PREP Rocket Stove Mass Heater ( oh yeah!!!)

[jed turtle]

http://www.richsoil.com:80/rocket-stove-mass-heater.jsp

at last, something that is really revolutionary that you can potentially really wrap your hands around!

i'm still studying this, and may have to figure out just how "I" would set it up, but this looks pretty great.

"rocket mass heaters in a nutshell:
heat your home with 80% to 90% less wood
exhaust is nearly pure steam and CO2 (a little smoke at the beginning)
the heat from one fire can last for days
you can build one in a day and half
folks have built them spending less than $20 "

 

[Publius]

I have seen other ideas based on massive rock and brick systems and the idea is to heat all the rock or brick and it will put heat for hours or for days and some of these I was reading about were quite old, like 200 to 400 years old, made like a cross between a fireplace and a wood stove and would take hours to heat up. why it never caught on, I can't say.

 

[Handyman]

There is a given heat loss to ever building, and it is going to take a given amount of BTU's to heat a given space to a given temperature,

There is no way around it, regardless, it is going to take so much energy to heat the space.

It may be more efficient than many wood stoves but if is not going to change the law of physics.

 

[WestTx753]

My only problem with them is they seem to seal the exhaust gases in with clay. The second barrel for the heat capture sits on a simple mud/clay surface and the stove pipe then goes sideways to heat a bench. What happens if the stove pipe does not pull the exhaust? Not sure the clay will stop it.

 

[blackjeep]

There is a given heat loss to ever building, and it is going to take a given amount of BTU's to heat a given space to a given temperature,

There is no way around it, regardless, it is going to take so much energy to heat the space.

It may be more efficient than many wood stoves but if is not going to change the law of physics.

I think that the laws of physics works for these rocket mass stoves. They extract maximum heat from the burning material and send almost none out the pipe. On the other hand, LOTS of heat goes right up and out the pipe with a conventional stove. The difference, apparently, is substantial.

I've talked to some people that have visited the "free cycles" guy in Montana and they were amazed at how little wood was consumed and how much heat was stored in the thermal mass.

I could sure use something like this. We are burning a good deal of wood without getting the house as warm as we would like. It's not bad, but it could be better.

I'm thinking of a thermal mass heater that would absorb some of the heat and release it over time... I need to watch the videos to get some better idea of what works.

 

[FarmerJohn]

I have seen other ideas based on massive rock and brick systems and the idea is to heat all the rock or brick and it will put heat for hours or for days and some of these I was reading about were quite old, like 200 to 400 years old, made like a cross between a fireplace and a wood stove and would take hours to heat up. why it never caught on, I can't say.

I have one of these. Mine is a Finnish-style Contraflow. I love it, but the house gets so much solar gain in fair winter weather that we've only had four or five burns so far this fall. It will give off heat for about 36 hours per burn so it's best to check the forecast before setting the fire.

 

[ittybit]

This is an american adaptation of what the russians have been doing for centuries: russian furnace. It is an excellent advancement of the basic technique.

 

[dogmanan]

I really like this thanks jed

 

[etc]

The concept is found in European masonry stoves. It's just seems more compact.

any regular wood stove is way more efficient than a fireplace, which is just a toy for occasional fire.

 

[Scrapman]

love the concept but would need to know btu's and sq ft capability...I don't live in a hobit house..
will study it more..