Among the many Russian models of sauna heaters and Ermak boilers, the stoves were and remain one of the simplest and most affordable on the market. The asking price is even lower than for models in the middle price segment; Ermak stoves are produced by a Russian manufacturer, so the level of costs and expenses is lower than that of imported ones. Almost all Ermak models are made from domestic structural and stainless steel, only individual parts are made from heat-resistant cast iron and galvanized sheet metal.
Model range of Ermak brand stoves
The heat-generating equipment of a well-known Russian enterprise is presented in more than one and a half dozen models of stoves, mainly using solid, wood and briquette fuels.
The Kemerovo plant produces commercial series of two types of Ermak stoves for baths:
- Budget category “Standard”, stoves are made of cast iron, anodized structural steel 3-4 mm thick;
- Elite stoves, the most advanced and expensive, are made of heat-resistant stainless steel.
The characteristics of the most popular models are shown in the table.
In addition to the brand of metal used, Ermak stoves differ in the design of the body, loading tunnel, chimney, glass shape and door handle, and more than two dozen small details and nuances, the presence of which designers pay special attention to. Therefore, even within the same price segment, you can always choose a stove for an Ermak bathhouse in a more or less individual design of the body.
The company that owns the Ermak trademark slightly streamlined the labeling before updating the Kirov Plant model range. Now a letter index is added to the name of the Ermak sauna stove. For example, “T” indicates a solid fuel model, and “C” indicates the presence of glass on the firebox door; the index “PS” indicates that panoramic glass is installed in the sauna stove.
Chimney device
If possible, you should choose a straight chimney design, but if this is not possible, then you need to minimize the number of bends. For a stove that runs on solid or liquid fuel, it is important to organize a safe passage through the ceiling. If you neglect this point, then overheating of the junction of the pipe and the ceiling is inevitable, which means there is a high probability of fire.
There are several ways to organize a containment shell:
- Installation of a metal box larger than the pipe. Slag, expanded clay or basalt wool are placed in the space between the pipe and the box.
- The pipe is covered with bricks, starting from the thrust pad.
Ermak, model No. 12, former “Gnome”
The design developers were not particularly looking for an original name for the updated model. The smallest stove Ermak 12, dimensions 70x40x40 cm, is capable of producing heat equivalent to 12 kW of power. This is enough for a tiny steam room of 4-5 m2.
When choosing a stove for a bath, you need to take into account the features of the firebox and heater:
- The depth of the combustion chamber is 50 cm, this model fits three standard logs, so loading with fuel when heating the bathhouse will have to be done at least twice;
- The weight of the stones is about 40 kg, which is enough for a comfortable steam build-up, but the stove cools down too quickly, so you will have to use the built-in supply and exhaust ventilation to dry the steam room.
For your information!
The height of the Ermak stove No. 12 is only 70 cm, the radiating heat and heat disperse in the room at a fairly short distance from the floor, so in the steam room of a bathhouse with such a stove there is no cold floor or unheated shelves. The stove is ideal for built-in indoor sauna premises, it is easy to transport to the country house, the model is easy to maintain and clean from ash and dirt. The price for Ermak 12 in a new design is from 12 thousand rubles. Experts advise choosing models with an attached tank for a bathhouse, they are more convenient and practical to use.
Sauna stove Ermak 16
This design differs from the previous 12th model of the sauna stove in the dimensions of the combustion chamber and the dimensions of the body. All other parts and elements are almost the same type. If you believe numerous statements from owners and reviews, the Ermak 16 sauna stove is considered the optimal choice for a home bath.
The weight of the stove in a “dry” state is only 50 kg or 45 kg, depending on the body material. To this you need to add a heater backfill of 40-45 kg and a hanging tank for the same weight of boiling water. As a result, it turns out that the mass of hot material in the steam room of the bath will be more than 100 kg. This is already enough to confidently maintain the air temperature from 80°C to 40°C for 2-3 hours.
For your information! The increased mass of the furnace structure is guaranteed to dry not only the steam room room, but also all the condensate that collects on the built-in furnace coil or hanging tank.
If the Ermak 16 stove is cleaned and dried after each fire, then the service life can be confidently extended by 20-25% of the 10 years guaranteed by the manufacturer. It is clear that if you use the stove and do not pay proper attention to it, the combustion chamber will burn out in 3-4 years.
Tips for use
To increase the duration of maintenance-free use of equipment, it is recommended to adhere to a number of rules:
- Before lighting the stove, make sure the joints are tight and there is draft. Open the chimney duct and bring a lit match closer to the chamber. The flame should deviate from the vertical.
- The optimal intensity of filling the firebox is no more than 3⁄4 at a time. The dimensions of solid firewood must be such that they can be easily stacked transversely and longitudinally.
- The combustion process must be controlled. The heater should not be heated until it turns red.
- To reduce the amount of soot generated, every third or fourth firebox should be accompanied by the laying of dry aspen or other deciduous wood.
- Twice a year it is necessary to carry out a preventive examination of the stones. Remove cracked and too small ones. Periodically remove the stones and clean the inside of the heater using a soft rag with a cleaning solution. This will remove dust and vapor products in a timely manner.
- Water is poured before kindling begins. If you fill the heat exchanger after ignition has started, there is a high risk of damage to communications.
Advice! Many users of Ermak stoves claim that at the beginning of their operation, emissions of harmful oil residues appear in the baths. Therefore, after purchasing a stove, it is worth heating it several times with the door open. This will get rid of such substances.
High power furnace models
For steam rooms with an area of 10 m2 or more, the capabilities of the 12th and 16th models are clearly not enough, and meanwhile, more and more lovers of strong steam prefer to build baths with large steam rooms.
suggests using its stoves Ermak 20 and Ermak 24, with a power of 20-24 kW, on wood and briquette fuel, and Uralochka 20 on gas. According to the owners' reviews, the Ermak 24 stove is ideal for a country house with an attached bathhouse, while the 20th model is best installed in a separate sauna or steam room.
In both cases, the design of the combustion chamber with a built-in heat exchanger copes well not only with heating the steam room, but also with heating the entire bathhouse, even taking into account the partial selection of hot water by the washing department or summer kitchen.
Reviews and opinions about stoves from the Kirov plant
If you set a goal and study the available reviews about the Ermak stove for a bath, the resulting picture will only confirm the long-known principle - any mechanisms fail only thanks to the efforts of their owners.
Furnace design features
Anyone who is at least a little familiar with sauna stoves knows that most modern heaters and stoves made of metal can be divided into two large groups:
- Designs with a convection method of heating air in the steam room of a bath. Air flows in the thin gaps between the screen and the body;
- Radiant or infrared type of heating of the steam room atmosphere.
Most models of sauna stoves were and remain convection stoves, so most of the heat enters the steam room atmosphere only due to the presence of special cavities between the screens and the heater. This solution allows you to avoid thermal burns when touching the body of a hot firebox, but, on the other hand, it seriously impairs the heater’s ability to produce a large amount of hot steam.
Installation features
To achieve maximum operating efficiency of Ermak stoves, you should adhere to the following rules when installing:
- Before installing the stove, be sure to thermally insulate the room. As a rule, mineral or glass wool is used for this.
- Special attention should be paid to the floor covering on which the device will stand. Don’t forget about the wall to which the equipment will be attached. After all, it is these parts of the room that are most exposed to the action of the mechanism. Only after quality work has been carried out can you comfortably steam in a sauna room without worrying about safety.
- After thermal insulation, a detailed sketch of the future furnace is drawn up. It’s better to immediately make a drawing for gas and a diagram for metal. The drawing needs to reflect all the elements of the future device. The compiled image will help you avoid serious mistakes when installing equipment.
- The stove is mounted on a reinforced base. It is recommended to make it from a durable metal sheet of large thickness. The main body of the product is attached to it. The procedure is carried out using welding. The design is quite strong, reliable and durable.
- The installation of the chimney deserves special attention, since the operation of all equipment largely depends on it. Before installation, additional thermal insulation must be carried out to ensure safety. A special metal tap should be placed at the place where the pipe crosses the ceiling. This design will prevent excessive heating of the ceiling and roof from the chimney.
Burnout of Ermak's furnace
One of the most common complaints is burnout of the walls of the combustion chamber and steam room.
Sergey Baranik, 47 years old, Perm
The firebox and one of the walls of Ermak 12 burned out during a year of operation. We bought the stove new, in the showroom, and installed it according to all the instructions. We used the sauna every other day, so we quickly noticed smoke coming through the side slot. Based on the results of the investigation with a representative of the company, it turned out that some of the water overflowed into the firebox, and the steel simply rusted.
Anton Alekseevich, 35 years old, Moscow
I bought Ermak 16 on the advice of the master who built the bathhouse. During the first heating, I received a scolding from him for incorrectly placing stones in the heater. It turned out that the stone needed to be laid in layers, sequentially. The master said that Ermaki are the most reliable, but if you hammer the heater to capacity, if it overheats, it will break the welding seams, and then the firebox will definitely burn out. I have been using Ermak for 7 years and have no regrets.
Anatoly Petrovsky, 28 years old, Salavat
After installing Ermak, we noticed that the mounted tank to the stove did not warm up, the water did not even boil. It turned out that a gap almost 6 mm wide was formed between the housing wall and the tank. The stove installers were to blame; the body simply fell to one side after loading the heater. We leveled it, replaced the hanging tank with a chimney version, and the steam room in the bathhouse came to life.
Andrey Zavarsky, 40 years old, Tver
I have been repairing Ermakov for almost 10 years. Those who have had to deal with servicing Teplodarov will certainly appreciate the simple and reliable design of Kirov stoves. Most of the problems arise either due to incorrect installation of Ermak, or a disregard for the stove as a technical device. In such conditions, imported models simply burn out after just a few months of operation.
