Eric Hanson

18650 is a standard in batteries that show the size and general shape.

The 0 indicates a round cell

18 refers to 18mm, the cell diameter

65 = the cell height—65mm


18650 cells are the most common type of cell used in small battery packs.




Eric

Timothy,

My thoughts are that the stubble should be chopped and dropped.  If you are going for soil improvement, my thoughts are that the soil will improve best & fastest if that stubble has as much ground contact as possible.  I would want all those soil microbes to get to work in the stubble ASAP, but that is harder when the soil contact is minimized.  

So I vote CHOP!  And if you can, is there anything else (leaves, grass etc.) that you can pile on with them?  I would make a blanket of slowly decomposing organic matter.


Eric

WOW!  Thanks guys!!  That is exactly what I was looking for........


Anne-was that picture a video capture from a YouTube video?  I am certain that I have seen the casserole lid heater on a YouTube video.  And the lid was the work of genius for its pure simplicity.  Also, I just love the beauty of that stove.


Thomas--Yes exactly!  I love the way you worked a wood stove (especially the glass front) into the overall design of a mass heater.  It looks amazing.

Fox James---You might have produced the single most visually interesting rocket mass heater I have seen on any picture or video.  I love the glass front, but the glass viewport on the top--that is beyond words.  And incorporating a mirror for observation, WOW!  I would love to see that in action on a long, cold winter night.  I bet it is just a wonderful thing to see and feel in action.


Thanks everyone!!

Eric

Yes, fire is a nurturing phenomenon--when done safely of course.  I have a gas fireplace, and while I love the heat, convenience, and especially the way that the slow flames illuminate a dark room during a winter night, it is gas and sometimes I really miss the sound, popping, crackling and gentle smell of a wood fire burning.



Eric

Bogdan,

Nice design.  I admire and applaud your resourcefulness.  I don't doubt that you are going to make this work.



I think that this thread has given you a lot of very good advice.  For my part, I agree that covering (almost burying) the whole assembly of internal stove components in clay is the right idea.  Partly to hold all those parts together, partly to seal any potential air leaks, and especially to get some good mass around the stove to store heat!


For what it is worth I tried a very simplified design of a biochar kiln that basically works on the same principles,  You can find it HERE:

https://permies.com/t/72466/Cheap-easy-mini-homemade-biochar


My little setup was just to see if I could in fact make biochar--and it worked flawlessly, if on an extremely small scale.  Obviously, your plan is for heat, but I don't see any reason that it would not work with maybe just a little adjustment.  For whatever it is worth, my kiln did not work very well on the first attempt,  I needed to drastically improve the airflow.  I don't this this is a problem for you, but I am merely expressing the warning to expect the unexpected.

And in case I have not already mentioned it, I just love that you are making this from spare parts laying around.  That part has to be my favorite--that you had to use your ingenuity.



Good luck and please let us know how things work out!

Slava Ukraini


Eric

Tereza,

Yep, your particular usage sounds about perfect for your chipping needs.  And as you already stated, scale is key.



Eric

This might be an out-there  question, but please try to hear me out.

Whenever I see RMH designs, they get increasingly better at turning a small pile of stick into a lot of heat that is stored and then gradually released over time.  GREAT!  I love the ever-increasing efficiency--this especially hits me hard as I just find it so difficult to cut down a tree.  An RMH means that I might be able to heat my house with deadfall alone.  And heat is good in the winter!


But there is a real part of me that needs to not just feel the heat from a fire, but also see the flames of a fire.  Watching fire burn (in a fireplace, woodstove, somewhere safe!) is also good for my mental health.  I find the gentle flames licking upwards soothing.  And I can remember how long the Christmas nights were at my grandparents farm in Minnesota.  Seeing fire, listening to fire, feeling its warmth drew people around and we just all talked late into the night.

So with that in mind, is there a way to construct a RMH that could let one actually see the flames?  Maybe it could be adjusted so that it had a "see fire burn" setting and a "maximum efficiency" setting?

I am sure that I am not the first person to ask this question before, but I have seen nothing about its.


Thoughts?



Eric

Timothy,

Yes!  Preparation is key.  I am just starting my next chipping project and that means I am just starting to make some piles relatively close to where I want to place the chips.

My neighbor and I have a massive trimming project that hopefully we will start in early 2026.

In the meantime, I am doing everything I can to get my next beds prepped.



Eric

This afternoon my neighbor and I laid down a bunch of cardboard left in my garage (thank you Amazon?).  According to my diagram there are six beds—and we did measure out six beds yesterday.  But truthfully, I will be happy if I get use of three 6x16’ beds this spring & summer.  At the moment, three beds are covered in cardboard to serve as an initial weed barrier.  The cardboard is held in place by a bunch of small branches that came from my poor elm tree that died in a severe ice storm last winter.

When the time comes, those branches will be lifted off and chipped up, along with a LOT of additional wood.  The chips of course will be laid right back down in the raised garden beds.

I will update when I get another day without rain, but rain is in the forecast for the next several days.





Eric

Its hard to imagine how adding any compost will possibly cause harm to the soil.


I have a thought for some optimal results though.  

If you are making/amending beds now, I suggest making a compost pile on top of one (or more) of the beds.  The reason:  as the compost pile breaks down, water and gravity will inevitably drag all that good material--and much more importantly the microbes--right into the soil beneath.  I have seen places that have had compost piles on top of them in previous seasons and those spots are amazingly fertile.  In fact, I have made unintentional (and very poor quality) compost piles.  The poor quality made no difference as the soil beneath was magically fertile for years afterwards.  A huge portion of this fertility lay not in the chemistry that soaks down but all the microbes that wash in.  It is truly amazing.  And it is too bad that most compost piles sit in unused spots behind a shed!


Eric