I have always admired Kiva fireplaces. They seem both rustic and homey. And this house already has a rough stucco wall in the living room area so a Kiva seemed to be a perfect fit. Our architect, James Plagmann, drew up a view of a corner kiva and placed it exactly where the old stove was located. It looks like it is going to fit perfectly and be a warm corner in the living room area.
Dibble Res_Kiva View_12-1127
Dibble Res_Kiva Plan_12-1127
The radiant system can have more than one heat input so this fireplace will have a boiler stove fireplace insert that is plumbed to feed warmed water into the heating system.
Spectra Fireplace Boiler
The Spectra stove is from Poland and I purchased it on ebay through New Horizons Corp. in West Virginia. The stove has a water jacket that is rated to heat up to 3000 square ft. to 80 degrees. Its dimensions are 31″ wide by 20″ deep and it is 41″ tall with an additional 18″ for the legs. That will fit very well in the space that we have. The plumbing will be hidden by the kiva surroundings.
The kiva is built around the stove with wire mesh and stucco. The benches will have a structural support for the mesh and the plumbing will be accessible through trap doors in the surface. There are instructions on ehow.com for forming the mesh and applying the stucco.
Kiva frame
