inilegna McCoy

Yeah, they also live in Australia where it's likely that with their climate water is going to heat much faster anyways. How many rocket water heaters have you built or had direct experience with (particularly in cold climates)? I am eager to construct one within in the next year here in zone 5 Michigan.

So you are the Ernie in Paul's videos I assume? I have some questions about the greenhouse you were building with the rocket mass heater in the bed... Will one fire create enough heat to keep the ambient temperature in the bed above, say, 40 degrees Fahrenheit through a night in the middle of a zone 5/6 winter? I'm really intrigued by that design and want to learn more about what sort of advantages it has on season extension.

If you read through their blog post they mention that they get hot water in a few minutes of igniting the water heater, using a handful of Acacia twigs. They also mention the water heater has a pressure release valve built into it (most newer models do, I think) so there is no worry for explosion. From my research this system looks to be the most straight-forward and effective that I've seen.

So I was watching Paul's video on heating water with a rocket stove and he mentions that they recommend not teaching anyone how to heat water because of the danger of blowing yourself or your house up... That intrigued me and had me track down a system our friends at Milkwood Permaculture put together on their farm. Check it out and offer up some feedback on how they designed it and the safety of that system:

-Flickr Photo Series: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cicada/sets/72157613058564419/
-Blog Post and Diagrams: http://www.milkwood.net/content/view/80/1

Cheers,