In Belfeld they reinvent fire

More than a million years ago, man’s predecessor invented fire – one of the most important discoveries ever. In 2017, Beijko van Melick, director of fireplace manufacturer Kalfire, went to industrial designer Michel van Schie to ask if he could reinvent it. But without smoke. And without fuel. Van Schie: “But it had to be real fire! I thought: that is challenging.”

Six years later, Van Schie stands in front of a fireplace in the Kalfire showroom in Belfeld, Limburg. Flames come off the wood. The fireplace gives off heat. He crackles. But it is an illusion: a holographic construction creates the fire.

Take a look: if you sit all the way to the side, you can just see the slanted mirror with which the images are projected around the wood. Van Schie: “We have done everything we can to make this as subtle as possible.”

The market for traditional gas and wood fireplaces is rapidly developing dramatically. In just a few years, gas fireplaces have almost completely disappeared in the Netherlands, mainly due to the plans to ‘get rid of gas’ and the highly fluctuating gas prices. In 2023, only a few thousand gas fireplaces were sold in the Netherlands, a sharp drop compared to 2016, when there were still more than 20,000 per year.

In the meantime, wood fireplaces are also falling further out of favor due to the discussion about wood smoke. In total, the market for fireplaces in the Netherlands is expected to decrease by half between 2016 and 2024, according to figures from the trade association.

This is a challenge for manufacturers such as Kalfire (approximately 70 employees). “The market is getting smaller, but the number of players remains the same,” says Beijko van Melick. He took over the management of the family business from his father in 2010 (it was founded by Beijko’s mother, who started as a fireplace dealer in 1981). It builds the fireplaces itself in Belfeld, just below Venlo, two kilometers from Germany.

Kalfire’s solution: imitate fire. As realistic as possible. Because, Van Melick says: the market for traditional fireplaces may be shrinking, but he believes the need for fire is not decreasing. “People are looking for atmosphere.” But how do you do that, make fire without fire, as a company that did nothing else for years? And does it resonate with consumers?

How?

“My first reaction was: how?” says Michel van Schie at the Kalfire office. In 2017, Van Melick approached the Rotterdam innovation and design agency Spark, where Van Schie works. “But Beijko stuck to it.”

Van Schie decided from his network to set up a brainstorming session with two chemists from Shell and an engineer from Philips. Three options emerged. “The first was a hydrogen fireplace. We really did a lot of research into that.”

Van Melick: “We were even able to get one to glow yellow.”

Van Schie: “Normally hydrogen is colorless.”

Van Melick: “But you needed an entire engine room. So we went to the second option: plasma, or running electricity through gas. You can also make a fire with that.”

Van Schie: “But then you had to connect every living room to the high-voltage grid.”

Van Melick: “The third was a vapor fireplace. You use water spray to create a kind of fire effect. That in itself was not a new innovation, but we had made it really beautiful. But it didn’t make my heart beat faster. I thought: is this it, does this bring that connection that brings fire?”

Van Schie: “During the first brainstorm I said: we can also do something with a screen…”

Van Melick: “But I thought: that won’t work at all.”

Van Schie: “It was really taboo.”

Van Melick: “But after a while Michel said: maybe we should do something with holographic fire. I didn’t believe in it. But Michel said: we’re just going to make it.”

Van Schie: “We then put something together with a few boys.”

Van Melick: “When I saw the prototype I thought: this is something.”

Van Schie: “We built something and placed it here in the office. Next to the vapor fireplace. Then it was quick: we want it. But only if it…”

Van Melick: “…was patentable…”

Van Schie: “And if it were affordable.”

Van Melick: “Patentable because the fireplace industry immediately copies everything. If you can’t patent it, the big players will just roll over you.”

The entire process cost several millions, but in 2020 Kalfire launched the E-One, at 5,000 euros each. The tree trunks are made of ceramic. The flames are created using two screens: one in the back, and one that creates flames via a trick in the foreground. Van Schie: “It is pepper’s ghost-principle. You can create an image with a semi-transparent mirror at 45 degrees. This was already done by magicians on stage in the nineteenth century with ghost apparitions.”

The patents relate, among other things, to the way in which the holographic fire curls around the tree trunks. Hours of fire were filmed for the images. Van Schie: “We had a professional cameraman film flames for hours in a dark room. That was also one thing: processing those images.” You would prefer not to put an entire computer in the fireplace, because then the price will increase. “The question was: what is the most basic chip on which we can run that fire?”

The E-One now accounts for a third of Kalfire’s turnover of approximately 25 million euros. According to director Van Melick, consumers had to get used to it, but now things are spreading all over the world: during a tour through the shipping hall, there appear to be just a handful ready with large letters ‘CHINA’ on them.

Ceramic tree trunks

The company itself has changed considerably, says Van Melick. In the production hall he points to plastic coal. Further along are machine-made ceramic tree trunks. “Some of this is new material for us.” Kalfire did not use plastic for years: it is actually very flammable. “We used to know everything about wood fires and gas fireplaces, about high temperatures. Now I have a software department. And someone who only films fire.”

Given the situation on the market, the future remains exciting. Kalfire thinks it has to do even more than the holographic fireplace to be relevant. That is why it has been working with Spark on yet another new fireplace in recent years. No holography this time, but a ‘normal’ screen with flames, with specially designed plastic wood in the foreground, movable and can be integrated into the smart lighting system or the TV cabinet: nowadays somewhat of a competitor to the fireplace.

Isn’t that remarkable, a ‘simple’ screen after all those holography innovations? Van Melick: “We were told from market research that not only the ‘flame experience’ is important, but also that a fireplace must match the rest of the lighting in a room and must be able to be a movable piece of furniture. [de holografische haard is dat niet].” These were also surprising results for the company itself.

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The latest fireplace is about to go on the market, it will soon become clear whether it will catch on. At Kalfire they are convinced that it is: in Belfeld they see fire as a “human need”. Van Melick: “In Germany we recently installed a few E-Ones in a care home for dementia patients. Afterwards the head of the department said to us: we are a lot calmer. Those people were completely calmed by fire.”

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