Customer Reviews

The Book of Masonry Stoves: Rediscovering an Old Way of Warming

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After reading through this book I was left somewhat disapointed. What is covered in the book is well written, but the publication date was nearly 20 yrs ago, and the book needs updating. More actual pictures of masonry heaters and less old pictures would be helpful. One is better off visiting the masonry heater association
http://www.mha-net.org/ to look at their collection of titles.

This book has a very deep history of heating with wood and even delves into the history of fire. I too was very disappointed to realize that there were very few photographs. And, equally disappointing was a lack of discussion of modern day masonry stoves. There wasn't even any description or anything about the big beautiful masonry stove that is pictured on the cover.

Its been helpful and informative in that I have now learned just how these stoves work and a bit of how they do not work.

This book is an excellent book from the historical point of view. The book is full of excellent illustrations as well as B&W photogaphs. I do wish their had been better photos as well as some color photos as well. This is a great book and really teaches you the details of the functionality of Masonry Stoves.

The author has a good many illustrations and history of masonry heating systems. I was slightly disappointed with the cover being the only color picture. The number of words, the history, and the well written form - make this book worth reading. I am sure it will give you new ideas about masonry heating.

As mentioned, the book is not a modern day catalog, but a historical look at masonry stoves dating back to the first harvesting of fire by humans. Fascinating look at the historical developments, especially around the middle ages
to the nineteenth centtury. Also includes many examples from non-western cultures. Many informative diagrams and photos portraying the myriad styles. Appropriate for the uninitiated.
Not an overly technical review.

When I started flipping through this book, I became excited -- very excited. This is not a Black & Decker complete guide to masonry stoves. There are no step-by-step instructions on how to build a masonry stove. You cannot walk into the Home Depot and buy a masonry stove or a masonry stove kit. But this book is an absolute treasure trove of theory and diagrams (many historical, but we learn from the past, right?) which, with a little imagination and chatting with your local building inspector, can potentially yield results in the form of energy-efficient, high quality heating for your home -- and, depending on your execution, much more aesthetically pleasing than the forced-air beast currently occupying your basement.

I wouldn't have thought a book about stoves would be such interesting reading, but this really is a good book. I bought it in hopes that I'd be able to attempt to build a stove myself. That did not happen, in fact I'm not even sure what type of stove I'd like. However, the book has increased my faith in a wood stove keeping my home comfortable, and be environmentally sound. I liked the writing style, which is pretty rare for a book of this type. There were times when I couldn't put it down. Honestly, I was on this page again to sell my book, but now I find I'm not ready to let it go, so I'm writing a review instead.

While it is old and could probably be updated, the art of the wood stove is also old, so much of the most valuable information may be old as well. Certainly, history has a lot of lessons to teach us about masonry stoves. Also, the book talks about past mistakes of masonry stoves, so if you're thinking about building your own, this would be good reading.

Update: I am now building a house and will be having a masonry stove installed. The book says it's hard to find a master stove builder but now there are many throughout the country, I've found one right here in my small town. Also a masonry stove has benefit over a wood stove because you can get insurance if you have a masonry stove because it qualifies as a fireplace and thus is less risky to an insurance company than a wood stove.

For designing my own stove/heat system this book has been very helpful. It may not have been written for the owner builder but the illustrations are clear and understandable. The detailed stove history made the design process come together for me and made it easier to decide which style would work for me. I highly recommend this book for the coverage of the historical why and how of masonry stoves. The information in the book will make the building of a stove as a secondary heat source something I can feel confident about while knowing the stove will perform efficiently. Good information is essential to me since I personally do all aspects of my building projects and expect each to perform well and fit well into an already convoluted, energy efficient ferrocement structure.

Rarely does one find a book that answers all the questions. This is one of the few. I was looking for information on the Masonry stove, I got it all. There are some things you can't find in a practical book, tips and tricks of the trade, but here it's all there to read.. I enjoyed all the hand drawn illustrations, and there's an superb picture of picasso sitting in front of an old burner. I would like to have seen a few more colour pictures of stoves as there is a wealth of beautiful ceramic stoves out there but it's still my recommended reading.

This is an outstanding and comprehensive book on a timely subject which is gaining renewed interest. Even though it's a bit out of date on the calendar the information is still right on target.