炉子

• Pinyin: lú zi
• Hanzi breakdown: 炉 = 火 + 户 (furnace); 子 = nominal suffix

Meaning

Stove; heater; furnace. A general term for any device that uses fire or heat for cooking or warming, from coal-burning heaters to portable camping stoves.

More colloquial and everyday than 炉灶, covering a broader range of heat-producing devices including space heaters, portable stoves, and small cooking burners. Widely used in northern China where coal and wood stoves remain common in rural areas.

Examples

1. 冬天宿舍里没有暖气，同学们围在一个小炉子旁边取暖。 In winter the dorm didn’t have heating, so the students huddled around a small stove to keep warm.
2. 他把水壶放在炉子上烧水，转身去整理书桌上堆积的文件。 He put the kettle on the stove to boil water, then turned around to tidy up the pile of papers on his desk.
3. 露营时携带的便携炉子不仅轻便，还能在风中稳定燃烧，非常实用。 The portable stove he brought for camping was not only lightweight, but also burned steadily in the wind—very practical.

Usage Guide

Context: daily life, cooking, winter

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 北方的冬天，农村家庭通常靠烧煤的炉子来取暖，屋内暖烘烘的，十分舒适。(In northern winters, rural families typically rely on coal-burning stoves to stay warm, making the indoors snug and comfortable.)
• 厨师在炉子上架好大锅，开始熬制需要文火慢煮四小时的骨汤。(The chef set a large pot on the stove and began to simmer bone broth that requires four hours of slow cooking over a low flame.)

Don't Say

• 在正式文章中用炉子替代更规范的术语 — in formal writing or technical contexts, prefer specific terms like 加热设备、燃气灶、取暖设备 rather than the colloquial 炉子

Origin & History

炉 (furnace/stove) + 子 (nominal suffix) — a colloquial compound for any type of small stove or heater

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal