My primary is wood. I made my own mini-version of a Russian Stove, or heat sync. Weighs about 1000 pounds and sits atop my regular CEMI iron stove. I have it divided into compartments with a channel for the hot gases to flow through the interior. Takes it about 1/2 an hour to 1 hour to heat up but once it does it radiates heat evenly. It also stores heat for 2-3 hours. Usually by the morning the wood is ash but the bricks are still warm to the hand. I used leftover bricks from a construction site and scrap steel from a recycle yard. It is held together with silicone caulk that hardened into a nice solid. For the base atop the CEMI stove we used the leftover slab of granite from our kitchen counter. I calculated I save 3 ricks of firewood a winter—minimum.
Thank you for posting that!
I believe that you have explained the construction of New England homes to me! We called them “salt boxes” or “match boxes” or some such but they were vertical box houses centered around one or more brick chimneys that opened to fireplaces on multiple floors.
All of that heated brick looks just like what you built.