With the first Wood Stove Decathlon
only a couple weeks away, we are profiling the remaining teams in the competition. Take this opportunity to learn more about the design teams and
their stove’s innovative features.
“It’s so Hiisi, anyone can do it!” The Finnish
stove is marketed as easy to use, inspiring the homonymic name Hiisi. The Hiisi is Finnish company’s Tulikivi's smallest hybrid heat-retaining
fireplace and is especially well suited to modern low energy construction
projects. The upcoming 2015 wood emissions restrictions in Germany has
challenged Tulikivi engineers and innovators to meet the high standards. After
years of development the stove is ready meet the world's tightest emissions
standards set for 2015 and to compete in the Wood Stove Decathlon this November.
Lab technician Onni Ovaskainen and a Hiisi prototype |
The Hiisi differs from standard room-heating
stoves in that typical wood stoves are not normally heat-retaining units. The Hiisi's
heat-retaining soapstone releases heat more slowly, and in the form of soft,
pleasant radiant heat and it can heat water. This is a major design point since
this stove won't over heat new energy efficient homes. These types of homes are
quickly becoming the norm so Tulikivi has worked to minimize the convection
heat into the room using thermal radiation and a double glass door. Despite its
compact size, the Hiisi is a hybrid fireplace, meaning that both pellets and
wood can be burned in their firebox without the need for any further equipment,
accessories or even electricity.
The model that Tulikivi is bringing to
Washington D.C. has already been sold in Europe for the past 5 months. Only
taking a brief pause to celebrate Hiisi’s success, Tulikivi is getting ready to
launch the next generation of Hiisi models this coming January. The new model
promises to burn even cleaner than the original.
Tulikivi hopes that their Hiisi stove will
help promote the benefits of residential biomass heating. They work hard to
ensure that consumers are aware of these benefits. While selling these masonry
heaters in the US, Tulikivi educates their consumers of the long tradition of
masonry heating and the pros and cons of thermal mass radiant heat compared to
dry hot convection heat. Over the past two years, insight from consumers and
Tulikivi’s importer network has led to developmental and design changes to get
the look and feel of the Hiisi just right.
We are looking
forward to seeing Hiisi in action at the Wood Stove Decathlon
November 16-19, 2013. Vote for your favorite stove at Popular Mechanics.
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