**KUUMA VAPOR-FIRE 100 REVIEW** 

**Another KUUMA VAPOR-FIRE 100 REVIEW** 

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6.7.21

I got my Kuuma Vapor-Fire on May 13th last year, and I just when to clean the flue and chimney and….. I didn’t have any creosote using 5 1/2 cords!! Thank you so much! This furnace is amazing!!

Originally, I used a hot blast furnace, burned about 8 cords, and cleaned the chimney twice a year. So it was a smoke dragon.

Now I almost can’t wait for burning season again.

Eric W
Sister Bay, WI

March 2016

Daryl,

I have used my Kuuma wood stove furnace, model 200, for 4 years. I am very happy to say it was a terrific investment.

It has saved me a lot of money and my wife enjoys the warm floors. I do not have one complaint.

It is always so easy to start a new fire and the fire will last at least 10 hours or more if I fill the stove with 10 average pieces of wood.

I like the electric draft control thermostat, because it is so easy to adjust for warmer or colder days. My house is 2,300 sq. ft. and can easily keep the temperature at 70.

The best part is the way it keeps my chimney clean. With the other wood stoves I used, I would have to clean the chimney every 6 weeks. Now I clean the chimney once, after the heating season is over. With the old wood stoves, I would get 1 1/2 coal buckets of soot, and now I only get 1/2 a bucket for the whole season.

My neighbors ask me if I’m still burning wood, because they don’t see the smoke from the chimney. I highly recommend a Kuuma stove and I can’t believe the low stack temperature. It is usually below 200, but the other stoves would go to 350-400. I know it is very efficient.

Yours Truly

Harold R Lesher

Bernville, PA

Hello Daryl

Just saw this email and thought I would let you know how our furnace has been operating last winter and this winter.

It is a wonder on burning wood. Our wood room has 8 rows of wood – typically we burn all 8 rows – last winter with your furnace we only burned 4 rows. This winter we went thru about 5 rows – so we are easily burning about 40 % less wood than we did with our old furnace.

You have a great furnace – my only regret is that I didn’t find out about your furnace about 10 years ago.

Thank you.

Malcolm Shuey, PE

Daryl,

Here are a few pictures of my installation. The inside of the door is pretty darn white, just like you were talking about today on the phone with me, although the picture may not show it as well as it really looks. Next to the Kuuma is my Water Furnace geothermal heat pump that gets mostly just used for AC or transition season heating when it’s too warm for wood. The two units are interlocked so that if the furnace blower comes on, the heat pump drops out. The Kuuma also automatically starts the domestic hot water circulation pump to the hot water coil once the fan comes on.

This furnace is absolutely awesome. Loving it so far this first season of burning! 12 degrees one morning last week, with the dial on the lowest setting and the house at 71 in the morning, And the firebox started maybe 2/3 full at night. Thanks for everything. -picture link facebook-

– Andrew Easter

Daryl, Here is the new Kuuma at home in Virginia. Being able to borrow the neighbors Kubota really helped. It’s working great! Thanks again for making quality product! -picture link facebook-

– Bill Widmer

Hello Darryl,

Rather than sending you a photo of my Vapor Fire 100 set up in my basement I’m sending some other, related pictures. My home was built in 1978, in NE Wisconsin. I’ve had a wood and gas furnace since building. Two years ago I put in the Vapor Fire stove, and couldn’t be happier with it. My house is 2200sq. ft., all on one level. Last winter was the coldest I can remember in the time we’ve been living there. During Jan. and Feb. my gas bills were about $30 each month, and that’s considering I have a gas hot water heater. Normal procedure was to fire up before I went to work in the morning and then when I came home at the end of the day. Of course again before I went to bed at night. At those times you get 38 or 40 degree days in the winter you can always tell when you step into a home heated with wood because you can smell creosote as the stove just doesn’t burn hot enough to burn all the gasses during that warm weather. I don’t get that with the Vapor Fire. It burns the gasses even during that warm weather. Also sending a shot of my woodshed. It holds enough wood for two winters. I’m currently collecting wind damaged or diseased trees from around my house and piling them to be cut up and split this coming winter. During the spring of 2016 I’ll put it all in the wood shed and will not burn it until the winter of 2016/17. That way it’s good and dry, which is also helpful to prevent creosote. If you can use my testimonial for your stove, go ahead. I’m sold on their quality.

Sincerely,
Mike Sheldon

Vapor 100 & 200

I’ve lived in Northern Minnesota for the last 30 years and have burned wood for 29 of those years.I started off with a 2000 sq ft home and heated it with the Vapor fire 200 for 20 years. Had to sell that home and the worst thing about it was that i had to leave the stove behind.That stove is 30 years old and still being used with no signs of burning out or having to replace it. I could go on and on about how great that stove is but i had better talk about my new stove,the vapor fire 100. I heat a 3500 sq ft home now and pretty much heat with nothing but wood. This has been the coldest winter that i think i’ve ever seen here in Northern Minn. Lots of 20 to 30 below temps and 50 to 60 blow wind chill. Propane was up to 6 dollars a gallon. Thank God i had this wood burner.Even this year i think i will have used about 5 to 5 1/2 cords of wood. I can’t say enough about this stove. I forgot to mention that the guy who told me about these stoves had his in a house for 10 years before i bought mine and t hat stove is still heating that house. Thats quality you can’t find in to many places now days. There are some new bells and whistles on the new stoves that i didn’t have on the first one but are all good.

I remember not having to clean the chimney in the first house for 8 years. I burn lots of Birch but do try to mix it with other hard woods. I don’t know how my chimney stays so clean. I don’t know of any other stove out there that burns this clean. Once every couple of months i clean the stove pipe going to the chimney but i really think i could get away without doing that. I will give this stove 10 stars, it’s that good.

The customer service is great!

If anyone has any ? about this review feel free to email me at stat1dou@hotmail.com

Hands down the best wood burning stove i’ve ever owend

Thank you all who make this possible and keep up the good work.

Douglas State
Deer River, MN

Happy Owner

I was able to install the Vapor fire 200 with a switch to activate my heat pump fan in sync with the wood furnace fan. Used 24v switch powered from the heat pump that goes to the G wire on the Heat pump thermostat and the circuit is closed when the fan from the wood furnace blower wire is energized at 110v.

Last night temp here was 18. We live in a log home that is far from airtight and we had a big fire in an open fireplace when we went to bed. So fireplace damper wide open, heat being pulled out of the house, air leaks etc. I filled the Vapor Fire 200 with a load of maple set it on low went to bed woke up to 66 degree house after a 12 hour burn and still had plenty of coals to start a new burn. In the past my house would have been 55 degrees with this scenario.

Finally a real solution for using wood to heat my house. I also looked in my barometric draft to see if I was getting any creosote build up, none! I can’t thank you enough for this great furnace.

Tony Guisasola
Ellijay, Georgia

We are so very pleased with our wood furnaces. We appreciate your thoughtful help whenever we called.

We will highly recommend your stoves and service you provide.

P.S. We’ve had lots of wind and cold weather but we’re warm!!

Thanks again

The Uhlman families (Own 2 VF-100’s)
Saegertown, PA

KUUMA VAPOR FIRE 100 wood furnace results

As many of you now I installed a Kuuma vapor fire last year. Well I just got around to cleaning my chimney for the last piece of info needed to give an accurate opinion. The chimney was as clean as a whistle, A little dust ash, that’s it. There was a little soot in the inside Single wall pipe, 1/16 of an inch. This furnace was everything they said it was. This was my only source of heat last winter, if it didn’t work I was screwed. It worked flawlessly. My house about 2,000 sq ft, NEVER dropped below 70* Even on the coldest days where some peoples boilers could not keep up. This furnace is said to equal 100,000 btu fossil fuel furnace. Well a coworker that lives 5 miles away with a 125,000 BTU oil boiler on the coldest days could not keep his house out of the 50’s. First time that has happened to him in the 20 yr’s he’s been there. My house was 72*. This wood furnace is as easier to use than any wood burning appliance that I have seen. Almost as easy as fossil fuel, the exception of course is tha t you have to put wood in it twice a day. Even that is easy, scrape the ash down the grate, pull the coals forward, toss in your wood, close the door and walk away. Even my wife can use it. (and that is saying something. she is VERY girly) Don’t come back for 8 to 12 hours. 1 piece of wood = 1 hr of burn. I never loaded the furnace full, so I don’t know how long a burn it can have. But it can do at least a 12 hr burn 3/4 loaded. I got the h2o coil with it, which gave me 3 free showers a day. Wood usage was the same amount of the same wood as the winter before with the wood stove. If you recall that winter 2 yrs ago was no winter at all. Last winter just wouldn’t end, needed heat in june for crying out loud. So twice the winter and hot water with the same amount of wood, and 1 million percent easier.

As for customer service, they are amazing. I have never encountered such good service. There was trucking damage upon delivery, They wrote me up a repair quote the same day. I had an issue upon start up on a Saturday morning. I called them and the owner answered the phone and had my issue resolved in minute’s. ( a spring adjustment) I called on a weeknight at 7 o’clock with a question, again the owner answered the phone and answered my question. Darrell ( the owner) is truly excited by his unit, and how it works. American made, with true American quality, with old time American customer service. I am very pleased with the Vapor fire 100 and would happily recommend one to anyone. The only thing I don’t like is it’s hard to remember the spelling of Kuuma.

P.s It works great when the power goes out as well. And flue temp is around 250*.

P.ss I loved showing the guy’s that ride along with me all the houses that have smoke coming out of there chimney’s, then driving by my house and seeing nothing coming out of mine, not even the heat squiggles. They could not believe I had a fire going at the time.

Dan Westmoreland
Sandown, NH

Actual Review on ArboriSite.com

Hi Daryl,

Finally-here’s a couple of pictures of our Kuuma Vapor-Fire 200 that I thought you would like

The stove is serving us well and we are enjoying the wonderful heat.

We are happy and satisfied completely!!

Thank you for the help (over the phone) to install it. Hope all is well with you.

Don & Lucy Opsahl
Hinckley, MN

Hands Down Best Darned Wood Furnace on the Market

Used 1 Season and it Actually Reduced the Creosote Build up in my chimney by Drying out the Stuff that was in the chimney from my Old Wood Furnace

Daryl Maki
Alston, MI

These furnaces are awesome! So much so after using one in my house for a year I bought another for the shop! LOVE THEM!!!

Curt Carlson
Palisade, MN

I would like to say how much I have enjoyed my Kuuma Vapor-Fire 100 wood stove that I bought last year (i.e., this is my second heating season). I have heated my entire house with wood heat for 30 out of the last 33 years. I have used two different stoves during that time but the Vapor-Fire 100 is vastly superior to either of these. The stove is more costly but will be well worth the money. There are three major characteristics that I really like. First, its higher efficiency requires less wood to be cut, stacked and burned. Second, it requires virtually no adjustments or stoking between loadings. I live in Tennessee and it does not get extremely cold so I load the stove in the morning when I leave for work and again when I return home. There is almost nothing to do between loadings. I am an engineer and like fiddling with the stove but there is nothing to do. Third, the furnace control system produces a very steady burn. The temperature in the house stays at a very constant temperature (wit h no interim adjustments) without the high and low swings that occurred with my other stoves. My wife really likes the steady temperatures.

Finally (and this should have been first on my list), Daryl and Garrett are fine people and provide very good service. Last fall while I was on vacation, a squirrel fell down my chimney and, while trying to escape, did significant damage to the exposed soft high-temperature insulation at the top of the fire box. I was able to quickly get the replacement insulation and instructions on the best method to complete the repairs. Within a short period of time the stove was back in operation.

John Platfoot
Kingston, TN 37763

Daryl,

First and foremost, I want to say “Thank You” for the wonderful customer service you have provided me. As you may or may not remember, I purchased a Kuuma Vapor-Fire 100 from you early 2012. Overall, I have been very happy with my furnace. This is my first wood burning furnace and it is a joy to burn wood cleanly and efficiently in such an easy to use furnace. I burned just a little last heating season and when I inspected the chimney it looked good with very minimal buildup inside. This season my wood supply is even better and everything is working great.

Take Care,

Chad Stodala
Mishicot, WI 54228

Hello Dayrl,

The Kuuma Vapor-Fire Add-On Model 200 is working just great! You did one super job building this furnace. You told me to stay on NR 2 due to new wood. I had Ted Neilson drop this load in the first part of June. Can I turn down this unit to NR 1 soon, even at three pieces the house stays at 76 to 77 all the time? Did you get my old control and your ratchet straps? Many thanks again, keep building those great furnaces.

Cully
Babbitt, MN

I bought a house last spring (Late March/early April) in large part because it had a Kuuma Vapor-Fire 100 stove in it. Initially I was not pleased but spoke with Daryl (i believe it was) and did some trouble shooting to find that the stack was to short and the damper had become inoperable (original owner abuse). With Daryl’s help it was ready for this winters season. Still skeptical yet hopeful I began burning fires in it late September here in interior Alaska and we’ve been toasty ever since. The real test came just this week when we’ve hit -30 and colder sustained: the house is in the 70’s and I’m using less then one cord of wood per month to heat my house. Fuel oil is $4.25/gal or more and my 2000 sq ft would surely use a minimum of 100-200 gallons a month. The savings is amazing. Thanks for the help. I recommend these furnaces to anyone.

Steve Lantz
Alaska

Kuuma Vapor-Fire Add-On Model 200 Delivered And Running!!!

Well after all of your help and questions being answered I decided to to go with a Kuuma Vapor-Fire Add-On Model 200. Expectations were high and they were by far exceeded. I ran separate ductwork from the Vaporfire to the existing registers in my home. I am currently burning less then ideal wood and getting 8hr burn times I would expect them to go to 10-11 hours maybe more when I start burning locust and oak. My house is 2200sft and it was 31deg last night – woke up to a 73 deg house!! with a bed of coals. Best of all – NO SMOKE. Granted the first 5 – 10 min a small amount of light smoke can be seen coming from the chimney but it quickly turns to vapor and stays that way usually even through reloads. Very little ash. I should have went with the glass door though. Sometimes I just cant help myself from opening the door to see whats going on in there. I might get it because I was told that opening the door during a burn decreases the burn time from the cooling of the fire chamber. I will keep you guys posted. Feel free to ask any question. Overall excellent product built like a tank and absolutely great people to deal with.

Binny
Hudson Vally NY

5 Stars
Great so far!

We installed the Kuuma Vapor-Fire Add-On Model 200 about 20 months ago (Dec. 2010). Over the winter and a half since we burned about 5 cords of wood, with no electric heat. Our old Volcano II would have used 8 cords, and the electric heat would have been on.

So the VF200 used less wood and saved electricity!

The VF200 also burns so cleanly that our chimney looked as if it was just cleaned 1 year after I had actually cleaned it.

We tend to set it for low heat output. This slow heat release means that the temperatures are much more even and comfortable throughout the house.

The VF200 has been great for daily use. It has been easy to start and easy to run: just start the fire, set the heat level, and make sure the controller has the damper open. The controller, thermocouple and solenoid operated damper takes care of the burn cycle and provides a very clean burn. My wife is very happy! Me too.

Best Regards,

John Murphy
Northeastern, MD

Daryl,

Talked with you a few days ago about boosting air flow with an internal duct fan. I plan to install one before the heating season. Have been waiting to finish my project before I sent you a picture and “Thanks” for your help and a for building a great product. It has performed as well as I expected. We enjoy the constant heat as opposed to the cycling our heat pump delivers.

I added a furnace room, adjoining my walkout basement, and this works out great for tending the stove (Kuuma Vapor-Fire Add-On Model 200). I can fill the room with fresh wood from the outside and access the stove from the house.

Thanks again for your help and delivering a great product,

John Goeddel
Lenoir City, Tn.

Lamppa Manufacturing,

I have found the Vapor-Fire 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

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 Vapor-Fire 100 pictures(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

I bought one of the Kuuma Vapor-Fire 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

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

Shirley Barton
Mecklenburg, NY

Just a note to let you know the wood furnace (Kuuma Vapor-Fire 100)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

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

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 Vapor-Fire 100, and the worksmanship of the installation.

Joan Peterson
WI

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 Kuuma Wood Sauna Stove. 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. 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 Kuuma Wood Sauna Stove does a fantastic job…I can’t believe how well it burns.

Tim Fetterer
Middlebury, IN

I love that you guys are getting into video! Best product on the market hands down. We have the medium Kuuma Wood 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

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

Another unsolicited review…

When I purchased my Kuuma Wood 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.

Thanks,

Andy Feest
Oregon, WI

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
Kuuma Vapor-Fire 200 Owner

Hi, Daryl

Just a note to let you know how our Kuuma furnace is performing. We hooked up our Vapor-Fire 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 Kuuma sauna stove, it’s very efficient indeed 🙂

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 VaporFire 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 Kuumafurnaces. 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

The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin has purchased over 240 Vapor-Fire 200 Furnaces for housing development.

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

Hi, my name is Greg.

I have to say that I’m thrilled to own one of your Kumma Vapor-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 efficiency 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 Kuuma 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 Kuuma 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)

Dear Friends at Kuuma/Lamppa Stoves,

I couldn’t read the name on your note exactly, it looked like Danyd (Daryl). I’m not Finnish and don’t know Finnish names. So even though I can’t address you properly, I do want you to know how happy I am with your stove and I especially enjoyed your total conern for me when we talked on the phone during the ordering proces. You gave me your total attention and I did not judge that I was a bother in your day. For that, I thanks you. The sauna is now complete except for some trim details. Coco (my wife) and I inaugurated the sauna last Saturday night and again last night. What a joy! I served in the military in Germany for 7 years during the course of my career and I absolutely loved using the local saunas. I vowed that one day I would have one of my own. The dream has arrived. The Kuuma Sauna Stove is all you said it would be and more. I’ve never lit a stove so easily. The draft is sensational. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get the sauna warmed up and for a 7 x 10 x 7 1/2 foot high sauna I think that is not bad…or am I wrong? You all should feel quite accomplished and proud of your quality craftsmanship; I’m certainly proud that I own one of your products.

I have inclosed a photo or three of the project and also a picture of our wood-burner which we heat our house. It does a reasonable job for here in the mountains of Maine. I can forsee in the not to distant future wanting to replace it. Is it possible to use the large sauna stove in its place or a modification of it? I don’t care much if we “see” the flames even though that is a nice touch. What counts to me is efficiency and you seem to understand how to build that into a stove. So, I’m looking forward to being a customer again… if you can help me with a house heater! By the way, that’s an 8″ stack on the stove.

Again, many thanks for all your patience and help with my project. If you have any sauna-ing tips, I’d love to hear them… I’m only an amateur. God bless

Bill and Coco Watkin
Jackman, ME

Lamppa Manufacturing Inc.
512 South 3rd Street
Tower, MN 55790
1-800-358-2049 , 218-753-2330
lampmfg@gmail.com