The stove is the heart of any bathhouse, and before choosing a model, you must carefully familiarize yourself with its features and technical characteristics. Currently, many types of domestic bath stoves are produced, which in terms of their quality and performance are in no way inferior to their foreign counterparts. The “Varvara” stove is no exception, which has gained popularity on the market due to its compactness, relatively low price, fast heating and high steam content, which is important for a Russian bath.
Why “Varvara” attracts experienced bath-goers
The main advantages of the Varvara stove:
- The design of the furnace is thought out and selected taking into account many years of experience in practical operation, although some details clearly require increased attention;
- Significant thickness of the sheet steel from which the Varvara stoves are made. Six millimeters is not the greatest thickness, but if you consider that 90% of sauna stoves have a thickness of no more than 4 mm, the service life of the Varvara stove turns out to be significantly longer than its competitors;
- The huge firebox allows you to start the stove before visiting the bathhouse and steam for a couple of hours without an additional visit to the dressing room to turn up the heat with your own hands.
It should be noted that the oven is small in size; the installation dimensions of the Classic model for installation are 810x780x580mm. It’s easy to install Varvara with your own hands in any dressing room or steam room, even with a brick screen, as in the video
Due to the significant thickness of the metal, the stove turned out to be heavy. And there is a certain positive factor in this. The creators of the stove model range tried to bring the characteristics of Varvara stoves closer to the parameters of cast iron structures. A large mass of steel and stone accumulates heat no worse than cast iron and, during operation, evenly releases it into the air.
There are also lightweight options like the “Varvara Mini” with a dry weight of 78-80 kg, which allows you to install the stove yourself without the help of advisers or loaders.
The most famous Varvara models are considered to be the following:
- "Thermo Kamenka". Medium price range oven. It can be mentioned as the most purchased model from the entire “Varvara” series.
- "Blast furnace". Model with a lot of stainless steel and chrome trim;
- "Thermo Fairy Tale". The model of the Thermo Kamenka stove was taken as a basis, but with modified characteristics of the firebox in the style of the Blast Furnace, in addition, the Skazka body was lined with soapstone;
- "Mini". Lightweight and compact model for a small bath;
- "Palenitsa". Model for a sauna with an open heater;
For your information! All of the above sauna models use wood as fuel and are designed for an average steam room volume of 15-20 m3.
Furnaces "Varvara": description of models, installation and price
Heating appliances for the Varvara bathhouse are made of high-strength steel and come in three types:
- stove "Varvara" with an upper tank of 120 liters and a heating circuit. This heating device is intended for use in baths that have a water supply or a pumping station with water supply. The steam from such a stove is discharged outside through a special steam duct. The heating circuit through which hot water circulates is made of stainless steel, 1.5 mm thick. A stove of this modification will easily provide operation of a steam room with an area of up to 30 m2. If necessary, a large tank can be replaced with a smaller one—60 liters;
- stove with a side tank of 50 l. This device is easy and quick to install, durable and quite easy to maintain. It is an ideal option for baths that do not have the ability to connect and organize a water supply;
- Tankless oven with and without heating circuit. The device with a circuit is designed to heat water using gas and electric water heaters. “Varvara” without a circuit is more often used as a solid fuel boiler , which is connected to heating pipes passing through the bathhouse.
Models "Palenica" and "Classic"
Characteristics:
- in one hour they can heat the air to 100°C;
- fuel used - firewood;
- weight of stones—50 kg;
- weight—from 90 kg. up to 120 kg;
- The volume of the steam room is maximum 24 m3.
Both types can be equipped with a remote tank connected to an existing water supply (or the tank is filled using a pump).
If there is a mixer, it is possible to install a shower. Such devices are equipped with a stainless steel water heating circuit and therefore can be connected to the heating system and used to heat the entire house.
It is also possible to equip the device with a mounted boiler. This is true if there is no running water.
The “Varvara Palenica” and “Varvara Classic” models differ, perhaps, only in dimensions - the first are slightly smaller than the second. The price varies from 13,000 rub. up to 41800 rub.
The Varvara stove is also available in a heater modification , which differs from previous models in dimensions, weight and arrangement of stones.
Characteristics:
- dimensions (length*width*height)—780*560*780 mm;
- weight 90-120 kg;
- weight of stones—at least 180 kg;
- maximum steam room volume 24 m3;
- time for heating the room to 100°C—1 hour;
- firebox extension 140 mm;
- power 12 kW;
- chimney with a diameter of 114 mm;
- type of fuel - firewood.
The “Varvara heater mini” modification stove is intended for installation in a room with a volume of less than 16 m3. Both devices of this modification are equipped with a door made of panoramic heat-resistant glass.
Stoves "Panorama" and "Mini"
The mini oven, thanks to its small size (670*390*735), can be installed even in the smallest bathhouses. The design may include a stainless steel circuit or a 42-liter mounted tank.
The price of such a sauna stove, depending on the configuration, varies from 10,900 rubles. up to 27900 rub. “Panorama” is used in steam rooms with a volume of up to 24 m3. The package includes a panoramic door made of heat-resistant glass, which provides the opportunity to enjoy the mesmerizing view of the fire.
The most popular models of Varvara stoves
The most popular among the “Varvara” models for baths were the “Thermo Kamenka” and “Domna” stoves.
Sauna stove “Varvara Thermo Kamenka”
This model is worth dwelling on in more detail. It doesn't have outstanding fuel economy or elegant design. This sauna stove can be called a real middle peasant with stable performance indicators and good build quality. The dimensions of the body in the bath are 1120x560x860. This is a lot, but due to the elongated body, the horizontal overall dimensions are even smaller than those of other models. A lot of interesting things about the new “Varvara” bathhouse model can be gleaned from the video
The stove has a huge firebox and ash pan. One stack of firewood is enough to heat a bathhouse or keep the air in a steam room hot for at least an hour and a half.
A specific feature of the Thermo Kamenka design is the use of a special lathing that allows you to cover the steel body with bath stone or ordinary pebbles. With its own weight of 170 kg, the mesh allows you to add another 250 kg of natural stone into the structure with your own hands. Thus, the total mass of the oven exceeds 420 kg. If installed correctly in the bathhouse, the Varvara Thermo Kamenka will operate in brick oven mode without overheating the air with harsh infrared radiation.
For your information! Despite its large mass, the structure is relatively easy to install with your own hands, without the need for a strong foundation or steel frame. The only additional condition for proper installation in a bathhouse is to increase the area of the steel sheet at the base of the structure. This is due to an increase in the floor area on which the heated mass rests.
The stove has a closed heater design. To generate steam in the sauna, you will need to open the heater door at an angle with your own hands and pour in a liter or a half of hot water. In order not to constantly hold the door and avoid it falling on your hands, the design provides a lock for the heater door and the firebox door.
The combustion products are removed from the chamber through a vertical chimney pipe with a diameter of 115 mm. This is quite enough to heat a bathhouse at a power of 14-20 kW. A unique feature of the Varvara Thermo Kamenka design is the presence of side holes in the body. Numerous reviews about the operation of the model allow us to conclude that the holes are needed to suck secondary air from the bathhouse atmosphere into the combustion chamber. Additional oxygen in the chamber avoids deposits of resin or soot on the inner surface of the firebox.
Reviews from the owners of “Varvara” recommend immediately after purchasing the stove to warm it up before installing it in the bathhouse. This way, all preservative grease on the internal surfaces of the stove will be removed, without the risk of filling the bathhouse with the smell of burnt diesel fuel.
The structure of the furnace is painted with a heat-resistant organosilicon composition of charcoal color. Despite statements that there is no fumes from the painted surface when working in a bathhouse, many experts recommend pouring hot water over the body during the first warm-up, as in the video:
The disadvantages of the Varvara Thermo Kamenka, according to users, include the absence of a drain hole in the steel box of the heater to remove excess water or washing solution.
The “Varvara Palenica” or “Classic” bath models have very similar characteristics.
Bath stove “Varvara Domna”
An equally interesting and more expensive version of “Varvara” for a bathhouse is called “Domna”. The design looks more respectable and bright due to the use of two metal screens made of alloy steel for convection and radiation heating of the air in the bathhouse. The remaining two vertical surfaces are equipped with grids for laying stones and increasing the storage capacity when heating the bath. If desired, you can use it without stones and heat the air in the bathhouse as quickly as possible. If you turn the screens in the opposite direction, the radiation flow will be screened and the heating will become soft.
A special feature of the sauna stove is the ability to produce a so-called explosive cloud of steam when hot water is poured through the side door in the heater, as in the video:
In normal mode, to obtain stable steam in the bath, there is a neck in the upper part of the body. The average capacity of “Varvara” for a bathhouse is designed for 20 m3 of steam room.
One of the weakest points in the design is the thin metal of the ash pan, which burns through when using coal or a fuel briquette
Characteristics and features of Varvara brand devices
The products manufactured by the company comply not only with safety standards and quality certificates, but also meet the high requirements of users.
The bath stove of the Varvara brand has not only long been known to all lovers of Russian baths, but is also in quite high demand among them. This popularity is explained by its ease of operation, durability with proper use and cost-effectiveness.
This brand has a number of advantages that set it apart from similar equipment, namely:
- Fast heating
- Cost-effective and efficient
- Long service life
- Attractive design
- Individual configuration
- Ease of use
Stoves for the Varvara bathhouse are made taking into account best practices, traditions of production of such equipment and the latest fashion trends. When developing them, factory designers previously studied Russian and foreign samples, taking into account only the best practices when developing their models.
Strengths and weaknesses of Varvara stoves
The main advantage of all representatives of this model range is their low weight: about 100 kg plus the mass of the chimney pipe. Such a stove can support any floor, so it does not require a particularly strong base - in most cases, high-quality insulation alone is sufficient.
Furnace Varvara Terma Skazka
We suggest you familiarize yourself with How to properly install a heater stove in a bathhouse and sauna
Another advantage of the described models is the presence of a round hole (it is closed with a special plug) on the back wall of the case, which is intended for cleaning. The user can see the place that needs cleaning even with the naked eye: you just need to look inside the combustion chamber and find a welded metal sheet (also called a “smoke tooth”) - it is on it that soot accumulates.
Installation diagram of the “Varvara” stove for baths and saunas with an overhead tank of 120 l
Sectional view of the Varvara stove
It is worth noting that Varvara stoves require periodic maintenance - the chimney and afterburner need to be cleaned twice a year. But that's where all the troubles end.
Now - about the shortcomings. Sometimes users note that the water in the tank takes longer to heat up than in a conventional stove. This problem can be solved quite simply: an additional heat exchanger is installed on the chimney, as a result of which the water will heat up to 70°C within an hour, which is very good. Although after a few hours it may boil, so you will have to carefully monitor the heating.
Operating principle
Another difficulty that users of Varvara often encounter is condensation that flows down the chimney pipe. This happens if the pipe is installed “along the smoke”.
Assembling chimney elements
Assembly “by smoke” and “by condensate”
The problem is explained by the fact that Varvara is equipped with an afterburner chamber, which means it operates primarily in slow fire mode. Because of this, the temperature at the chimney outlet is not very high, which leads to abundant formation of condensate, often even with impurities. Therefore, correct installation of the stove is so important (the diagram will be given at the end of the article). It is also desirable that the pipe is not 120 cm, but passes through the entire tank, i.e., it is longer by as much as 50 cm.
It is better not to use birch firewood
Recognized advantages and disappointing disadvantages
Of course, devices have advantages and disadvantages.
The stoves proudly demonstrate the following positive aspects:
- durability;
- wear resistance;
- aesthetics;
- ergonomics;
- efficiency;
- efficiency;
- compactness;
- availability;
- safety;
- light weight;
- simple installation;
- easy care;
- presence of “revision”;
- lightning-fast heating;
- low price.
The devices are great for tiny baths and larger steam rooms.
But, alas, there are also disadvantages. Tver stoves have the following negative aspects:
- long combustion process, which promotes the formation of dew;
- low rate of heating of the liquid in the container;
- installation involves finishing work; neglect can lead to a decrease in the thermal efficiency of the structure;
- the use of birch firewood leads to cracking of the frame.
I want to say something in defense of the beautiful girls of “Barbarian”. The second minus easily turns into a plus when an additional heat exchanger is fixed on the chimney. The result is that the liquid heats up to 70°C within an hour. And the first problem arises only when the pipe is installed “through smoke” and not “through condensate.”
We suggest you familiarize yourself with What temperature should be in the sauna: normal and maximum air temperature in a Finnish sauna and bathhouse
The third negative point turns into a positive one if you calculate all the costs. Purchasing a stove that does not require cladding will cost much more than purchasing a “Varvara” firebox and finishing material combined. In addition, the brick decoration of the firebox will give the interior an exclusive touch. And, finally, the fourth problem is solved by refusing to purchase birch firewood, which, by the way, is more expensive than other types of firewood for the “Barbarian” young ladies.
