Anyone have personal experience with a rocket mass heater? (house, soil, good)
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I am curious if anyone has ever built one or has one? I ran into a guy several years ago who built one in his greenhouse and swore by it. I am thinking about building one for a new cabin project I am working on this summer. Thanks
I am curious if anyone has ever built one or has one? I ran into a guy several years ago who built one in his greenhouse and swore by it. I am thinking about building one for a new cabin project I am working on this summer. Thanks
Hey there, all the "preppers" here are busy discussing what dog breed is best for survival in a "what if" scenario, including a few armchair experts - nobody actually has any experience surviving or building much out of much.
I have no experience with building a rocket mass heater (in fact before you posted it, the concept was completely foreign to me) but at one time we stayed in an adobe home where someone had built the stove pipe of a wood stove through a bunch of adobe furniture in a cabin, including a bed. When you had the thing going, it dissipated heat into the adobe furniture and the place radiated it for the rest of the day - it was way cool
I have not built one yet, but intend to this year sometime, to heat an outbuilding. I have a friend in Arkansas who has built one and uses it to heat his self-built cabin. He has been using it for about three years now, with good success. There has been some ongoing tweaking of the unit to achieve better efficiency. The dimensions of the rocket stove part of the unit are important, and one needs to size the mass portion of the unit to the space they intend to heat. Too much mass, space is too hot, not enough, it's too cold. My friend burns a fire 45 minutes in the morning, the same in the evening, maintains the cabin at 70 degrees or so all winter. Burns a 5 gallon bucket full of small wood a day. The exhaust from the flue is more like steam than smoke, and is about 135 degrees. Similar to a dryer vent exhaust.
Erica and Ernie Wisner are the acknowledged experts on this subject, and have a website with a ton of info for those attempting to build a RMH. If you research RMH's much at all, their names pop up everywhere. While the RMH was not a foreign idea to me this morning, I did stay at a Holiday Inn once, and am therefore well qualified to comment on this subject...
Thanks I plan on building one this summer and have the book and have watched all the YouTube videos so I am pretty much a pro ! I have seen one in action down in northern Arizona but am curious to see how it does up here in Alaska. As long as the mass part doesn't get cold I think it will work amazingly. I want to burn much less wood then I am right now.
Hey there, all the "preppers" here are busy discussing what dog breed is best for survival in a "what if" scenario, including a few armchair experts - nobody actually has any experience surviving or building much out of much.
Well, you won't see me over there. I've been very happy with the ones I've found in the street and the ones no one else wanted.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LordyLordy
I have no experience with building a rocket mass heater (in fact before you posted it, the concept was completely foreign to me) but at one time we stayed in an adobe home where someone had built the stove pipe of a wood stove through a bunch of adobe furniture in a cabin, including a bed. When you had the thing going, it dissipated heat into the adobe furniture and the place radiated it for the rest of the day - it was way cool
I'd never heard of them either. My concern is safety. If there were a commercially produced unit tested by UL or another reputable testing laboratory I would definitely be interested, but when I'm putting a fire inside my home I want a product designed by engineers. I also want far better information on correct installation. I know that I'm safe with a correctly installed cook stove or parlor stove. I'll wait and see what happens with these. I don't need to jump on the bandwagon for every new fangled idea.
I feel safe with any dog, but not with just any furnace.
Hey there, all the "preppers" here are busy discussing what dog breed is best for survival in a "what if" scenario, including a few armchair experts - nobody actually has any experience surviving or building much out of much.
Admit it, you know you want five horrendously noisy, dreadfully ugly, and supremely annoying pit bulls pooping and barking in your back yard just like the next guy... if only for the "what if" scenario that the neighbors want to get some sleep and have to get up for work in the morning.
And always remember... young grasshopper... it's the philosophical that matters. Not the practical. When you can snatch the heirloom seeds from my hand, it is time for you to leave.
Well, you won't see me over there. I've been very happy with the ones I've found in the street and the ones no one else wanted.
I'd never heard of them either. My concern is safety. If there were a commercially produced unit tested by UL or another reputable testing laboratory I would definitely be interested, but when I'm putting a fire inside my home I want a product designed by engineers. I also want far better information on correct installation. I know that I'm safe with a correctly installed cook stove or parlor stove. I'll wait and see what happens with these. I don't need to jump on the bandwagon for every new fangled idea.
I feel safe with any dog, but not with just any furnace.
They are perfectly safe and have been around since the 70's and the concept of masonry/mass heating dates back millennia. It is certainly not a new fangled idea by any means. I live in alaska so I am interested in clean burning stoves and using a lot less wood, both of which the rocket mass heater accomplishes. If anyone is interested in reading about them further here is a great link rocketstoves - www.ErnieAndErica.info
Admit it, you know you want five horrendously noisy, dreadfully ugly, and supremely annoying pit bulls pooping and barking in your back yard just like the next guy... if only for the "what if" scenario that the neighbors want to get some sleep and have to get up for work in the morning.
And always remember... young grasshopper... it's the philosophical that matters. Not the practical. When you can snatch the heirloom seeds from my hand, it is time for you to leave.
Missed your wit and wisdom around here Chris!
Glad to see you posting again
To the subject at hand...
Not too familiar with rocket stoves, but have looked at these for economic wood heat. Soapstone Heating Systems Inc.
Admit it, you know you want five horrendously noisy, dreadfully ugly, and supremely annoying pit bulls pooping and barking in your back yard just like the next guy... if only for the "what if" scenario that the neighbors want to get some sleep and have to get up for work in the morning.
I am a chihuahua man myself, Senor. Nothing scarier than staring down the teeth of a chihuahua who thinks you have stepped onto HIS territory.
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- nobody actually has any experience surviving or building much out of much.
