Contents: Log Home Books, Soapstone stoves, Tools and more coming.
Finns love their cabins in the country, especially by a lake. Package
log cabins like this, and even all types of homes, are available from Finnish
manufacturers. This one, by Puutalo is fairly typical. It has three different
configurations including a living area: 1) with a sauna and dressing room,
2) with a sauna and a shower/washroom, or 3) with two bedrooms.
If you want a stove/fireplace that will keep giving you heat 12 to 24 hours after the fire has gone out, your only choice is naturally, soapstone.
My own 2003 experience with soapstone stoves is the Tulikivi line from Finland. I had the good fortune to have
spent a month in an exclusive Heliskiing Resort (all beautifully built log cabins) in the Canadian mountains,
north of Smithers BC. The stove in the room was different. I had never
seen anything like it. A basket
of wood stood beside it, with small blocks about 8 inches long. I immediately started a fire in this stove that has the pipe exiting near the floor. An hour went
by, and I felt the outside of the stove. Hardly warm! I added wood once or twice to keep the fire going
and to see if I
could warm up the surface. It got a little warmer but not like a steel stove.
The next day I got up to a wonderfully warm stove. I looked into the firebox and there wasn't even an ember
glowing; the stove wasn't hot but it was awfully warm! The Lodge booklet filled me in. It was a Tulikivi stove from Finland. Every room in the Lodge had a Tulikivi stove or
fireplace. Tulikivi is not your ordinary stove, so there was easily several hundred thousand dollars worth of fireplaces and stoves in the Lodge. It is one of the most efficient stove systems ever designed, which releases only a minimal amount of pollutants.
A stove that captures heat is far better than one that smolders and creosotes your chimney. One of the drawbacks of modern stoves is that they burn the wood efficiently but too quickly. Soapstone solves that problem. If you can afford it, buy one.
You can find Tulikivi Finnish soapstone stoves in your area or order through Amazon.com
one of their products below.
