If you have one and you love it, show it off!

Calling All Permies with a Rocket Mass Heater in your home -

Would you be willing to host a yearly open-house so people can have first-hand experience with an RMH?

Post here and let us know!



This idea stemmed off of this thread:
https://permies.com/t/80/191709/how-do-we-tell-people-about-rmh

What would be awesome is if we had dozens of annual RMH show-and-tell events in every major city.  

Been There and done that and I am happy to do so again!

I am willing and just still waiting on Town inspector so I can show mine off all legal-like and keep my family members happy.  So posting to support this idea.  I'm 99% there.

I am tentatively open to the idea of doing an open house to let others experience my RMH in person.  I'd need to know more details of what's expected and/or who it is being marketed to.  While I feel like this technology needs to get out there more I'm not sure I'm up to being the one to handle being a target for mainstream naysayers.  I'm cool with sharing what I've done with like minded people who are contemplating trying to build one, or just want to see one in person.  I know I would have felt much more confident when I started my build if I had experienced a RMH in person first.  For me it was a giant leap of faith in both my ability to make things and that RMH's were worth the effort.

What  I'm not wild about is attracting a ton of local attention as the guy prepared for life as energy, resource, and financial constraints really start to kick in.  These things are all intimately connected to each other and poised for a rapid contraction in my opinion.   I fear if I am known as that guy then I become the target of irrational hate from those who want to deny the reality of serious contraction.  Meanwhile others may equally irrationally think I can be some savior with far more resources than I'll really have and able to preserve their lives and family from their own lack of foresight.  I would rather exist on the fringes helping to be more of an example of what can be done for those willing to look ahead, do the work, and make the sometimes difficult decisions to set up a life living well below one's means.

Anyway, this is my RMH and here is a link to a blog post I did about it.  Interesting to note this is the blog post that seems to get the most traffic of all I've done.  It's not a ton of traffic, but it generally gets a view or two a day.  I'm guessing this is due to both posts I've made in various places linking to it, and from search engines  directing people to it who are interested in the topic of RMHs.  



My loose hope/plan over the next year is to cut way back on my art business and devote more time and attention to Permie oriented things, reviving my blog some to document what I'm trying.  Among the things I want to do is to see if I can develop a functional rocket forge that would work for those doing real blacksmithing.  Call me cynical but I don't think our current culture/standard of living has a future.  I'm not so much working to save it as I am trying to plant seeds of appropriate technology which may greatly improve our lives in whatever is to come.  For better or worse I suspect a major and lasting gift from the fossil fuel era will be an abundance of refined ores/metal.  It would be nice if metalsmiths of the future didn't have to rely on charcoal to fuel their forges, but could just use dried sticks!

I'd really like to try making a second RMH too, this time out of cob instead of the pebble style I did, so I could see first hand the difference in performance between them.

Hi David;
Beautiful build!
Consider an extended-length 6" batch box with a bell for your next rocket experiment.

Thomas,  I am indeed curious how a bell or stratification chamber type would compare as well!

I have a 6" batch using a piped system, thru a rock and cob mass.
I also have a 7" batch into a brick bell.
They both Rocket but the piped system needs to get warmed up to draft properly.
The 7" needs the bypass open for a few minutes and then it is ready to rock & roll.
When I build my third it will be an extended length 6" into a brick bell.

Hello,
I have built a few of these, but this one is my favorite.
It was an experimental project made of soup cans, rocks and earth (no cement, or added clay) and an old barrel I had found at an abandoned mining site. This winter is the second winter I am using it and it works great.
I might catch some flack for breaking with some traditional rules, (like the short side of the J chamber is not vertical but angled, being too close to the wall etc.) but it's okay. I would really like to know what people think even if some may not see this as a good way to build.
There is one thing I have done differently in the second iteration of this design: the four tunnels create a large enough heat transfer surface so that practically all the heat is extracted from the exhaust gases. Therefore, by the time they hit the external chimney, they are cold and don't create an appropriate updraft. Because of this I needed to stick an exhaust fan on the top of the chimney to create the necessary airflow when there is no wind. When it's windy, it purrs like a big cat even without the fan . So what I have changed in the second one was that I built three tunnels instead of four, to extract less heat.
I live in the middle of the Mojave so I doubt that people would want to drive all the way out here just to see it, but who knows... Plus I'll be happy to share info if anyone is interested.

here is the link to the pics:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13RTBkFCSgosook0U2_wWnM6KUWweEzQ8?usp=share_link

Cheers

Erik

David Huang that is just a beautiful work of art! It looks so cool and not at all like a heater. It looks like a kitchen island/granite countertop for prepping food and whatever else people do in a kitchen. Does it function that way in your home?

Denise Cares wrote:David Huang that is just a beautiful work of art! It looks so cool and not at all like a heater. It looks like a kitchen island/granite countertop for prepping food and whatever else people do in a kitchen. Does it function that way in your home?

Thanks Denise!  Well, I guess it does function like most any counter does around me in that it tends to gather stuff on it!  At the moment it happens to be covered with metalsmithing tools.  It's not uncommon for me to have my sprouting jars setting on the RMH too.  When spring gets closer I also find it's a great space for germinating my seed starts.  The bit of added warmth from the bench seems to help the process.  Then once they sprout I move them out to the greenhouse where they'll get better light.

On days when I'm away from home all day, and thus not burning a fire, the house tends to get pretty cool.  If I know I'll be coming home late on one of these days I often set up a narrow bed with a trifold cushion, sheets and blankets.  Then while the house is cold I get to climb into a wonderfully warm bed to sleep the night away until morning when I can fire up the RMH again to heat the whole house.

In short, while it does take up a lot of space in my living room I have found that it does get lots of use for everything we might use counter tops for as well as a great tool for conducting a gentle heat straight into things, like cold winter bodies.  My girlfriends dog especially loves it when he's visiting in the winter!

I think with the pebble style RMH especially one can easily turn it into a sort of counter space/island sort of thing.  In fact, an adaptation I should probably consider is getting the stone top slabs to overhang more so one could comfortable sit up next to it in a chair with room for feet underneath.

Thomas Rubino, why is the stack of 55 gal drums in your RMH so high?  Your RMH is quite compact compared to most I've seen with very large surface areas where people can sit or sleep where the heat travels along lengths of piping.  I think a compact design would be great as an option for small homes.  I'm just wondering what the RMH possibilities are for smaller spaces?  Do you have any pics of your build?

Thanks for the share Erik

I think you might want to edit access to your files however

clicking the link gave me editing privs

Erik Ven wrote:Hello,
I have built a few of these, but this one is my favorite.
It was an experimental project made of soup cans, rocks and earth (no cement, or added clay) and an old barrel I had found at an abandoned mining site. This winter is the second winter I am using it and it works great.
I might catch some flack for breaking with some traditional rules, (like the short side of the J chamber is not vertical but angled, being too close to the wall etc.) but it's okay. I would really like to know what people think even if some may not see this as a good way to build.
There is one thing I have done differently in the second iteration of this design: the four tunnels create a large enough heat transfer surface so that practically all the heat is extracted from the exhaust gases. Therefore, by the time they hit the external chimney, they are cold and don't create an appropriate updraft. Because of this I needed to stick an exhaust fan on the top of the chimney to create the necessary airflow when there is no wind. When it's windy, it purrs like a big cat even without the fan . So what I have changed in the second one was that I built three tunnels instead of four, to extract less heat.
I live in the middle of the Mojave so I doubt that people would want to drive all the way out here just to see it, but who knows... Plus I'll be happy to share info if anyone is interested.

here is the link to the pics:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13RTBkFCSgosook0U2_wWnM6KUWweEzQ8?usp=share_link

Cheers

Erik

Hi Denise;
That photo is my shop dragon.
My shop is 24 x 32 with 18' ceilings, minimal insulation on the part of the walls, and none in the roof.
The double barrel design with a 7" batch produces quick radiant heat to make the room warmer.
The remainder of that heat fills the brick bell before sinking to floor level and seeking my exhaust chimney.
Those bricks near the top of my bell can reach 300F if I'm running it hard.
This is a perfect design for this building. It can be below zero outside and 50F inside.
Previously it with a stock double barrel stove glowing orange it was only warm 5' from the stove and it would remain close to zero where I was working.
Here are threads on its rebuild.
https://permies.com/t/181421/Batch-box-rebuild
https://permies.com/t/190599/Finishing-touches-Shop-Dragon-rebuild
Then I have my 6" batch with a traditional piped solid mass.
Here is a thread on its rebuild.
https://permies.com/t/187667/Studio-Dragon-Batchbox-Rebuild
And just to round things out here is my Walker riserless core black and white  oven build.
https://permies.com/t/164923/rocket-ovens/Build-Black-White-Rocket-Oven

Hello Fello Permies!

Here is a pic of my Mark III  RMH!  
This third version from the one I originally built and posted on your site! It has been running every cold day for 11 hours a day for the past 3 years. It still uses the original pellet feed from the original “Frankenstove” and will be upgrading it this winter to a larger pellet burn chamber. It burns around 1 pound of wood pellets. Here in the cold and soggy Vancouver Island fall and winter it keeps a 2000 square foot two story home very comfortable. Here, with taxes wood pellets are around )8 / 40 pound bag. So my house is comfortable at a cost of $2.50 a day. The starch is a 4” I.D.  CERAMIC TUBE and is insulated with a mix of homemade water glass and vermiculite. Search “Peter Chaiffeur” on this site for a complete history!  I love this stove and the money it has saved me. Everyone who sees it is in awe of its operation. The photo is from a few years back but I had the bell removed to examine the status of the ceramic core riser and it has held up perfectly.  I still plan on replacing the original pellet feed system and re-incorporate the steam addition to the intake air shortly. Thank you for your continued support and interest! I am getting close to 4,000 views on my original post on the day 1 to present developments of the "Frankenstove and Beyond!

David H. I really enjoyed your post and went to your blog.  It was the highlight of my day reading what you have accomplished.  Thanks for sharing.

christopher kelly wrote:David H. I really enjoyed your post and went to your blog.  It was the highlight of my day reading what you have accomplished.  Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the kind words Christopher.  I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Several years ago I built this tiny 4inch batch box (refractory riser and core) on my patio.
It got a 200 liter barrel and a 2,5m long bell-bench made from hard fired bricks
internal bell dimensions: about 240cm by 33cm by 25 cm,
or in your measurements : 94in long by 13 high by 10 wide.

Loving our modified Walker Continental!

Alex, that is a beaut!

8 inch batchbox.

I’ve been designing my RMH in Shapr3D. The information gets a little overwhelming, so I thought I’d post my progress and get feedback.
TIA