THE ORIGINAL RAIS STORY…..

Pioneering new combustion technology that respects the environment, while fulfilling modern-day requirements for quality, high-performance, function, and décor-enhancing style is a long-held RAIS tradition.

The ORIGINAL Rais stove was the brainchild of renowned Danish architect Bent Falk. The inspiration came about in 1970 when Falk was given the challenge of designing an environmentally-friendly series of “green” houses that contained effective fireplaces. The stove Falk designed became the first of the RAIS wood burning stoves, and won him the Danish National Design award that year. 

The ORIGINAL Rais wood stove had three compartments: one at the bottom in which wood was stored, the firebox in the middle, and a small oven for baking on the top. Falk selected 8 mm (more than ¼") naval grade Swedish steel, rather than cast iron, because steel would be lighter and more malleable than iron. Reduced weight permitted larger units, which allowed greater heat output. Stoves could also be taller, permitting more stove size for the floor space taken up, better viewing of the fire, and a space under the firebox for wood storage. Because steel can be cold-bent and stamped, stoves could be designed with cleaner lines, adding a new dimension to their styling. It was a design that proved to be both pioneering and trendsetting, and became the benchmark for stove design for many years to come under the product name RAIS 1.

The ORIGINAL wood stove was named RAIS 1 because it was produced in a Danish town Randers, and the Viking name for Randers is RAIS . Falk’s quest for efficiency led him to think about convection, which led to stoves that heat by both radiation and convection.

At the request of a Copenhagen design/furniture company in a second RAIS 1 wood stove was produced for a display model. By the mid-seventies interest in the ORIGINAL RAIS 1 had grown to the point that a first batch was produced at the "blacksmith company". More blacksmith companies started up copying the RAIS ORIGINAL stove. The stove line was expanded with RAIS 2, 3, 4, 82, 101, 106....

In 1982 was the production moved from Kalundborg to Ørskov Maskinfabrik (ØM), and in 1991 Ørskov took over the RAIS license. It was in 1996 the ØM was renamed RAIS.

Today, RAIS stoves continue to be manufactured in Denmark and are internationally recognized for their efficiency and their high technical standards.