North-East and Mid-Atlantic Rocket Mass Heaters

Hey all
I thought I'd start a thread at the suggestion of Erica Wisner for those of us in the mid Atlantic region that are soon to be working on an RMH project this year...

I would love to say my project will be going on this year, but it's looking like I'll be most likely be building in 2018. Having said that, I'd love to help on a project if it wasn't too far away. (We are located in north east West Virginia)

Please feel free to add your project to this thread!!!

We hosted Ernie & Erica for a workshop in April 2015 (has it been almost 2 years already?) and our RMH is - of course - working perfectly!  I love to show it off but if you'd like to come you do need to plan ahead because I'm not always online.  We are at Sterling, New York.  We discovered a great source for insulation blanket, fire brick and clay in Syracuse, New York, too!

Hi everyone,

We're in northern Vermont.  We've been interested in RMH for a few years now and this summer we're building a new house that we think will have an RMH as its primary heat source.  We only have a very general plan for the RMH so far.  Lack of local expertise (including ourselves!) is a big challenge.  Related to that, sorting through existing information and trying to determine what is climate-appropriate and what is not has been tricky.  We're still trying to decide between 6" and 8", whether to try to have a batch burn box, and if/how masonry can be used in place of the more common oil drum.

I'm excited to hear what other people in New England have done or are planning to do.

I mostly finished my RMH last fall and have been heating successfully with it all winter. It is a 7 1/2" J-tube in a brick and cob bell. I still have a second bench-style bell to build this summer, and would welcome visitors or helpers at coordinated times. I am near Binghamton, NY, convenient to I-81, I-86 and I-88.

Hi all,
First let me thank Erica for introducing me to fellow RMH enthusiasts here on the east coast. I am not a newbie to permaculture, but I am to Paul's Permies website and his wonderful online community.

I am a small scale Market Farmer leaning toward regenerative agriculture.  My goal is to have a natural built greenhouse with a RMH by the 2018 fall shoulder season and be comfortable with it for spring 2019.  I am located in north central Connecticut.  

I would LOVE to see and feel a RMH!  Glenn, you are about four hours west of me.  My brother lives near you and I plan to visit him in early August.  Maybe I can coordinate with you for my husband and I to stop by and check out your stove?    Jean-Paul, I too think that local expertise is a challenge.  I am hoping to find out that someone within two hours of us are building a RMH this summer that we can visit and possibly help with.  Valerie, I would really like to see and feel your stove, but you are pretty far from me.

Thanks everyone for posting.  Other farmers in my area think I am insane when I talk about my goals to be not only be sustainable in my life and farming practices but be regenerative.  It's so refreshing to know there are other like-minded Yankees.

Hope to hear more from you A out your projects and experiences and from other people to!
Deborah

I'm going to be away for the first half of August, but if you can arrange a visit after that, I would be happy to show you my setup. I helped a friend in western Massachusetts build a rocket hot tub heater, and he might be willing to discuss it with you. He also has a straw bale house, in case you are interested in that.

Jean-Paul, unless you are planning a very small house, I would advise an 8" system to be sure of having sufficient capacity. A 6" batch box system would deliver heat fast enough that it might be sufficient. Using masonry instead of the barrel moves the system to more of a true bell, which depends more on a good chimney for draft than the traditional RMH barrel "pump". My J-tube and bell system is documented here.

Anyone feel experienced enough at this to present a workshop? and in Spanish as well as English? Lawrence Mass. has suffered a natural gas explosion that killed one and hospitalized a dozen.  From what I gather, hundreds are without heat, and the National Guard is handing out space heaters (convection).  The mayor himself is without gas, and seems very dedicated to this community.  I think he'd be willing to fight for RMH's there.  I think technically they're not illegal, but an inspector wouldn't pass them because there's a lack of knowledge.  With the mayor's voice supporting it (informed support) it could make this alternative more widely available, and be affordable for those with the least.  Thanks!

I've built several RMHs, rocket stoves and ovens, and would be happy to do a workshop. I can't help with Spanish, though. What sort of time frame are you thinking of? I have an emergency house renovation project going right now.

Glenn,

I'm in Cazenovia and would like to visit, and/or attend a workshop if you ever have one.

Thoughts for those having a difficult time in Mass.

K