Rocket Mass Heater Builder's Guide - Kickstarter Straw Poll

nancy sutton wrote:I'm assuming this book's Kickstarter is still on the back burner... waiting to 'buy' ;) But, so excited to hear Ernie's walking independently... joy, oh joy!! Redoubling the prayers... or whatever you want to call them :) ox

Last I heard they were considering waiting to do it in the fall when people are interested in warming stuff again. Not entirely sure though.

Gosh.. I hope not. I've been anxiously waiting for it's release since january. Well I guess that may is fast approaching and fall is just around the corner...

I am very interested in the book also. Personally I would like to see the book come out no later than mid-summer if possible. That would give a person time to build their heating system prior to cold weather hitting. The knowledge that would be contained in a book would be very helpful to people (like me) new to the idea of rocket stoves. Sincerely, Jeff

Thanks everyone, for understanding about the dips and swings in our scheduling as we work through everything.
An exciting development: we've been offered a contract by New Society Publishers, and they are OK with us going ahead with the Kickstarter as a way to make author pre-sales. So we can still raise funds this way to support the ongoing research. (It won't make or break the publishing effort, however, but it may affect the size of the initial print run, and of course it has a HUGE effect on how much we as authors can make directly from working on this book for so long.)

The most likely timing would be to launch the Kickstarter Sept. 15-Oct. 15, and the book to come out early in Spring 2016.

Yours,
Erica W

nancy sutton wrote:I'm assuming this book's Kickstarter is still on the back burner... waiting to 'buy' ;) But, so excited to hear Ernie's walking independently... joy, oh joy!! Redoubling the prayers... or whatever you want to call them :) ox

We have been on the front burner for the last month or so... and now the heat is on!
We launched the Kickstarter officially on Friday, and it will run until mid-afternoon (PST) on April 11th.

The response is pretty amazing to watch.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rmhbuildersguide/the-rocket-mass-heater-builders-guide

I'm biting my nails, checking all my numbers, and getting ready to invest some time and commitment in more advertising than I have done yet in our ten years of business so far.
There's a possibility of setting up a KickBooster referral program - would any of you like to try earning 10% on referrals?
I know a lot of Permies are already referring people to this like crazy just out of their sense of its intrinsic importance, but for some people a little cottage-industry residual income can be quite welcome at the end of winter.

The Kickstarter doesn't make or break publication - New Society is already under contract to print it and distribute it - but it could make or break several of our plans for the next few years.

I would love your thoughts on the top priorities and incentives for our stretch goals.

Yours,
Erica

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-erica

Yay, finally someone has one of these going when I'm not poor! Paul always waits till we are on beans and rice!!

Sweet!

Chadwick Holmes wrote:Yay, finally someone has one of these going when I'm not poor! Paul always waits till we are on beans and rice!!

Sweet!

LOL! Glad to hear it. Sheer luck - I intended to do this a whole lot earlier, but this is how it worked out.

-Erica

You just made it past the goal!

Jeffrey Pardo wrote:The 4 DVD set was really good.
Count me in for the Kickstarter on the RMH Builder's Guide.
I'm hoping that there is a section on constructing the switch/flap to direct your exhaust one way or the other.
I'm also hoping that you have a temperature gradient for each part of the RMH system running at max so we know the limits of the system.
Finally, I'm hoping that you provide some guidance to your readers on the different ratings of fire brick so they can source the proper product for their systems [at least until your shipable core becomes the uniform standard...].
Thanks for your dedication and hard work.

Jeffrey Pardo
Abi Gezunt Farm

Thanks Jeffrey!
The bypass is shown in two of our plan sets, but mentioned only in passing in the book.
I would suggest the Digi-Data Patron level, if you like e-Books, or any of the levels which include those rewards. You'll get two illustrated versions of the bypass damper fabrication in both our Daybed 6" and Greenhouse 8" plan sets.

Temperature gradient - This varies a bit with the system construction, and also depends on outside factors like the height of the house and chimney. But I did include spot-readings over time on our Cabin 8" heater, as an example, and the clearance information that we consider safe based on both our own experience, and the masonry heater ASTM standards.

Fire brick: We did discuss temperature ratings, but really, any "fire brick" is going to work for the DIY J-style firebox.
It's only the super-insulated experiments for the shippable core that started melting perlite and doing other fun tricks, pushing temperatures up beyond the ratings for ordinary refractory materials.

And that, in a nutshell, is why the shippable core is not yet ready for prime time. The insulated cores produce temperatures that are literally hotter than lava, with extreme thermal shock, thermal stress, and flame irrigation that cause us serious concerns with material durability. Add to that the goal of keeping the manufactured, delivered price well below other masonry heater kits currently on the market - comparable with the cheapest iron woodstoves which burn cooler and dirtier, but can be made of ordinary metal - and we have ourselves a serious materials-science problem.

Paul will be covering a lot of this in the DVD update series that is still in production. We'll continue to experiment with the available materials. Paul's cob-ish and wood box method is actually closer to the Cob Cottage ideals of low embodied energy and low costs, and has been among the more promising results for durability (ironically, given my ongoing trepidation about the inclusion of wood in a structural capacity).

But I think for the most durable, most energy-efficient, and most user-friendly results, the brick J-style is still the best DIY project for your money.
If you can spend a few hundred extra to impress people who think it's not a stove without metal-and-glass door, batch boxes are another option (and Peter did let us include his dimensional tables, in both Imperial and Metric).

We will keep working on the smaller-scale and plug-and-play options. Maybe we'll see a shippable core soon. Maybe we'll see a kit that makes it easy to build or pour your own heater around waxed-cardboard forms.

Which reminds me... I have a few questions for you all.

-Erica

STRETCH GOALS STRAW POLL / BRAINSTORM:

You are cordially invited to think up things for Erica and Ernie to do.
(To improve our Kickstarter increase rates.)

I started to write a bunch of my existing ideas, then remembered that brainstorming is easier with just a question, not example answers.

So:
What would you LOVE to see us offer on our Kickstarter?

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After you've thought about that for a minute, and written down whatever comes to mind, then consider:

What would it be worth?

We can figure out the total, gross dollar amounts later - just give me your gut response like "I would pledge another $XX to see this happen" or "I can think of YYY other people who I would tell to sign up, in that case."

If the answer is "It would be cool, but wouldn't really change my pledge," then it might be more of a bonus item to put in the updates or something. Still useful info - please don't delete those ideas, keep 'em coming!