Nick Chomey

I'm thinking of doing something like this with U-blocks (obviously many more). The hollow channel should somewhat simulate a stratification chamber. I can seal the top with blocks lying on their side - there's some than are thinner than the ones shown. And on the "ledge" on the sides I can just put bricks or whatever. Maybe plywood on top of it all. I can make a small gap somewhere at the bottom to let the colder air exhaust out.

Thanks, good ideas. The split drum with blocks in the middle for support could work. I'll give it all a good think and report back with whatever I end up making. I suspect I'll end up just trying the double stacked block bench like was suggested earlier in this thread. Seems dead-simple, cheap and sturdy

thomas rubino wrote:Hey Nick;
Those light pumice bricks are true cinder blocks, the others are concrete blocks.
The concrete blocks will work as a tunnel through the mass.
You could forego the tunnels altogether and create a bell/bench instead.
As you are in Guatemala rather than Montana or Alaska you can experiment much easier than us folks up in the snow country.

Thanks for the ideas Thomas!

I'm familiar with the stratification bell/bench concept where the hot air fills a large cavity and the coldest air vents out of the bottom. Is that what you mean? If so, how would you go about making it with blocks (no big slabs on top)? I'd like to keep the build as simple and cheap as possible, both for my own somewhat temporary use but moreso so that I can share the design with people here who have very limited resources and skills. Ideally I can just cover the seams in the blocks with some clay mud so that gas doesn't escape into the room.

Also, i doesn't need to be all that large given that it doesn't get THAT cold here (though it has been approaching freezing in the past few nights, but is quite comfortable during the day). I just want to have a decently warm bench to sit at while on my computer or eating, which will also hold some heat til the morning

Thanks!

Hey there, I just had this exact same idea as a cheap, easy way to make a somewhat temporary heated bench. Particularly the double-stacked version.

Did anyone try this out? If not, I may be the guinea pig. Cinder blocks are ubiquitous where I live (Guatemala) though there's two varieties - ones made with solid/heavy stones and others made with volcanic pumice rock. The pumice are much lighter and cheaper, but also are somewhat insulative (they work well for a cheap L shaped rocket cookstove) so they may not heat up all that fast/efficiently.