Rocket Mass Heater Stove Wood Refractory Masonry Hermon Heater

All-Brick Rocket Heater. Walls are 4.5" thick. Wood box / air intake opens @ 4.5" by 9", same for burn tube, heat riser & initial exhaust. 10 Bricks per layer in the heater, 16 layers high. Around 180 brick in this heater. One bag of masonry heater mortar. Absorbs lots of heat and gives it out for hours after heater shut down. Plans ? LARSmith217@GMail.Com ( looking for buyer for selling rights to this heater )

Category:

Education

Tags:

• rocket
• mass
• heater
• refractory
• stove
• cob
• bench
• Hermon

[peckiledorf]

you can by the book by Ianto Evans the guy who invented the rocket stove for 18.00 on Amazon screw this guy

[LarsMith217]

Peck, for the record, the best way to "screw this guy" is to follow my instructions below ... download / install SketchUp from Google and, after watching my video, draw up a set of 3D plans and use those. When I was short of cash, necessity was the mother of invention. I could only afford to use a free program and 2nd hand brick in order to be able to build my heater ... and yes, I did purchase Ianto's book and it is INVALUABLE !! Save $35 and design your own heater like I did :)

[LarsMith217]

For the record, anyone with a computer, SketchUp from SketchUp.Google.Com, a general knowledge of how to build things with LEGO's and some time on their hands can design a heater like the one I present here. I know this because that's what I did before building this heater. The USD$35 charge for a copy of the heater plans is for those who don't have the time to come up with their own design. It took 6 different designs b4 I settled on this one. How many hours ???

[cornishman1987]

how often do you have to attend to the heater?

[LarsMith217]

@cornishman1987 As you can see, it takes only a small amount of wood to "fill" the feed tube ( the opening at the start of the heater ). It takes only a minute or so to fill the heater and, using 16" pieces we do this about once every 45 minutes or so ... so this year, we've changed strategies and will be using 30" pieces of wood so we only have to attend to it every hour and a half or so. Once we get into this coming heating season, we'll be able to report back to you about this change.

[KNOWLEDGEandLIFE]

$35!! Dang that's a little pricey... I mean, rocket stoves are not rocket science. Pretty darn easy... $15 I can see.

[boxerfencer]

@17hmr243

I suppose you can't because of the 90 degree angle of the feed section to that of the burner. I imagine you can stick a straight hose with my idea, though, which gives you 180 access. Bty, you should NOT vacuum a fireplace. That's a fire hazard.

[17hmr243]

@boxerfencer Now cleaning these mass heaters has to be a pain in the butt

could you not just stick a house hold vacuum down there??? off course it be a dedicated 1 just for that use :P

[boxerfencer]

@boxerfencer

But I suppose one could simply add a cob or even a brick bench to the brick design in lieu. I imagine the barrel design facilitates cooking, bringing the surface to usable temperature faster than brick would, too.

[boxerfencer]

I've given it some thought & the only issue with a brick design is that, although I like the idea of a brick "barrel" (that functions as a thermal battery), an oil barrel (of the barrel/cob design) gives immediate heat & uses a thermal battery in the way of a cob bench further downline. The brick design only works as a single battery. So, the brick design would seem less efficient than the ugly? design of the oil barrel/cob bench design illustrated in Rocket Mass Heaters by Evans & Jackson.

[boxerfencer]

@boxerfencer

Now cleaning these mass heaters has to be a pain in the butt. I don't know why they don't just leave the feed section loose without mortar so that you can just take it apart allowing simple and direct cleaning of the burner. See, there's my contribution to the Rocket mass heater. I wonder if I can patent that idea.

[boxerfencer]

@boxerfencer

I'm no mason but I would assume that the inside bricks, should be refractory (especially in the secondary combustion "barrel" and upward flue) so that they don't melt (don't mess with insulating bricks) and some or all areas of the outer layer can be something nicer, like a thick brick with empty space inside to create thermal mass (extruded bricks). If I recall, these spaces take 1 of 2 forms, 3 holes (losing a 1/4 lighter) or a square space (losing a 1/3 of the weight).

[boxerfencer]

@boxerfencer

There's also a article in French detailing another firebrick construction at blog.tricofolk.info entitled rocket-stove-et-chauffage-ecol­ogique. and there's a very, very basic one on youtube called Adventures in eco living #01 ... Brick rocket stove version 1.