the efficiency of fuel combustion.
Note. Stainless steel as a material for the firebox significantly increases the service life of the entire stove. At the same time, modifications in which this is done have higher prices (by about 12-15%).
In order to protect people in the steam room from the hard infrared radiation emanating from the hot metal walls of the firebox, outside all Termofor stoves are equipped with a protective screen. The design provides that air from the lower zone of the room passes into the cavity between the wall of the combustion chamber and the casing, heats up there and exits from above through the holes in the casing. Thus, the screen for the sauna stove provides convective heat exchange in the steam room and at the same time is a safety element. The heater is open on only one side and has an additional ventilation duct.
Fire-battery furnace characteristics
Considering the Termofor ovens for your country house, it is certainly recommended to read the reviews. The latest metalworking technologies, as well as computer-aided design methods, have made it possible to produce a truly unique furnace, which is called a fire-battery. The design is distinguished by an impressive volume of the firebox, the presence of a heat exchanger, a hob, and a remote-type water heating tank. It must be admitted that the hob is the most significant advantage in everyday life.
Gas and wood stoves
For your information! For a bath that uses natural gas for heating, the Urengoy model is excellent. It is based on the "Compact" design and has been improved to operate on gas fuel. Automation in control makes the use of the device as easy as possible.
It is pointless to argue about what is better for heating a bath, gas or wood. Both options have their own charms. Gas appliances are reliable and easy to use, do not require fuel preparation. But how can you give up the real aroma of the wood-burning stove and the pleasure of the kindling process itself?
The main characteristics of some models
If you choose a Termofor oven for your home or steam room, then you need to consider the main quality characteristics of some solutions. For example, Geyser is capable of heating a room, the dimensions of which can vary from 8 to 18 cubic meters. In this case, the mass of the stones is 60 kilograms. During operation, you can use firewood, the length of which reaches 450 millimeters.You can buy such a model for a cost that starts from 16,000 and ends with 20,000 rubles.
"Angara" heats a room of the same volume, but the volume of stones is 10 kilograms less. The length of the firewood has been increased to 500 millimeters, and the cost starts from 10,000 and ends at around 20,300 rubles. The "Compact" oven is purchased for smaller rooms, which are limited to 6-12 cubic meters. The mass of stones does not exceed 35 kg, and the cost varies from 7,500 to 11,700 rubles. The Kalina stove can be purchased for rooms with a minimum volume of 12, while the maximum volume is 30 cubic meters. It can hold 100 kilograms of stones, and the cost is perhaps the most impressive, it starts at 26,500 rubles and ends with 30,000 rubles.
The Cinderella stove can be installed in rooms with a volume of up to 50 cubic meters. Its cost can be equal to the limit from 6200 to 7400 rubles. The fire-battery can be installed in a room that reaches 250 cubic meters. The minimum figure is 100 cubic meters. The cost of such equipment varies from 9400 to 17500 rubles.
Furnace selection: criteria and features
Before you start looking for a suitable model "Termofor", you should decide on a few basic requirements:
- price category of the product (economy, middle or premium class);
- dimensions of the heated room;
- type of fuel (wood or gas).
For your information! For large steam rooms accommodating a company of 8-10 people, the Angara oven is more suitable. It has two compartments for heating stones and gives out abundant steam. One hundred kilograms of stones are placed in such a structure. "Angara" effectively heats a bathhouse with a volume of thirty cubic meters.
Correctly collected information about the requirements and requests of the buyer will allow the store's specialists to choose the most suitable purchase option and form the necessary set of additional equipment.
So that the sauna stove does not consume excess fuel and at the same time effectively heats the steam room, it must have the appropriate power and chimney size for the required draft.
Important! The fire safety of the sauna room also depends on the correct selection of the heating device.
What information will be required to select a model of a heater for a bath "Termofor":
- steam room dimensions: width, length and height of the room;
- the height of the roof of the bath to determine the length and device of the chimney;
- individual requirements for the steam room: humidity, temperature;
- the frequency of using the bath (seasonal, year-round).
Heating of water in a bath can be in a "samovar" tank on the stove chimney or in a remote container, where heating takes place through a heat exchanger. For a small steam room for two, a model with a built-in tank for heating water is perfect.
Models of stoves for a bath "Termofor" are presented in different colors, from brown and black to metallic.
Advice! The selection of a heating device for a steam room is a rather difficult task. It is better if professionals take part in its decision.
