Tiled stove (Kachelofen)
Estufa de cerámica (Kachelofen)
- Date
- c. century XV · confidence low
- Place
- Tyrol, Austria
- Credited to
- Potters and stove-builders of the Alps and central Europe
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A brick stove clad in glazed tiles or clay pieces that stores the heat of a short, intense fire and gives it off for hours. It is fed from outside the room, so no smoke enters.
Ceramic stove tiles appear in the 12th-13th centuries in the Alpine area and the full tiled stove spreads in the 15th century; its geographic origin is uncertain.
What it led to
- efficient heating with little wood in central and northern Europe
- decorated tiled stoves as luxury furniture
- masonry heaters and Swedish kakelugn