Customer Testionials

February 3rd, 2012

Lamppa Manufacturing,

I have found the VaporFire 100 to be the hottest thing in wood burning technology. I just want to thank you you for the amount of time and effort spent to develop a product that does all it has been advertised to do. I find this quite refreshing. Your product has craftsmanship, durability, longevity, and safety written all over it. This furnace works amazingly well. Initially I had a hard time justifying spending this much on a wood burner, but it didn't take long to prove it was a worthwhile investment. It requires half the wood and half the time as my old "high efficiency" furnace. I highly recommend your product, I give it a 10!!

Thank you,

Mike's Muffler Stop
Mike Caillier
Crookston, MN

January 13th, 2012

The folks at Lamppa were great to deal with. I wanted to use the Kuuma in “series” with a propane furnace and they accommodated me by excluding their blower unit. My counter flow gas furnace has a variable speed DC blower that is very efficient. The cold air return for the whole house comes off the ceiling into the top of the propane unit. It goes through an air filter (ivory colored box) and then through the furnace. The air turns through a sheet metal base with curved fins in it and into the former blower box of the Kuuma. This installation replaced our old wood burner so a transition was required to match the old plenum. Kuuma VaporFire 100 pictures #1, #2 (Excuse the dust in the picture; I have a woodshop in the next room!)

This combination of furnaces works very well. We use two thermostats and the high limit switch on the Kuuma to turn on the blower. Our old wood furnace used a forced air fan for combustion air, running off the thermostat. This setup uses the wood thermostat to kick the blower up to a high speed when the house cools enough to need it; it runs continually at a very low speed whenever we have the system on. The only negative to this is that the system will circulate cold air if the Kuuma runs out of fuel and the gas thermostat is set low. We keep the gas furnace set at 60 or lower just to prevent freeze up if we are not home. We use the propane as little as possible. We added a fireplace this year with an efficient insert and this makes the propane a third backup when we are home (we have 80 acres of hardwoods and hate to pay for propane!).

We use somewhere between a third and a half the fuel as our old furnace. Make sure to follow the directions for removing ash and starting fires. The firebox gets super hot so you need quick hands or gloves. A split second touch leaves scars! The beauty of this design is that the heat goes into the house. The secondary combustion of the smoke and gases is really well transmitted to the air ducts. Our old furnace was a pig compared to this one. We’re on our second year now and still very pleased. Don’t forget to clean the chimney though. We found some build up of creosote in the first elbow after burning too much paper (our fault), but when the fire is hot there is no smoke above the house.

Lamppa also was willing to build us a version with the controls flipped over to the opposite side than normal. Our setup has a concrete wall on the left side and switching worked well for us. This represents another advantage of working with a small craft oriented outfit.

I had the opportunity to visit the factory and pick up my own furnace. I was very impressed by the quality of the workmanship; the welds are very neat and solid, the thickness of material is impressive. The guys working there had pride of craftsmanship. They should. They build a great product!

Tom Crofton
Skyview Farm
16005 Crofton D
Richland Center, WI, 53581
tcrofton@countryspeed.com
608 549 3401

January 11th, 2012

I bought one of the Kuuma VaporFire Add-On Model 200's about five years ago and I am very pleased with its quality and efficiency. 

Thank you for a fine product that heats my home better than the oil I use to rely solely on.

Gray Maynard
Alton, NH

January 10th, 2012

I just love, love, love our Lamppa furnace (VaporFire 100). We're so toasty warm and we've stopped talking about moving to Florida! Yay!

Shirley Barton
Mecklenburg, NY

December 22nd, 2011

Just a note to let you know the wood furnace is working fine puts out a lot of heat on low. My house is about 3,000 sq.ft. and it works great with my heat pump. Thank you for a great product...

It burns about the same amount of wood as my old Elf Furnace, but is more efficient and a lot cleaner. I use mostly Alder & Hemlock so it taked more wood than good Hardwood.

I read the article in Home Farm this last issue. Well have a great New Year & Thanks again for a GREAT STOVE. (Here is a little treat of Salmon from my Smoke-House)

Andrew Carlson
Astoria, OR

December 9th, 2011

Really great stove, quality and welding is the best. Very efficient, inside never gets black. Had a one year old Tractor Supply Stove, replaced it with a KUUMA 200. Anyone want to buy a piece of junk?

Dick Posey
Ooltewah, TN

December 8th, 2011

We ordered a Kuuma this summer, and have been heating with it for a couple of months now. Love it!! Love it!! And, we had Mark - R&M Heating and Cooling, Iola, WI - do the installation. Highly recommend Mark!! Call him even if you live quite a ways away from Iola (as we do). His quote was very reasonable, and he installed extra ductwork as requested. Very happy with the VaporFire 100, and the worksmanship of the installation.

Joan Peterson
WI

September 21st, 2011

Daryl,

Sorry for the delay. With all of the summer projects we had the sauna building was put off until August. I am sending a few pictures for you guys to check out. First is of Mt McKinley from our front yard. Our cabin is on a river bank over looking the mountain. We made the sauna such that the window has this view. It turned out better than we could have imagined. We could not be any happier with how things turned out, including the stove (#1,#2,#3). We do spend a significant amount of time researching what would fit into our dream cabin perfectly, and this was indeed perfect. If you would ever consider coming to Alaska you have an open invite. If you just get to Anchorage, we will get you from there and host you at our cabin. It's a 2 1/2 hour jet boat ride and a beautiful spot in the Alaska Bush. With the sauna now complete, we can use it this winter to stay warm and get cleaned up. We have already spoken to people about the stove and I hope to send business your way.

Thanks again,

Troy and Mindee Sayer


Haha....Daryl, you're not going to believe this...you were on my list of people to email tonight. The stove arrived on time and in perfect condition. I'm really impressed with your shipping method and the carrier. I've seen your stoves before...but I was blown away with the attention to detail and the perfect welds....what a piece of art...I almost hate to start a fire in it. Attached are pictures of the sauna I'm building (#1, #2, #3, #4, #5). I basically just converted my wood shed. The exterior is finished and I'll start on the interior this month. Thanks again for making such a fine product.

Attached are some pictures of my completed sauna I was writing you about. It turned out nice and works wonderful. Your stove does a fantastic job...I can't believe how well it burns. (#6,#7,#8,#9)

Tim Fetterer
Middlebury, IN

June 3rd, 2011

I love that you guys are getting into video! Best product on the market hands down. We have the medium sauna stove at my cabin and it's amazing.

Everyone who comes to my cabin gets the full story about your company as well as a detailed explanation about all of the extra reinforcement that's put into the stove. Best sauna stove made, hands down.

Clint Carlson

May 4th, 2011

Hi - We have burned wood for over 30 years and have gone from the first primitive "barrel" type wood stove to our very new and wonderful Kuuma Vapor Fire.

For the first time ever, we can load our furnace, set the control for the weather conditions, and walk away. We never have to "play" with our fire to get it going. This furnace is so efficient and easy to use, it has brought wood-burning into the 21st century.

Once you have your fire going, you won't see a whisper of smoke coming from your chimney. The computer controlled burn has heated our home with a large reduction in the amount of wood we previously used.

The fear of having a chimney fire or leaving our previous wood-burning furnaces unattended while we went to work is gone. For the first time in over 30 years, we can confidently and with great peace of mind, not worry about creosote accumulating in our chimney. In fact, our chimney is cleaner than ever since burning wood with the VaporFire furnace.

This furnace is worth it's weight in gold just for this peace of mind. This first winter with our new Kuuma has been the best winter we've ever had with a wood-burning furnace.

Thank you for giving us an environmentally efficient and extremely safe wood-burning product.

Sincerely,

B. Mathews

April 25th, 2011

Another unsolicited review...

When I purchased my sauna stove from you in the summer of 2008 - I figured i'd give it a few years of use - and Then decide if I wanted to send you a glowing review of it. Well - after my 3rd winter of regular use on it - I can't say enough good things. I absolutely love the stove for a number of reasons.

- It burns incredibly efficiently. Starts with very little smoke and progresses to No smoke and burns very efficiently with excellent heat output.
- The chamber and exhaust design is such that it puts no sparks out the chimney at all. Not sure if this is intentional or a byproduct of the burning efficiency of the design - but the way the stove exhausts above the door - moving the hot air under the rock carriage - and out the flue at the rear - provides not only excellent heating - but in three years I have never been able to see a spark coming out the chimney - and I burn a lot at night.
-The actual design of the doors and hinges makes them very easy to remove for maintenance. I have found it desirable to hit the stove doors with some hi-temp paint every couple of years for aesthetic reasons. I have come to appreciate greatly the many small design decisions you've made to make this very easy.
- I have learned how to manage the temperature of the room and can run it as low or as high as i like now - From the 155 degree high humidity that my wife likes - to the 220+ very dry runs that I enjoy on a cold snowy night.

You have built an absolutely incredible stove - and I thank you for it. I'm only in my 40's - but I have a feeling the stove will last through multiple saunas and it will be an heirloom passed down to my kids.

View photos of set-up #1, #2, #3

Thanks,

Andy Feest
Oregon, WI

April 14th, 2011

Daryl

I wanted to take a moment and thank you for what you do. It seems the "norm" lately is people just push parts/service to turn abuck. To find good parts, and better great service and expertise, is rare. Being in a service industry myself, I recognize and appreciate your dedicated & consistent service... Outstanding!

Thanks Again,

Barry Nesmith
Delton,MI
Vapor Fire 200 Owner

February 18th, 2011

Hi, Daryl

Just a note to let you know how our Kuuma furnace is performing. We hooked up our VaporFire 100 furnace last fall. The hardest part was getting it down the stairs. It hooked into our existing duct-work quite easily with the help of our furnace-man. We've been running it continuously since then. Just pull the ashes ahead and refill. It will take about 4 cords to heat our house (3200 sq ft) this year compared to an average of 5 most years and it's been a cold one here in NE Wisconsin. We get about a nine hour burn per fill keeping it on the lower setting and have all the heat we need. Next year I plan to use 20" wood lengths instead of the 16" pieces we had this year for an even longer burn. We usually had to clean our chimney 3 times per heating season, but this year our chimney has no creosote at all. We burn the same wood as before (oak and ash with some maple dried at least one year).

This furnace exceeds our expectations, easy to use, no creosote and very efficient. This unit is very well built and you have been more than help-full in answering our questions and offering back-up support. Being a home builder for over 25 years, I've seen a lot of units and this is the best furnace by far. Will definitely recommend Kuuma Stoves to my customers.

Thanks,

John Dugan
Dugan Builders
13116 Reifs Mills Road
Whitelaw WI, 54247

Hello

A couple of years ago i bought one of your heaters for a sauna i was building for my wife. We've been very happy with it! It's not uncommon to get the sauna up to a temp of 110 degrees celsius with this stove, it's very efficient indeed :) Here is some photos of it in place and in use, #1, #2, #3.

I designed and built that sauna about 2 years ago for my wife, she's from Finland you see :) Anyway, thank you very much for the great stove! keep up the excellent work! I hope that in a few more years i'll be building a house for us and perhaps one of your furnaces will be in our future :)

best regards,

Charles Sargent
Calgary, Alberta

I have the model 200. It is the best wood furnace that I have ever owned. I have owned 3 other brands in the past and gave them all away. It performs like the website and the owner, claims it should. If you use two 45 degree elbows instead of a 90 degree elbow between the furnace and chimney, you will not have smoke when you open the door; to add wood. The LED lights on the computer control box, allow you to monitor what is going on inside, from a distance. 

Before purchasing, I drove to Tower, MN to visit the factory and see the furnaces. On the way there I stopped at a church in Stillwater, MN, that has two model 100's. The pastor was from Europe, and he stated that the gasification furnaces burn just like gasification boilers do in Europe, and that is why he bought the Kuuma furnaces. He showed me the inside of the chimneys which had no creosote, just light brown dust. At the factory, the chimney there was also creosote free!

If you have another brand of wood furnace, give it away and get a Kuuma. I am glad that I did. It is wonderful to not have visible smoke coming out of the chimney, when you live in the city. The wood lasts longer and the ash is finer.

So get a Kuuma

Paul K.,WI

West Allis, WI
2tall2sm2@earthlink.net

Hi, my name is Greg. I have to say that I'm thrilled to own one of your KummaVapor Fire 200 add-ons. I live in southeastern Wisconsin and am immensely enjoying your furnace. After owning a problematic Treager pellet, corn combination furnace and experiencing countless mechanical and equipment failures, I felt blessed that a friend recommend to me your outstanding furnace.

Here are some of the reasons that I enjoy your furnace and burning wood in general. Unlike the expense associated with buying pellets or corn, I can usually find wood for free or for a very reasonable price. Your stove is very easy to use for myself and my disabled wife. We Just fill the large firebox that holds plenty of wood in the evening and adjust the dial on the stove to increase or decrease the amount of heat needed, then sit back and enjoy the warmth.

I wake up in the morning after about eight hours of sleep, go downstairs, open the furnace door and behold -- there will still be embers left over from the night before. I load the furnace with wood for the day then off to work, leaving some lighter pieces of wood in a crate for my wife to add as needed later in the afternoon. I rarely ever have to relight the fire through all of the winter months. There is very little ash after hours of burning and no smoke after the initial start up. As a matter of fact, my neighbor tells me he never sees any smoke coming from my chimney. The ash drawer is good size but still easy to handle. Amazingly, when I went to clean out the heat exchanger after two years of use, I found only a minimal amount of ashes.

Unlike the temperature fluctuations from natural gas heat, this furnace blower runs all of the time and produces a warm constant heat. The blower on the furnace uses electricity equivalent to a 75 watt light bulb. I must say that I can't help but brag to my coworkers and neighbors about my $39 dollar a month gas bills in the winter, while keeping this drafty old 1700 square foot house at a warm 70 degrees. The furnace is worth every penny because of it's efficientcy and easy to use.

Don't waste your money on the cheaper units that will burn twice the wood and go out just that fast and never last. You will not be disappointed with this wonderful furnace that is built as solid as a tank, and I'm willing to bet outlast all others. The last thing that I would like to mention is that the customer service from Lamppa was outstanding because of the friendly and helpful advice I received from their people over the phone. They politely guided me through all aspects of my purchase from delivery, setting up, and starting up my furnace. It's nice knowing they are always available to help you out.

Greg Boknevitz
Southeastern Wisconsin

Thank You!

Your furnace is the Best Purchase I have ever made!

Thanks!

Al Witz
Calumet, MN

Dear Lamppa Manufacturing Co,

I purchased an electric Kuuma sauna stove from you and hauled it back to Naperville, IL. I Finally finished by 6'X9' sauna and have taken about a half dozen sauna's so far. I purchased the largest electric stove you make and I am so completely satisfied with your product that I had to write you a letter. Everything I was told before the purchase was not just a sales pitch hoping I would buy and never return. But, in reality everything I was told concerning the stove has been proven true.

Sincerely,

Another completely satisfied customer!

K. Johnson
Naperville, IL

Dear Sir,

My husband and I purchased one of your sauna stoves this spring as a result of an internet search. We have had a sauna up at our camp in Maine since purchasing our property in 1985. The sauna was built before the log cabin! We have always used "jerry rigged" stoves in the past, and the last one burned out, decided to search for a "real" one. I am writing to express our utmost satisfaction with your product. In fact, we are working to learn how to keep it from getting quite so hot in there! We look forward to seeing how it performs when the colder weather arrives. My husband is particularly happy about the decreased amount of wood required to get it hot and keep it hot. All in all, we are VERY happy with our purchase and look forward to many years of use. As we are in the building business, we may have a chance to recommend your product, and we will be sure to do it.

Thank you for a wonderful sauna stove. You told my husband when talked to you that you thought it was the best in the world, really. We agree!!

Sincerely,

M. Stanek
Peterborough, NH

Dear Mr. Lamppa,

You have not solicited a testimonial for your Kuuma all electric sauna heater, but I feel that when a testimonial is deserved it should be given. The workmanship and functioning of the stove is impeccable. When I went back to the university after retirement I did a study on quality control. Your stove meets all the requirements of the high quality standard that the customer deserves. The installation was easy with no hassle and the operation is as simple as any can be. Your cool wall design is a real plus. Keep up the excellent quality.

Sincerely,

W. Mattonen
Independence, MO

I'm pleased with the furnace and would be happy to recommend it to others. I'll take some pictures of my set up with the counter flow gas furnace connected. I'm the guy who had you sell it without the blower.

My installer was less willing to experiment with controls than I wanted and set me up thus: The wood furnace thermostat controls whether the fan is on high or low speed, low is on all the time. The gas has its own thermostat and I can set it for my minimum temp and then it will take over after the wood is gone. I'm getting better at picking the correct setting on your module depending on the weather to make the wood last longer. We have a concrete house so the temp swings are very slow. It would be interesting to set this up with a PC so future predictions could be programed in to stay ahead of the curve...

thanks again, I'm using half the wood of the old one.

Tom Crofton
Richland, WI

I am well into my second heating season using your Vapor Fire 100 furnace, and I am so impressed! I live in central PA, and my home is about 25 years old. All other gasification furnaces I looked at all use a draft inducer fan, and have such a high output that would greatly exceed the needs of a home like mine. Your furnace is different. Using the lowest setting on the electronic control, I have been able to match the needs of my home very well.

The controller makes operating the furnace so easy, there was no learning curve. I build a small fire near the front of the furnace, and when it burns to coals, I just throw wood in and let the control take care of the rest. Typically I can have the furnace up to temperature in about 20 to 30 minutes after starting the starter fire. You can really see the electronic control's effect on the burn by watching the outgoing air temperature. When I run on low heat, my outgoing air temperature stays right at 127 degrees until there is no wood left, then it slowly drops. The BTU output really does stay constant as they claim.

Since the burn goes from front to back, I have found it to be really easy to hold a fire, even when warmer outdoor temperatures prevent me from filling the stove with wood. When the burn is done and the only hot coals are way in the back, they even stop glowing. It looks like the fire has completely gone out. When I rake these coals towards the front, closer to the air intake, they soon begin to glow to ignite the new wood.

This is definitely the safest wood burning stove I have ever owned. I have no fear of over-firing because I left the draft open too far.

If I had any doubts about how clean this stove burns, the proof came last spring when I removed the access plate to clean the area in the furnace where the flue gas goes after the secondary burn chamber. After burning a variety of different kinds of wood all winter long, I found only a thin layer of fine, grey dust. When I vacuumed it off, the steel looked brand new! There was no black creosote that needed to be scraped off! The walls of the secondary burn chamber were also clean!

Thanks for all your hard work on this product. It has made burning wood easy!

Fred Umble
New Holland, PA

"The Vapor Fire 200 works unbelievably easy. The only thing I don't like about it is that there is NOTHING, for me to change to make it work more efficiently. Feel free to have any potential customer that is seriously on the verge of making a commitment to purchase one, but thinks it is no different than other wood furnaces; to contact me."

Paul, Pam and Shelly the dog
Milwaukee, WI area(southeastern part of WI)

We are extremely happy with the wood burners installed.  And after they get used to the difference in operating them, our tenants can't say enough about how much they like them.  We have had several inquiries from some who do not live in our housing units asking about them so I just give them your contact information.  Being able to make use of our resources like fire wood from our forests has been beneficial in helping tenants keep the high costs of burning LP gas down to a minimum.  We're glad we found you.  Keep up the good work.

Betty Jo Wozniak, Director
Menominee Tribal Housing

If your on the fence we can provide many more satisfied customers if you contact us directly at 1-800-358-2049. Start saving now, you won't be sorry...

View more testimonials and recommendations on our Facebook business page.

www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewreply/305852/

If you already own one of our products and would like to express your thoughts, please send us an e-mail at lampmfg@gmail.com.