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Anyone using a Rocket Mass Heating system?

Started by Ljohnsaw, October 29, 2012, 03:30:09 AM

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Ljohnsaw

I've done lots of reading and it sure looks like the way to heat with wood.  Anyone doing it here?  I'd like to hear your experiences.
Thanks,
John Sawicky

Just North-East of Sacramento...

SkyTrak 9038, Ford 545D FEL, Davis Little Monster backhoe, Case 16+4 Trencher, Home Built 42" capacity/36" cut Bandmill up to 54' long - using it all to build a timber frame cabin.

jdonovan

I have plans to put a more traditional Russian aka masonry heater in my next home I'm having built.

The rocket stoves look like they might be a tad more efficient, but also seem to have some design criteria that could be a problem. And once built very hard to correct if you have a design problem.

There are several companies that offer masonry heaters as kits that your local mason assembles. The pre-engineed design that a company will stand behind, and offer help with is much more attractive to me.

Or if you don't want the kit, again several companies make ready to install stoves. They do have to be assembled by a mason, but as above its a pre-engineered design with proven performance.

When you are investing 10,000-20,000+ on a stove/fire place I've got high expectations that it should work WELL from day one.

KBforester

I've heard lots of good things about rocket stoves. Contemplating them myself. I say go for it.

I've heard the opposite when it comes to correcting a design flaw. The fact that you will probably be using clay and sand, as opposed to mortar and brick means you can take it apart. To my understanding that's actually pretty common to do. Biggest complaint I've heard about them is their ugly. My biggest worry is only being able to load small wood. That would be an advantage for some though.

I like the idea of a masonry heater too... one or two big fires a day, with large the option of large diameter wood.
Trees are good.

Ljohnsaw

Besides being very efficient, they are CHEAP!  I would not, could not, contemplate spending $10,000-20,000 on a fireplace! :o
John Sawicky

Just North-East of Sacramento...

SkyTrak 9038, Ford 545D FEL, Davis Little Monster backhoe, Case 16+4 Trencher, Home Built 42" capacity/36" cut Bandmill up to 54' long - using it all to build a timber frame cabin.

barbender

Ljohnsaw, those are my thoughts exactly. Masonary heaters have some neat attributes but it seems you need to take out a separate mortgage to build one, and then build your house around it.
Too many irons in the fire

woodmills1

one of friends who has posted here is ukranian

he has said that growing up he lived with this kind of stove

he also said that to be warm they slept on the stove :D
James Mills,Lovely wife,collect old tools,vacuuming fool,36 bdft/hr,oak paper cutter,ebonic yooper rapper nauga seller, Blue Ox? its not fast, 2 cat family, LT70,edger, 375 bd ft/hr, we like Bob,free heat,no oil 12 years,big splitter, baked stuffed lobster, still cuttin the logs dere IAM

Rait

Hello all!  This is my first post here;)

I doubt your Ukrainian friend really slept on rocket mass heater. The horizontal flue was common in Russian mass heater design (in my country its called "leso"). The furnace itself most likely was traditional mass heater too (so burning material feed in horizontally not vertically like rocket stoves) - the burn tunnels and flues are most likely very different from rocket's.

I have not tried one, but some guys over here do have it. The traditional mass heater builders are suspicious on the metal can pit (to burn out too quickly for our 6 month long heating season) so one friend of my built firebrick/redbrick based rocket instead (main source of warmth in his about 1200 sq ft strawbale house). Donkey32's forum has tons of information on rocket stoves.

If your house needs lots of wattage there are some drawbacks using rocket mass heater - the traditional mass heater is filled and the next time you need to attend it is in few hours to close it. Rocket mass heater however needs more constant attending, also tests show that with the vertical feed, there is some time period where more fuel would be needed for the efficient burn but the vertical logs havent yet 'fallen downwards' yet...
The guys in donkey forum are doing lots of experiments let's see where the'll get with it.

I'd say - fun thing though put some serious consideration if you plan to have it in your living house.
Circular saw, chainsaw, drill, non electric hand tools.

r.man

Spent a fair bit of time lately looking at everything I could find on rocket mass heaters on the web as well as rocket stoves. Most of the ones I saw were burning small wood but I don't see why the fuel container, whether steel or brick couldn't be built to accommodate either longer or larger wood or both. I saw an article from the seventies or eighties in Mother Earth News or something similar about a fellow who had built a number of larger heating systems that now sound to me like rocket mass heaters. He was using fairly large long wood in a vertical tube.
Life is too short or my list is too long, not sure which. Dec 2014

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