Has anyone designed/built a rocket mass heater that heats water, has a stovetop and oven, and warms the room with whatever heat is left? I'm looking for the best-ever rocket stove! ;)
Beau Davidson wrote:The people who really know about Rocket Mass Heaters believe they can solve a huge number of global problems. The problem is - not enough people know them well enough to speak with authority, and there a heaps of misconceptions. We aim to change that - but how?
The goal is to develop a giant FAQ for Rocket Mass Heaters. In so doing, we aim to dispel these misconceptions, paint a picture of all that Rocket Mass Heaters offer to individuals and the world, and give away this invaluable knowledge.
We have a good start here: https://richsoil.com/wood-heat.jsp#faq. Are there questions you would add? If so, post them below, s'il vous plaît.
An anecdote to provide some framework, and food-for-thought:
My Marketing Experience with Red Bull Energy Drink, as an analogy to the challenges and possible solutions we face with Rocket Mass Heaters.
In a former season of life, I worked for the energy drink Red Bull. I was one of those college kids that drove around town in a mini cooper with a giant can on top. (Don't judge. It paid well for a flexible college gig and let me quit my job at Wal-Mart. Also note, most of these methods are similar to, or even identical to commonly employed evangelistic tactics. Don't go cider-press on me with this point, just food for thought. Evangelism, by definition, is "the spreading of good news by public declaration or personal witness," and I contend that this is applicable for Rocket Mass Heaters - way more so than energy drinks, at least.)
What was interesting about the Red Bull gig (it wasn't the drink - I never drank it) was the methodology and the training we went through to effectively communicate about the product. Once a week, the whole guerilla marketing team (we were called the "wing squad") gathered and did role-playing exercises so we could practice communicating an internalized script, regardless of the context or the person we were talking to.
The goals of these interactions were simple:
1) Dispel Myths and Common Misconceptions about the product.
2) Highlight the Virtues of the product, particularly those that are most relevant to the given situation
3) Provide an Experience with the product, as a gift.
1) Dispel Myths and Common Misconceptions
For Red Bull, there was one primary myth. Namely, that it was an alcoholic beverage, due to its prevalence in the bar scene.
Therefore, near the beginning of each conversation, we would ask if people had heard of Red Bull, and if so, what they thought of it. Many would say "isn't that beer?" Tee-up for, "well, actually, no. It's an energy drink."
For Rocket Mass Heaters, there are many myths and misconceptions.
So we could perhaps start like we did with Red Bull. "Have you heard of Rocket Mass Heaters?" And, if so, "What is your impression?" That will likely tell us what we need to know to dispel any misconceptions.
It has to do with rockets. Actually no, the name "rocket" is derived from the whooshing sound of the incredible draft.
They aren't reliable. Actually, due to the ease of construction of the J-Tube style RMH and the incredibly clean burn, they are among the easiest-to-operate, safest, and most reliable wood-burning stoves in existence.
They're hard to build. You can build them in a couple days with a small crew, or hire an experienced builder - maybe for less than the cost of conventional heating installation
You can't build one in a city. Not only are codes coming around, but there are also now multiple UL-certified Rocket Stoves on the market that can be purchased and delivered, ready-to-install.
You can't build one in a rental. The Liberator and the Pebble Style RMH are just two examples of RMH systems that are easy to install AND uninstall, should the need ever arise.
You can't build one in a conventional home. There are RMH systems suitable for any and all weight limitations and building systems.
Aesthetic misconceptions (i.e. cob, barrel, footprint) RMH don't have to use barrels, or cob. Some of them are simply beautiful, and some of them are hardly noticeable in the room at all.
The list goes on.
2) Highlight the Virtues of the product, particularly those that are most relevant to the given situation
For Red Bull, we had an easily memorizable bullet list. It has been 20 years, and I still remember them! If I could take that brain-space back, I would. But it goes to show you how rehearsing these things works, from a psychological perspective.
About the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffeeLess sugar than a cup of cheeriosSupplies Taurine, a non-essential amino acid that the body can't produce (forget that it's not actually an amino acid, but an organic compound) responsible for muscle recovery and the elimination of lactic acid
For Rocket Mass Heaters, the virtues are incredibly well-documented and compelling.
Carbon neutral or negative Far smaller carbon footprint than electric, natural gas, or other wood stoves. When used in conjunction with proper woodlot management, can represent a truly carbon-negative home-heat solution.
Cheaper to operate than any other form of conventional home heat Some people use just 10% the amount of wood that they used to use with their "high efficiency" wood stoves. Some people heat their home with sticks that fall out of their trees. Some people heat their homes with junk mail and amazon boxes.
Cleaner burning and safer than any other wood stoveCheaper to install than other home heat systems
et cetera
3) Provide an Experience with the product, as a gift.
For Red Bull, we'd give the person a can at the end of our interaction. Interestingly, we were very intentional to never use the word "free," but rather "gift," in order to communicate the value of the item given. We would give them a chance to respond, and then ask them for a lead, or a reference to someone they know personally who could use the same gift. They would call their friend and tell them they were sending the wing squad to them with a gift. Instant raport and credibility with audience #2!
For Rocket Mass Heaters, this experiential component is more difficult to attain, but perhaps more crucial for conversion.
We need to get folks' bodies onto the mass in the dead of winter to truly communicate the experience.
We need physical representations of various fuels that provide winter heat:
a massive pile of coal representing electric and, well, coalI don't know, uranium and a tumor or something, representing nucleara massive pile of plastic and gasoline jugs representing even "renewable" electric like solar and winda massive stack of firewood for a conventional wood stovea teeny-tiny, neatly stacked half-cord of kindling, and/or a pallet of waste paper, representing the fuel required to operate a RMH for 1 cold winter Perhaps we should aim to document the installation and usage of a dozen or a hundred in every major cold and temperate-climate municipality in the world so people can start to experience them first-hand.
With this in mind,
Considering the Myths and Misconceptions facing Rocket Mass Heaters,
Bearing in mind their Virtues in our modern context
And the desire to provide people the gift of a RMH Experience
What do you feel should populate this Ultimate Rocket Mass Heater FAQ?
