THE STORY BEHIND RAD-FLAME
Thirty years in Fire.
A decade engineering the perfect Flame.
Rad-Flame wasn’t designed in a boardroom. It grew out of three decades of hands-on craftsmanship building luxury fireplaces and more than ten years spent refining water vapor technology from the inside out.
I’m David Schmitt, founder and owner of Nero Fire Design and Rad-Flame. This is the story of the experience, craftsmanship, and vision that brought Rad-Flame to life.
THE STORY BEHIND RAD-FLAME
Thirty years in fire.
A Decade Engineering the Perfect Flame.
Rad-Flame wasn’t designed in a boardroom. It grew out of three decades of hands-on craftsmanship building luxury fireplaces and more than ten years spent refining water vapor technology from the inside out.
I’m David Schmitt, founder and owner of Nero Fire Design and Rad-Flame. This is the story of the experience, craftsmanship, and vision that brought Rad-Flame to life.
THE STORY BEHIND RAD-FLAME
I’m David Schmitt, founder and owner of Nero Fire Design and Rad-Flame. This is the story of the experience, craftsmanship, and vision that brought Rad-Flame to life.
Thirty years in Fire.A decade engineering the perfect Flame.
Rad-Flame wasn’t designed in a boardroom. It grew out of three decades of hands-on craftsmanship building luxury fireplaces and more than ten years spent refining water vapor technology from the inside out.
The Spark
My foundation started in France with deep, traditional craftsmanship: sweeping chimneys, installing exhaust systems, and threading stainless liners into centuries-old houses. I was also designing custom stone chimney mantels from scratch drafting the designs, collaborating with a local stone cutter to shape the raw materials, and then installing the heavy finished pieces myself.
Because of this hands-on dedication, I built a reputation for custom, luxury wood-burning fireplaces where trust and quality mattered more than price. After 11 years of building that business, I sold it and moved to Canada in 2008.
By 2011, while working on high-end projects in Quebec, I saw a new 16-inch water vapor burner hit the market. It produced a nine-inch flame, and while the effect was extraordinary, it was too small a product for customers to take seriously. But I couldn't stop thinking about its potential.
The Spark
My foundation started in France with deep, traditional craftsmanship: sweeping chimneys, installing exhaust systems, and threading stainless liners into centuries-old houses. I was also designing custom stone chimney mantels from scratch drafting the designs, collaborating with a local stone cutter to shape the raw materials, and then installing the heavy finished pieces myself.
Because of this hands-on dedication, I built a reputation for custom, luxury wood-burning fireplaces where trust and quality mattered more than price. After 11 years of building that business, I sold it and moved to Canada in 2008.
By 2011, while working on high-end projects in Quebec, I saw a new 16-inch water vapor burner hit the market. It produced a nine-inch flame, and while the effect was extraordinary, it was too small a product for customers to take seriously. But I couldn't stop thinking about its potential.
THE STORY BEHIND RAD-FLAME
Thirty years in Fire.
A Decade Engineering the perfect Flame.
I’m David Schmitt, founder and owner of Nero Fire Design and Rad-Flame. This is the story of the experience, craftsmanship, and vision that brought Rad-Flame to life.
Rad-Flame wasn’t designed in a boardroom. It grew out of three decades of hands-on craftsmanship building luxury fireplaces and more than ten years spent refining water vapor technology from the inside out.
Engineering a better Flame
In 2014, my family and I moved to Toronto so I could learn English—a strict requirement for the business I wanted to build. My focus shifted entirely to water vapor.
The real turning point came in December 2015 when I got a call to design and build a custom 17-foot water vapor fireplace. I constructed the massive custom cabinet entirely on site. At the time, I had just seen the prototypes from the industry's leading manufacturer, so I sourced their production burners for the project. But when I finally installed the burners and turned the system on, the flame was terrible-a static, flat disappointment.
I couldn't leave it like that. Over the next three months, I tore the system apart, re-engineering the nozzles and operating temperatures to create the flame the room actually deserved.
The result was so distinct that when I exhibited at the 2017 Interior Design Show in Toronto, even that same manufacturer didn't recognize their own underlying technology in my booth. They asked for a meeting to understand what I had done. I returned to the show in 2019, where Nero Fire Design won the show's Best Booth Design, and I was commissioned to build the fireplace for that very manufacturer's North American headquarters.
Engineering a better Flame
In 2014, my family and I moved to Toronto so I could learn English—a strict requirement for the business I wanted to build. My focus shifted entirely to water vapor.
The real turning point came in December 2015 when I got a call to design and build a custom 17-foot water vapor fireplace. I constructed the massive custom cabinet entirely on site. At the time, I had just seen the prototypes from the industry's leading manufacturer, so I sourced their production burners for the project. But when I finally installed the burners and turned the system on, the flame was terrible-a static, flat disappointment.
I couldn't leave it like that. Over the next three months, I tore the system apart, re-engineering the nozzles and operating temperatures to create the flame the room actually deserved.
The result was so distinct that when I exhibited at the 2017 Interior Design Show in Toronto, even that same manufacturer didn't recognize their own underlying technology in my booth. They asked for a meeting to understand what I had done. I returned to the show in 2019, where Nero Fire Design won the show's Best Booth Design, and I was commissioned to build the fireplace for that very manufacturer's North American headquarters.
The Spark
My foundation started in France with deep, traditional craftsmanship: sweeping chimneys, installing exhaust systems, and threading stainless liners into centuries-old houses. I was also designing custom stone chimney mantels from scratch drafting the designs, collaborating with a local stone cutter to shape the raw materials, and then installing the heavy finished pieces myself.
Because of this hands-on dedication, I built a reputation for custom, luxury wood-burning fireplaces where trust and quality mattered more than price. After 11 years of building that business, I sold it and moved to Canada in 2008.
By 2011, while working on high-end projects in Quebec, I saw a new 16-inch water vapor burner hit the market. It produced a nine-inch flame, and while the effect was extraordinary, it was too small a product for customers to take seriously. But I couldn't stop thinking about its potential.
Engineering a better Flame
In 2014, my family and I moved to Toronto so I could learn English—a strict requirement for the business I wanted to build. My focus shifted entirely to water vapor.
The real turning point came in December 2015 when I got a call to design and build a custom 17-foot water vapor fireplace. I constructed the massive custom cabinet entirely on site. At the time, I had just seen the prototypes from the industry's leading manufacturer, so I sourced their production burners for the project. But when I finally installed the burners and turned the system on, the flame was terrible-a static, flat disappointment.
I couldn't leave it like that. Over the next three months, I tore the system apart, re-engineering the nozzles and operating temperatures to create the flame the room actually deserved.
The result was so distinct that when I exhibited at the 2017 Interior Design Show in Toronto, even that same manufacturer didn't recognize their own underlying technology in my booth. They asked for a meeting to understand what I had done. I returned to the show in 2019, where Nero Fire Design won the show's Best Booth Design, and I was commissioned to build the fireplace for that very manufacturer's North American headquarters.
The Evolution of Rad-Flame
In late 2019, I relocated the company to California, and the vision was clear. Then the 2020 pandemic hit, halting projects and cutting off my supply chain for burners. It was the exact push I needed to stop modifying other people's hardware and finally build my own.
Every claim Rad-Flame makes about realism, reliability, and serviceability traces back to this relentless journey.
Knowing every failure point, every awkward service call, and every design compromise of existing systems, I developed Rad-Flame. Launched in 2021, the first generation featured a single continuous burner that was serviceable from the top in minutes.
But an engineer's work is never truly done. Over the years, I have continuously torn down and improved my own design around the exact problems I spent a decade living with, resulting in a flame moved by heat, rather than just pushed by fans.
Rad-Flame is still evolving today. I continue to refine it the same way I built it in the first place — by looking closely at what can be better, solving it, and moving the flame one step closer to what I always believed it could be.
Rad-Flame is still evolving today. I continue to refine it the same way I built it in the first place — by looking closely at what can be better, solving it, and moving the flame one step closer to what I always believed it could be.
The Evolution of Rad-Flame
In late 2019, I relocated the company to California, and the vision was clear. Then the 2020 pandemic hit, halting projects and cutting off my supply chain for burners. It was the exact push I needed to stop modifying other people's hardware and finally build my own.
Knowing every failure point, every awkward service call, and every design compromise of existing systems, I developed Rad-Flame. Launched in 2021, the first generation featured a single continuous burner that was serviceable from the top in minutes.
But an engineer's work is never truly done. Over the years, I have continuously torn down and improved my own design around the exact problems I spent a decade living with, resulting in a flame moved by heat, rather than just pushed by fans.
Every claim Rad-Flame makes about realism, reliability, and serviceability traces back to this relentless journey.
Rad-Flame is still evolving today. I continue to refine it the same way I built it in the first place — by looking closely at what can be better, solving it, and moving the flame one step closer to what I always believed it could be.
The Evolution of Rad-Flame
In late 2019, I relocated the company to California, and the vision was clear. Then the 2020 pandemic hit, halting projects and cutting off my supply chain for burners. It was the exact push I needed to stop modifying other people's hardware and finally build my own.
Knowing every failure point, every awkward service call, and every design compromise of existing systems, I developed Rad-Flame. Launched in 2021, the first generation featured a single continuous burner that was serviceable from the top in minutes.
But an engineer's work is never truly done. Over the years, I have continuously torn down and improved my own design around the exact problems I spent a decade living with, resulting in a flame moved by heat, rather than just pushed by fans.
Every claim Rad-Flame makes about realism, reliability, and serviceability traces back to this relentless journey.