Building a Modern Russian Heater

with Alex Chernov

Photo report by Norbert Senf
Photo credits: Norbert Senf, Alex Chernov

The firebox for the lower level is under an UPO cooktop.
The heater will be finished with tile.

There is a bake oven around the corner to the left, and a heated bench on the rear.

Firebox. There are two gas exits - the vetical slot at the right, and a horizontal slot at the top
of the rear wall

View inside baking chamber. Vertical exit slot at the rear.

Alex's description of the gas flow in and around the bake oven is as follows:

The slot at the right is the exit from the firebox. Gases fill the bakeoven chamber and then go out in two directions:
first: into the slot in hte bake oven floor at the left (larger), and through the vertical slot at the back of the chamber (smaller).
The verical slot leads directly to the heated seat's back, the horizontal slot is leads to a chamber below the bake oven's floor that is supported by "columns". Gases from this chamber then reach the back of the heated bench as well.

Size of the slots is based on consideration that most should go through the slot in the floor to the chamber below the bake oven's floor.
Vertical slot is located closer to the heated back, but exit from the back into the heated bench (to under the seat) is located
at the bottom two rows. Considering this, lenght of the two gas paths is roughly the same.

Plus, despite the fact that there are two slots, they are in the same "bell', and the pattern of gas movement in the bell is different from channeled system.

Finished front

Finished side.

Upper level heater, facing the firebox. There will be a white oven above the firebox, and there is a heated bench in
the rear. Stainless chimney is from lower level heater.

3-D model. Chimney exits at top in the front.

Firebox.
One of the vertical exit channels at the rear wall is visible. The purpose is to allow a "separation of gases",
with the cooler gases exiting near the bottom, and hotter gases going around the oven at the top. This "double bell"
system of heater design was developed by Igor Kuznetsov, a Russian engineer. More information on this system is
available at http://stove.ru

The two vertical rear exit slots are visible. Additional smaller exit slots can be seen near the top, which will heat the
bake oven floor.

View of the bake oven floor gas exit slots.

Mockup of bake oven construction. Note the thin vertical gas exit slot behind the rear wall of the bake oven.

Interior configuration.

Lopez Labs is planning to run a flue gas stack loss test on this heater on April 22/06
Check back on the Lopez Labs page for updates.