Soapstone stoves for private homes. Refrigerate for up to 24 hours!

When a country house becomes a place where you spend as much time as in a city apartment (or even more), then you begin to approach the issue of heating much more seriously than arranging an ordinary summer cottage. In this article we will talk about what soapstone stoves are, why they can be the main source of heating and why they take so long to cool down.

As a rule, the suburbs of even large cities, for example St. Petersburg, may be poorly supplied with gas, and houses may be subject to rolling or spontaneous power outages after, for example, a wire break. The wind has picked up, wet snow has fallen - that's it, sit and wait without light for the repair service to fix everything. It was in such conditions that firewood was and remains the most reliable fuel. Of course, you can buy a regular stove for country houses. But at the same time, it is unlikely that it will be able to heat the entire house, and firewood will have to be added every two to three hours, which will obviously be tiring.

Soapstone ovens come to the rescue. It is these stoves that, firstly, cool down in up to 24 hours, and, secondly, allow you to heat the entire house due to the possibility of distributing air to several rooms. An additional bonus is the appearance of such stoves; they look like luxurious fireplaces.

Figure 1. Caminiti soapstone oven

Soapstone is a natural stone, which is considered an excellent material for facing fireplaces and stoves. And this is not an exaggeration! Soapstone stoves are environmentally friendly, which means they do not emit harmful substances even when very heated. And they have unique heat-accumulating properties.

Features of soapstone stoves

This type of stone is extracted from rock and no substances hazardous to human health are used in its production. Several amazing features make this type of stove finishing absolutely worth it, despite the high price:

• high heat capacity of the material. This value exceeds that of a simple refractory block by 2.5 times;
• the ability to quickly accumulate thermal energy and gradually release it upon cooling;
• Soapstone heats up from the furnace 4 times faster than fireclay or ceramic bricks;
• high level of resistance to high temperatures. These stones were formed from volcanic lava, so they are not afraid of extreme temperatures;
• polished stone can decorate not only your stove, but the entire house;
• service life of a soapstone furnace is at least 20 years;
• Research by scientists has proven that the length of the heat wave is similar to this parameter of the human body. This feature allows you to increase immunity, improve blood circulation and lower blood pressure.

Soapstone stove in the interior of the house

Delivery to regions

We can deliver your order to any region and city in Russia. The cost of delivery depends on the distance between cities, weight, volume of the goods and is calculated when ordering the goods. On the page of each product in the delivery section, you can specify the city and find out the cost and delivery time of the product. You can write to the delivery service at the address, indicating the product you are interested in, the exact delivery address (pickup warehouse or your address) and the delivery service will calculate the cost of shipping the goods. You can also get advice by phone: 8 (495) 926-26-22. Payment for goods in case of delivery to the region is made by bank transfer with 100% prepayment or by card through the website, or can be paid by your representative in Moscow in cash. All necessary documents are transferred along with the goods or to your representative.

The delivery time depends on the distance and the product and ranges from 2 days to the nearest regions and up to 2 weeks to the most remote corners of the country.

You can calculate the cost of delivery to your region on the product page in the delivery section. We will deliver the goods to the shopping center for free when ordering a chimney kit or order amount over 100,000 (except for promotional items). The cost of delivery to shopping center for orders from 60,000 to 100,000 and promotional goods from 100,000 is 1990 rubles. For orders up to 60,000 - 2990 rub.

Close

Principle of operation

This unit operates similarly to other stoves for saunas or home heating. Stone panels heat up quickly and begin to distribute heat evenly throughout the room. By installing a soapstone stove, you will initially spend more money. But the high levels of steam and heat output will pay off your investment.

Lining the walls of a simple steel potbelly stove with your own hands will reduce the amount of firewood and increase the performance of the heating device.

You can simply install a soapstone bath stove in your home, and it will successfully cope with the assigned work. Much more heat will be generated from laying stones, and less firewood will be needed.

A heater is also suitable for heating a summer house

Soapstone tiles - what is it and what is its value for a bath

We have already dedicated one article to it, where we talked about its properties and use in a heater. But now this stone interests us as a finishing material . What is the secret of his popularity? First of all, soapstone retains heat well . What else does a steamer need? Of course, there are materials with better indicators (see table here), but then fashion and advertising come into play, and it turns out to be out of competition. And secondly, it’s just beautiful).

Soapstone tiles

Advantages and disadvantages

To the previously listed features we will add several advantages of the material:

• For lining, you can use slabs or stones of different sizes. You can install a large stove decorated with whole, large soapstone boulders or use small pebbles or tiles - any such design will reliably perform the tasks of heating a house or bathhouse;
• the level of density of the material is capable of providing frequent and multiple cycles of heating and cooling of the furnace without damaging the integrity of the plates;
• stoves or fireplaces lined with stone can be installed not only in the kitchen. Such units can decorate an office or living room in a country house and a simple kitchen in a country house;
• the service life of furnaces made of different materials increases. The stone quickly relieves stress when heated and the material of the firebox or walls is not exposed to high temperatures;
• the level of fire safety is reduced. The stone heats up, but does not become hot and the stove cannot cause a fire.

Tips for choosing

You can find many low-quality fakes of soapstone on the market. Often there is direct deception when the sample on the packaging does not correspond to what was declared. Soapstone chlorite can be easily identified by touch. As a rule, it is greasy or soapy. But the quality of the mineral may vary.

It is bad when the stone has a slate structure. It then consists of small plates that can break upon impact. And this is easy to check in practice.

When choosing a stone, you should pay attention to soapstone analogues. It can be soapstone magnesite

The mineral is different, but talc is present in both cases. Chlorite has no beneficial properties for baths. Magnesite can withstand high temperatures. This is a heat-resistant component. An experienced consultant will help you sort out all the details.

Soapstone is a mountain mineral, durable, stable and reliable. This is an ideal option for a sauna, since when heated, the stone releases substances that are beneficial to health. In addition, soapstone tiles are not at all slippery and create excellent sound insulation of the room. Among the disadvantages are the high cost. When choosing, you should be careful, because there are many fakes on the market.

How to choose?

When choosing a stove, you need to clearly understand what equipment is needed for your home. First of all, regardless of the installation location or design, the power of the unit corresponds to the area or volume of the building. Otherwise, you will need to know a few important points.

For home

To line the heating stoves for the building, individual stones or blocks are used, which are made from a large massive boulder.

Stone lining can be done at an industrial plant producing aggregates. The individual parts are laid out and a masonry plan is drawn up. After this, the structure is disassembled and finally equipped during installation after purchase.

The larger the firebox and the dimensions of the heating device, the longer the soapstone will be able to heat the room after the firewood has burned out.

You can increase the period of heat retention by equipping the stove with additional benches or other decorative forms, the stone of which will accumulate heat.

Home stoves are usually equipped with a hob, an oven, and a container for heating water, which reduces the price of purchasing individual household appliances.

For a bath or sauna

A sauna stove in soapstone is a simple heater, the surfaces of which are lined with blocks of this material and the cavity for stones is filled with blocks of material of different sizes. The thicker the lining wall is, the higher the heat capacity becomes. Such a stove will take longer to heat up, but it will retain heat for a long time.

Important! It is better to install stoves with soapstone in a bathhouse for a large family or a group of big steam lovers.

If the bathhouse is small in size and a family of 2-3 people is planning to steam, it is better to equip such a steam room with a simple homemade steel heater and put soapstone in the heater. This way you can significantly reduce costs and provide your family with a quickly warming up steam room.

Installation

Now let's move on to the most interesting part. Installation of soapstone depends on what exactly you are installing - tiles or stone blocks (for example, a casing). If there are blocks or slabs, then liquid glass and soapstone powder are used for them.

Liquid glass, 3.5 kg. Photo by Leroy Merlin

Laying tiles

And if we are talking about tiles that you are going to lay on the wall and floor, then the technology for laying soapstone tiles will be as follows:

First, the surface is primed.

You need to know that you need to start not from the first row of tiles on the wall, but from the second. You will lay the first one only after the wall and floor are ready.

Then, after 4 hours from applying the primer, the level of the second row of tiles is marked.

Tile adhesive is applied to the wall using a notched trowel. The choice of glue is discussed below. The height of the grater teeth is the height of the adhesive layer; you should select a grater according to the instructions.

Crosses are inserted between the tiles.

Every time after laying tiles and rows, you need to check the verticality of the level.

The tiles on the floor are laid in exactly the same way. When the floor is completed and the time has been met according to the instructions, you can begin laying the first row of tiles on the wall.

When the glue has dried everywhere, you can begin to grout the seams between the tiles.

Review of the best models

Here are the market leaders for heating units for baths and homes.

Cons of the stone

Soapstone is a heavy stone, so the furnace needs a solid foundation. It takes a long time to heat up, therefore, heating the stove will require more wood and time.

The appearance of the stones is gloomy. If you want to get aesthetic pleasure from contemplating stones in an open stone backfill, soapstone will not fulfill this task.

The cost of the stone is slightly higher than that of its competitors. For example, crimson quartzite costs a little more. Perhaps the price of stones varies depending on the region of our country. Therefore, it would not be entirely correct to consider this a minus.

Any minus can be made a plus. A solid foundation is the key to a long service life of the stove; it will not settle or crack.

The longer the stones heat up, the longer they then give off their heat. For example, my bathhouse is warm the next day.

It is not a pity to load soapstone into a closed backfill; its gloominess will not confuse anyone.

How to line a stove with soapstone?

There are no special features of laying stones or differences from tiling stoves. All work is carried out according to a certain scheme:

Stages of work on lining the furnace with soapstone

1. We clean the surfaces of the oven from old mortar or dirt;
2. Degrease metal parts with solvent;
3. Preparing the mortar for masonry. To do this, it is recommended to buy a special composition from Finland. It is made from crushed stone and liquid glass. Such a solution will reliably hold the cladding for a long time. We attach perforated corners to the corners and bottom of the oven walls to protect the tiles and prevent them from slipping when laying;
4. In the firebox, be sure to lay the stone only horizontally, such tiles will warm up faster. The facing parts are unraveled across the fiber - this ensures rapid heating and gradual heat release;

5. We fill all voids with mortar and constantly check the correct placement of individual stone tiles;
6. We install brackets or crosses between the stones for an even and uniform seam. After the work is completed and the solution has hardened, we remove the crosses and rub all the seams with the prepared mixture.

The work is not difficult, but requires a careful and responsible attitude. But by doing the work yourself, you have the opportunity to save tens of thousands of rubles.

DIY cladding

Today, bath stoves made of soapstone are quite common, and there are different reviews on them.
Most owners note the fast heating and affordable cost of the material. According to some buyers, the stone is very dusty, which is why it needs to be thoroughly washed under running water. Self-lining the furnace with soapstone does not cause any particular difficulties and does not require special skills

It is worth paying attention to some features of the process. The parts inside the furnace are laid horizontally, this ensures rapid heating and, accordingly, heat transfer to the outer surface

At the same time, the stones are attached to the outside in a vertical position to retain heat for a longer time.

Reliable fixation of the tiles can be achieved using a special glue that has long been used in Finland - a mixture of soapstone chloride powder and liquid glass. This composition has many advantages, including safety for human health, durability and high strength characteristics. If it is necessary to secure the elements to each other, a special bracket or pin is used, otherwise they may fall away from the surface under the influence of their weight. The pins are removed after several hours after the glue has dried, and the resulting gaps are filled with grout.

Operating rules

In Finland, such heating devices are the basis for obtaining heat in a country house. The front side opens into the living room or dining room. The rear part with the combustion chamber, hob and oven are installed in the kitchen.

We heat the stove as needed. Units equipped with an exhaust gas afterburning system allow you to add firewood no more than several times a day. Otherwise, the operation of such devices is similar to conventional heaters.

But don’t get carried away with firewood; the characteristics of the materials allow you to save fuel. If you constantly put firewood in the rooms, the heat will be unbearable. After lining, be sure to dry the stove by burning small amounts of fuel in the firebox.