Rocket mass heaters

[Chris Leon]

If you're interested in heating a space for not much money, ie bit's of dead wood etc., check out, Rocket stoves or rocket heaters or rocket mass heaters on youtube. I reckon it's a good solution for greenhouses in cooler climates... Make sure you watch them and understand how they work. It's genius!

 

Chris

[halemart]

Hi,

 

If you like the Rocket stove, check out the TLUD stove.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ihN7HLGGhE&feature=related

[Giorgio]

Awesome!!!

I checked out these TLUD stoves and I'm going to make a couple in different sizes.

I've been using rocket stoves for a couple of years but I think there are much better

Mahalo

[K Schreiber]

TLUD's look like a great way to kill 2 birds with one stone:  produce a meal and biochar for the garden at the same time, but no good for serious heating needs.  I plan on incorporating a below grade rocket mass heater in my greenhouse, but I have one issue that is yet to be worked out:  how do I protect below grade cob from ground moisture?  Any thoughts?

[halemart]

I have found with my rocket stove that wood with some water content is a bear to burn.    However, since I have added a blower to it, the wood burns far better since it is getting more oxygen, and burns hotter.

 

Perhaps a blower added to your setup with a variable control ( say a router speed control ) might do what you are after.

 

 

[K Schreiber]

There's a really great book, Rocket Mass Heaters by Ianto Evans that you can buy in paperback form or as a pdf online.  There are also a bunch of websites that discuss various versions/experiences with rocket mass heaters.  It's a very flexible design, but cob, (a mud, clay, straw mixture), the usual source of the mass in a rocket mass heater, has some definite limitations.

[Teresa N Florida]

I looked into the rocket mass heater, and though I might not need much heat during our cold winters here in north Florida, this guy (I think he was in Missouri) posted a video in WINTER, deep snow, showing his greenhouse with his AP setup -  temp was at 70 Degrees F.

Very nice!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NAPFdMdyZk

 

[Mike Creuzer]

I've been working with a Rocket Mass Heater (RMH) this fall and winter in my garage. Details are at http://mike.creuzer.com/topic/builds/his/rmhf

My long term goal is to work this into a greenhouse or a cold frame. I will probably keep the main part in the garage like I have it now and put the greenhouse behind the garage. I will dig the duct into the ground and set the greenhouse over the top of it. I will likely have a largish fish tank(s) physically sitting on the mass inside the garage. The greenhouse will be a combo of dirt & aquaponics.

The garage is going to get some solar hot air panels for heat, and the RMH will be used for my comfort and for those really cold nights when the solar gain isn't enough to keep things from freezing.

I've got too many irons in the fire, and being that I don't really have a budget, things happen when I scrounge the parts for them. It may be a year or two before I really get this set up well.

[George]

That's a neat video but I didn't see much to keep the greenhouse warm once the fire goes out.  You really need to heat a mass such as earth or a lot of water.  I've built TLUDs and rocket stoves and the rocket stove would be the way I would go - it's more conducive to heating a mass.  TLUDs are generally used as a batch process, meaning you load it, light from the top and burn one load of fuel.  In N. Fla, solar heat may work for you.  Actually, you may not need much in the way of heat, depending on what kind of fish you're using.  I'm in Jax, using native bluegill.  They didn't feed this morning but did this afternoon.  Good luck.

Teresa Schmidt said:

I looked into the rocket mass heater, and though I might not need much heat during our cold winters here in north Florida, this guy (I think he was in Missouri) posted a video in WINTER, deep snow, showing his greenhouse with his AP setup -  temp was at 70 Degrees F.

Very nice!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NAPFdMdyZk

 

[K Schreiber]

The heater shown in this video is NOT a rocket mass heater.  It is a rocket stove.  A rocket mass heater has a thermal mass that absorbs and holds the heat produced by the rocket stove.

[George]

True, true.  My current interest is woodgas generation and, although I've generated a lot of it, I've never utilized it all that much.  See below the link to a concept that might scale up and work very well in a greenhouse.  For starters, you could use a rocket stove instead of propane to heat the biomass.  A lot of heat could be captured in the process of producing the woodgas.  Secondly, the woodgas generated from the reactor full of biomass could be used to further heat the greenhouse,  fish tank, or a mass of something.  I think it has a lot of potential for anyone with a greenhouse, supply of biomass, scrap metal and welding skills.  Cheers.

http://youtu.be/Zzv6fIDsNwM

K Schreiber said:

The heater shown in this video is NOT a rocket mass heater.  It is a rocket stove.  A rocket mass heater has a thermal mass that absorbs and holds the heat produced by the rocket stove.

[George]

Please explain a bit for us slow people.  What is below grade cob?

K Schreiber said:

  how do I protect below grade cob from ground moisture?  Any thoughts?

[Mike Creuzer]

That would be cob (basically mud mortor) used underground.

I would just use it. Maybe mix it on the sandy side so it will drain well. It's not like it will go anywhere. Straight sand will have too many voids and will insulate too well, you need the clay and silt to fill those voids.

George said:

Please explain a bit for us slow people.  What is below grade cob?

K Schreiber said:

  how do I protect below grade cob from ground moisture?  Any thoughts?