By Eric Moshier – Certified Heater Mason, Third-Generation Mason, MHA Technical Committee Member, ASTM E1602 Masonry Heater Group Member
Solid Rock Masonry LLC in Duluth, Minnesota builds, rebuilds, and installs the kakelugn – the Swedish tiled stove – for clients across the United States. Owner Eric Moshier is a Certified Heater Mason, a member of the ASTM E1602 masonry heater standards committee, and a member of the Masonry Heater Association Technical Committee, with more than 25 years and 800 completed projects behind him. A kakelugn is a radiant heat storage appliance: it burns a small, hot, fast fire for 2 to 3 hours, absorbs that energy into its masonry core, and then releases gentle radiant heat into the room for the next 12 to 24 hours. Solid Rock Masonry rebuilds antique kakelugnar imported from Sweden, builds new tiled stoves from scratch, and re-engineers both to satisfy International Residential Code requirements in the United States. Site-built masonry heater projects, including kakelugn rebuilds, generally run $30,000 to $40,000 depending on size, tile work, and site conditions. We travel nationwide.
What is a kakelugn?
A kakelugn is a Swedish tiled stove: a tall, tile-faced masonry heater that stores the heat of a short, hot fire and radiates it slowly back into the room over many hours.
The design dates to 1767. Sweden was running out of firewood, and the Swedish government commissioned architect Carl Johan Cronstedt and general Fabian Wrede to solve it. Their answer was a masonry stove with a long internal channel system that routes hot flue gas up and down through the body of the stove several times before it ever reaches the chimney. Instead of sending most of the fire’s energy up the flue, the kakelugn strips the heat out of the smoke and banks it in masonry.
That is the same physics behind every masonry heater we build. What makes the kakelugn distinct is the exterior: hand-formed, hand-glazed ceramic tile, historically built as a decorated centerpiece of the room. A kakelugn is a heating appliance and a piece of furniture at the same time. Learn how masonry heaters work.
How is a kakelugn different from a kachelofen?
They are cousins, not twins. Both are tile-faced masonry heaters. The difference is national tradition and construction detail. The Kachelofen is the German branch of the same family, with its own history of the Kachelofen stretching back more than 800 years.
The kakelugn (Swedish) is typically tall, narrow, and vertical, often round, with a compact footprint and a very tall channel system stacked into a small floor area. It is frequently placed in a room corner.
The kachelofen (German and Austrian) is typically broader and blockier, often incorporating a heated bench or heated walls, with thermal mass spread over a wider footprint. Read about the kachelofen tradition.
The two traditions can be combined. The Montana stove below reads as a German kachelofen with its blue tile, edelweiss accents and Bavarian flag colors on the floor but the channeling inside it is Swedish kakelugn.
Can you install an antique Swedish kakelugn in the United States?
Yes, but it cannot be rebuilt exactly the way it was built in Sweden. This is the part most people importing a kakelugn do not find out until the stove is already sitting on a pallet in their driveway.
Antique Swedish kakelugnar were built to Swedish practice, in Swedish houses, under Swedish rules. Two things in particular do not carry over: firebox masonry thickness and clearances to combustible materials. A stove reassembled to its original Swedish dimensions will generally not satisfy the International Residential Code here without a number of changes to fit the build within the masonry heater ASTM 1602.
The code path for a masonry heater in the United States is IRC Section R1002, which references ASTM E1602. Eric Moshier sits on the ASTM E1602 committee. When we rebuild an imported kakelugn, we re-engineer the core, the firebox thicknesses, and the clearances so the finished heater meets code, while preserving the original tile shell and the appearance the client bought it for. Masonry heater building codes explained.
This is the difference between a kakelugn that a building inspector signs off on and a very expensive pile of antique tile.
How does a kakelugn heat a home?
You build one fire. You burn it hot and fast, for 2 to 3 hours. Then you close it down and walk away.
During the burn, flue gas travels through the internal channel system and gives up its heat to the masonry. For the next 12 to 24 hours the stove radiates that stored energy back into the room at a low, steady surface temperature. There is no fan, no thermostat, and no reloading through the night.
This matters when sizing one. A masonry heater is a heat storage appliance, and its output is spread across 12 to 24 hours. That is a fundamentally different number from the peak hourly BTU load a Manual J calculation gives you. The two are not interchangeable. To get a realistic picture of your home’s heat loss, start with the free calculator at LoadCalc.net, then see our Masonry Heater Planning Guide for sizing and design.
What does a kakelugn cost?
A site-built masonry heater from Solid Rock Masonry, including a kakelugn rebuild, generally falls in the $20,000 to $40,000 range. Where a specific project lands depends on the size of the heater, the condition and complexity of the tile work, the chimney situation, and the site itself. We will also finish our Swedish 5 run stoves with stone, brick and plaster.
An imported antique adds a second cost line that is easy to overlook: the stove itself. Swedish suppliers like Lindholm Kakelugnar recover old tiled stoves that would otherwise be destroyed, number and label every tile, dismantle them by hand, and crate them for shipment. That purchase and the freight to the United States are separate from the masonry work.
Our pricing is always transparent on our estimates and contracts. Our prices on our stoves is very competitive because we build a lot of masonry heaters every year. Our experience and speed shows. Are masonry heaters worth it? Full cost analysis.
What does a kakelugn rebuild actually involve?
We traveled to Port Washington, Wisconsin to rebuild an antique kakelugn our client had imported from Sweden.
The stove arrived as a crate of numbered tiles. The Swedish supplier had located it, saved it from being thrown away, catalogued every piece, and carefully taken it apart so it could live again in another house on another continent. What arrives is the skin of a stove and a map for putting it back together. What does not arrive is a heater.
Our work is everything behind the tile. We built a new firebox and channel system to U.S. code, corrected the masonry thicknesses, established proper clearances to combustibles, set the whole assembly on a foundation of 4,500 psi concrete or better, 8 inches deep, with 1/2-inch rebar at 12 inches on center, and then rebuilt the historic tile shell around it, tile by numbered tile.
The finished stove looks exactly like the one that came out of the Swedish house. It works better, and it passes inspection.
Do you build new kakelugnar, or only rebuild antiques?
Both. An antique import is one path. The other is a new tiled stove built from the ground up, designed around your room, your heat load, and the tile you want.
A new build removes the constraints of a two-hundred-year-old shell. We size the core to your actual heat loss, place the door and the bake oven where you want them, and detail the tile to suit the house. If you love the kakelugn form but do not want to hunt for an antique, this is usually the better project.
We also build Finnish contraflow heaters, Russian bell heaters, Swedish five-run heaters, wood-fired bake ovens, and Tulikivi soapstone systems, and we manufacture the SR Core refractory firebox used in our DIY masonry heater kits. See our full range of custom masonry heaters.
Kakelugn projects
More work in our tiled stove project gallery.
Frequently asked questions about kakelugnar
How long does a kakelugn stay warm?
A kakelugn radiates heat for 12 to 24 hours after a single firing of 2 to 3 hours. In cold weather most owners fire once in the morning and once in the evening.
Can I import a kakelugn myself and have you install it?
Yes. Many of our clients do exactly that. Talk to us before you buy, though. We can tell you whether a particular stove can be made code-compliant here and what the rebuild will involve, which is worth knowing before the crate ships.
Will a kakelugn heat my whole house?
It depends on the house and where the stove sits. A masonry heater heats primarily by radiation, so it warms what it can see. Open floor plans do well. Compartmentalized houses need the heater placed centrally, and sometimes a second heat source for distant rooms. Start with a heat loss calculation at LoadCalc.net.
Does a kakelugn need a special foundation?
Yes. These are heavy appliances. We specify 4,500 psi concrete or better, 8 inches deep, with 1/2-inch rebar at 12 inches on center. Foundation design is part of every project we quote.
Is a kakelugn the same as a wood stove?
No. A wood stove is a convective appliance that gives you heat only while it is burning. A kakelugn burns for 2 to 3 hours and then heats for 12 to 24. It is a heat storage appliance, not a heat production appliance.
Can a kakelugn have a bake oven?
Yes. We build both black ovens, which are directly fired, and white ovens, which are heated indirectly. An oven can be integrated into a new build. Fitting one into an antique shell depends on the stove.
Do you travel outside Minnesota?
Yes. We build masonry heaters nationwide. The Port Washington kakelugn was in Wisconsin, and we have built kakelugnar in Michigan, Illinois, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. Travel is included in your estimate.
How much does a kakelugn cost?
Cost depends enormously on what the stove is. A plain brick masonry heater can start around $20,000. A large stone Swedish heater, a bake oven, and a heated bench can run to $80,000. Most kakelugn builds land somewhere in the middle, in the $30,000 to $40,000 range. The antique stove itself, if imported, is a separate cost. Our pricing is competitive because we build a lot of masonry heaters every year, and our estimates and contracts spell out every number..
Talk to a Certified Heater Mason about your kakelugn
If you are considering a Swedish tiled stove – importing one, rebuilding one you already own, or building new – we would like to hear about the project. There are very few masons in the United States doing this work, and fewer still who sit on the committee that writes the standard it is built to. See our planning process to learn how we start.
Solid Rock Masonry LLC
5347 Howard Gnesen Road, Duluth, MN 55803
218-343-2978
eric@solidrockmasonry.com