Hi everyone,
This is my first post as a member of these forums. I was so happy when i saw the terms and conditions at the registering page which just said:
BE NICE
I AGREE ( tick )
Its nice to have things simplified and actually relevant for once.
So. Im really excited about these Rocket Stoves, Masonry Ovens etc.. Im from New Zealand and live in an area probably similar in climate (and earthquakes!) to northern California, Southern Oregon. We have what i would consider poor house building techniques which are overly complicated, highly standardised wood-based construction with nationwide problems of dampness, very poor insulation - not in my particular area as it is warmer (north east coast) Where a gust of wind would cause the house to drop considerably in temperature. And people trying to airtight their homes which in turn wastes alot of money on regulation, product marketing BS and causes dampness problems which starts the whole cycle again - see 'living in plastic bag' in above post. But frankly after living in Germany with the amazing building techniques there i am disappointed in my countries housing.
In germany i came across a 400 year old (older than my country!) farm house with a masonry oven which kept a huge house warm with just a small fire inside a large tiled oven set in the centre of the house. So now im researching that.
What i would love opinions on is this...
I am building a Yurt, about 4.5 meters wide (about 14 feet) and i would like to put in a Rocket stove, with some kind of thermal mass to warm it up in winter (no snowy winters here). However the heat created by the initial burning and the metal drum may be too hot for the small yurt and be hazardous to the fabric walls. So i was thinking of putting the fire and everything outside close to the yurt but far enough away as not to be a fire hazard (perhaps designing it as an outdoor cooking spot - pizza oven?) and the pipe and thermal mass inside the yurt as a bed base, or bench, or simply a brick/plaster structure with the chimney bends inside it like the butt-warmer, then eventually going up to a chimney.
What sort of things should i consider for this to work?
e.g. the distance from initial fire to thermal mass structure?
Heat loss due to complication in design (distance, length, pizza oven/bbq too big and not contained heat?)
Love the forum, the Cob houses, the enthusiasm and the info!
Phill
www.lafermemusicale.wordpress.com - for yurt pics so far.
