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Personally, I love living with a masonry heater, but when it comes to numbers, I am analytical. Financially I like to invest in things that offer low ongoing expense rather than buying cheap stuff often. A good pair of boots that will last a decade for $300 is an amazing efficiency when compared with a $100 pair of boots that will last a couple years. I have never regretted buying valuable things.
It is with this spirit that I breakdown the Ownership Cost of a heater as I see it.
1) The qualitative value)​​
I often state that a well designed masonry heater will burn half the wood to heat the same space as a wood-stove will, but a woodstove costs a lot more. Which one is a better value? To answer this I will ignore the health benefits of radiant heat and the ease of operation that a masonry heater offers. While I consider these to be very real values, they are not quantifiable, and here we are, sticking with numbers. If I can't put a dollar value on it, I'm not including it in this analysis.
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Throughout this post I'll use the metaphor of the Tragedy of The Cardboard Shoes. The tragedy is that a young man with 500 dollars you can buy shoes that will last the rest of his life, so it will cost him 500 dollars to keep his feet warm and dry as long as he lives..
If our young man cannot afford $500 or chooses the cheaper route, he can also buy cardboard shoes for $25, but they will last only six months, so he'll pay 50 a year for the rest of his life and end up spending much more to keep his feet warm and dry for the rest of his life. It's kind of like buying a water treatment system or buying bottled water.
How We Complete Your Home Together
Security only we can offer
Live well. Live free. Live Cozy.
Buy wise, buy once.
Central Heating Systems last 20-30 years. Heat pumps and on-demand water heaters maybe half as long. Eric Schroeder's Maine Masonry Heaters are designed to last a lifetime and beyond.
With simple security and a cozy place to spend time with family, you may even be disappointed when the power comes back on.
Simple Elegance
The damper slides in and out. The loading door hinges open and closed. No computer controls needed, no valves, no tanks, no doohickies or whoziewhats to break and leave you facing a cold winter night.
Anyone who has ever had a late-night wintertime service call on a conventional heating system knows how vulnerable they can be. Even when they work well they need maintenance regularly to keep going. Your masonry heater just needs an annual(ish) cleaning and it's always there, always ready to work.
Real-Life Experience
When I bought my home, the previous homeowner had spent about $1,500-2,000 every season to heat it.
Now that I have installed a Maine Masonry Heater, my average heating cost including all sources is about $600 a year including having the wood split for me.
Maine winters are hard. Maine winters are wonderful with a Maine Masonry Heater.
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Simple and Custom
Designing truly custom stoves enhances our simple designs.
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I don't believe that any Masonry Heater is a commodity and I believe that designing unique stoves has empowered me to design simple stoves better.
Most Masonry Heaters built in the US are based on the Finnish Contraflow and are the same. I am blessed to have studied under masons who build these and Austrian style and Russian Bell heaters, to have had unique experiences that have taught me how to size and shape heaters to fit into any space. Learning to custom-design heaters and living with heaters has taught me to find elegant and simple approaches to accomplish your goals.
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If you want a simple stove, I can build one simpler and more effective than any one-size-fits-all unit. Just call and ask me about my house and my Maine Masonry Heater!