Hi all,
I am new here and new to the wonderful world of masonry heaters in general, though I have some masonry experience and would love to build my own custom heater in the near future. Very grateful to find this forum and for the wealth of knowledge you all so freely share!
I have a couple questions on design considerations and flue requirements. Here’s a rough sketch of the heater shape (or something along those lines) I’d like to build, and a picture of the space. With those as a reference I’ll try to keep my questions focused.
- Is there a rule of thumb to the relationship between firebox size, flue length, and chimney size? Our space is an open octagon, and for symmetry in the space I want both sides of the heater to have a ~6ft bench that will also create a partition effect to separate the ‘foyer’ from the main space. Is a double bench like that, resulting in ~24ft of flue in addition to chimney and up/downdraft in the core, too long?
- In a double skin heater with a bench, is the bench double skinned as well, or on exiting the core could the bench be constructed wholly out of facing brick? I am hoping for a combination of plaster and tile for the finish, so I’m guessing expansion is the main concern here(?) - is running single wall pipe through the bench a viable way to achieve an expansion joint?
That’s probably plenty to talk about for a start, though every time I think about it I have new questions! Thanks much in advance for any replies, and I am totally open to any thoughts about this newbie design in general.
Cheers!
-K