What Is an Earth Stove Made Of?

Indoor Heating Earth Stoves

• Earth stoves that are used for indoor heating are pellet stoves, which were manufactured by the Earth Stove Company until 1999. The stoves were very popular and known as dependable workhorses. In 2000, Lennox International, a global leader in residential and commercial HVAC systems and hearth products, acquired the Earth Stove Company. The company essentially folded the technology of Earth Stoves into its current line of pellet stove products and has discontinued manufacturing stoves under the Earth Stove brand name.

Heating Earth Stove Materials

• Stoves under the Earth Stove brand name were made of heavy cast iron. Many models included ornate features such as scalloped aprons on the front, porcelain and enamel tile inlays, and carved wooden handles on the firebox door. Earth Stoves were made before the EPA’s push and promotion of wood and pellet-burning stoves that feature catalytic combustors for increased energy efficiency. Most Earth Stoves are non-catalytic, which makes them less energy-efficient than newer pellet stoves available today. Older models may have an EPA-rated efficiency of only 50 percent to 60 percent, while newer stoves made after 1995 may have efficiencies of 70 percent and more. There is a community of Earth Stove “loyalists” who scour the Internet looking for replacement parts to maintain their Earth Stoves and to restore stoves found at garage sales and antique stores to working condition.

Earth Stoves for Cooking and Heating

• Earth stoves were used by early civilizations for cooking and heating purposes. In many cases, the outdoor earth stove was a community stove used by all the members of a tribe or village. Some members of a village (usually village and tribal leaders) may have had their own indoor earth stove. Archaeologists and scientists refer to ancient earth stoves as “rammed earth stoves.”

Cooking and Heating Earth Stove Materials

• Early earth stoves were made of heavy clay soil and earth, mixed with water so it could be compacted and rammed together to form bricks or slabs (hence the name rammed earth stoves). Albeit the stoves are still somewhat primitive, villagers today have modernized the earth stoves. They have rectangular shapes (similar to a stove or range) with two carved-out spots on the tops to hold pots and cooking vessels, similar to modern stove burners. The rectangular-shaped earth stove is carved out from the ground to house a firebox area, where wood logs are placed to burn for fuel. Earth stoves are commonly used by people in many underdeveloped countries, where having a modern gas-fueled or electric-powered stove is far beyond the scope of possibilities. There are even companies who are manufacturing smaller versions of earth stoves made of ceramic materials, with built-in combustion chambers for fueling the stoves with propane. These stoves have names such as “rocket stove” and “refugee stove.”