Sara Hartwin

Progress report:
Videos from last 11 pages of forum have been added to the database (currently pages 76-86).

Rocket Mass Heaters Forum Video Database

The videos here have all been posted to the Rocket Mass Heaters forum at some point.
If you find videos posted in this forum that are not yet listed in the table, feel free to add them. There's information on how to do that in the first reply to this post.
This is an ongoing project. Watch for progress updates in future replies to this post.

New	Video Link	Video Length	Thread Link	Channel	Description	Year Created
	greenhouse construction + rocket mass heater how to tutorial (YouTube)	8:55	rocket mass heater in greenhouse	paul wheaton	RMH being built for greenhouse use	2010
	underfloor heating system with a rocket mass heater (YouTube)	2:21	RMH in a Pier and Beam House rocket stove to heat earthen floor? Bypass valve on a Rocket Mass Heater - send heat to greenhouse? Another Bypass Valve question!	paul wheaton	Erica Wisner shows RMH designed for underfloor heat with a heat bypass valve built in	2010
New	wood burning stoves - super efficient rocket mass heater (YouTube)	6:15	Rocket Stove in Alaska??? Ernie and Erica workshop updates two rocket mass heater workshops in October 2013	paul wheaton	Ernie and Erica Wisner talk about their latest RMH: very cold temps but warm inside	2012
	wood stove vs. rocket mass heater (YouTube)	1:21	rocket mass heater uses less wood than a wood stove	paul wheaton	Ernie Wisner compares RMH to wood stove	2010
	rocket mass heater build and burn (YouTube)	3:28	Pretty Rocket Mass heaters? rocket mass heater project	paul wheaton	RMH w/alternate thermal mass material and wood casing	2010
	rocket flames - rocket mass heater barrel prep (YouTube)	2:01	Read through the forum and watched a bunch of videos... still looking for help... two rocket mass heater workshops in October 2013	paul wheaton	using paper mache and clay to contain paint being burned off the barrel before construction	2010
	rocket mass heater movie_0002.wmv (YouTube)	9:55	rocket mass heater project	kelly ware	rocket mass heater demo build in 1 hour by paul wheaton and crew	2011
	Clean, Cool Exhaust from a Rocket Mass Heater (YouTube)	1:56	rocket mass heater project rocket stove exhaust: water, carbon dioxide, and what else?	paul wheaton	demonstrating minimal heat and smoke from RMH exhaust	2011
	portable rocket mass heater / free cycles missoula (YouTube)	10:36	rocket mass heater project Rocket mass heater for a large warehouse?	paul wheaton	build info and process for portable RMH	2011
	Rocket Mass Heater Stove Wood Refractory Masonry Hermon Heater (YouTube)	2:40	Rocket Stoves Heater/ Outdoor furnace no metal rmh? Help needed to prepare to build a small RMH for a garage/shop.	Lars Mith	All-Brick Rocket Heater	2008
	The principles of a rocket stove and how to build one. (YouTube)	4:58	Cast a RMH burn chamber using Vermiculite?	starman2765	how rocket stoves work and how they're built	2008
	rocket stove mass heater (YouTube)	2:24	Using pryrex in a RMH?	iendhtj kiend	first burning of a rocket mass heater	2009
	Rocket Stove Timelapse (YouTube)	1:40	Rocket mass stove time lapse	C. Milton Dixon	permie group meets up to build rocket stove	2011
New	Rocket Mass Heater (YouTube)	2:16	Traditionalist	ryo7772	close-up of efficient RMH burn in action	2011
	Rocket Mass Heater - On Steroids (YouTube)	7:27	Rocket Stove and Hydroponics	Bigelow Brook Farm (Web4Deb)	final pre-build design for aquaponics system RMH	2012
	Aprovecho Rocket Bread Oven (YouTube)	4:13	The DRAGON in MY Rocket Stove, is bigger than the Dragon in your stove !	Aprovecho Research	demonstration of prototype biomass bread oven using rocket stove principles	2012
	Aprovecho Gasifier Stove (YouTube)	4:28	The DRAGON in MY Rocket Stove, is bigger than the Dragon in your stove !	Aprovecho Research	demonstration of gasifier stove cooking 60 liter pot of food using goat dung, & pinecones for fuel	2012
	MOV00457 (YouTube)	0:32	Thoughts on wall for thermal mass instead of a bench	Satamax	batch rocket attempt	2012
	"Dragon Monster" Rocket Stove Mass Heater (YouTube)	10:26	The Dragon Monster Rocket Stove	New School Permaculture	1 week construction of rocket stove with heated bench during permaculture internship	2012
New	Rocket Stove Outdoor System: BBQ, Oven, Boiler, Mass Heater, Firepit (YouTube)	4:36	incorporating a rocket mass stove into an outdoor cooking area	broaudio	outdoor RMH system build in progress	2012
New	How to make a brick rocket stove for $6.08 (YouTube)	4:11	What did I do wrong? Won't Draft???	Survival Common Sense	Build a stack-bricked rocket stove to better understand how they draw.	2012
	Steel Rocket Mass Heater (YouTube)	3:49	My steel mass rocket heater	68IIIbuggy	steel-bodied RMH in a house	2013
	Pellet Feeder for Rocket Heater - New & Better Design (YouTube)	6:01	Rocket Mass Heater with Aquaponics pond RMH to heat greenhouse and pond	Bigelow Brook Farm (Web4Deb)	updates to RMH for aquaponic system	2013
	Batch Box Rocket Stove 07 (YouTube)	0:34	Vertical Storage Anyone?	Peter van den Berg	first full run of experimental batch box rocket stove, with gas analyzer computerized testing	2013
	Rocket mass heater for big shop (YouTube)	8:23	batch rmh for larger building rocket stove mass heater and natural gas chimney	michael egan	RMH burns 40 lbs of wood	2013
	MVI0320 (YouTube)	9:59	batch rmh for larger building	michael egan	demo of how a tall chimney is preheated using a cleanout access, plus construction details	2013
	RocketRusa (Vimeo)	4:13	time-lapse of russian rocket build	La Estacion Permacultural	time-lapse video of Russian rocket build in Argentina	2013
	Batch box rocket stove 08 (YouTube)	0:43	Thoughts on wall for thermal mass instead of a bench Traditionalist	Peter van den Berg	last part of first full run of experimental batch box	2013
New	Rocket Stove Oven, Firepit, BBQ and Half Barrel System Update  (YouTube)	4:16	running a Rocket mass heater	broaudio	general overview of versatile half barrel outdoor rocket bench, stove, & oven system	2013
New	mini rocket mass heater (YouTube)	3:23	New to rocket stoves. Mass Heaters without the mass?	Chris Burge	mini RMH heats room faster; central heating system shuts off early	2013
New	Rocket Mass Heaters Instructional DVD (YouTube)	2:24	Rocket Mass Heaters DVD from VillageVideo.org	Village Video	intro to the RMH concept and Erica & Ernie's instructional DVD	2013
New	helix  (YouTube)	:30	Dragon Heater - Helix Burn	Dragon Heaters	horizontal batch box feed with a glass door: RMH burn in action	2013
	CLAY POT with TEA LIGHTS Room Heating 4HR DIY Test (YouTube)	5:00	Simple 8'X6' greenhouse mass heater (no metal preferably)	Gem Webb	clay pot and tea lights heater test	2014
	COMPLETED! Family Builds a Dragon Rocket Stove Mass Heater  Full Version Marathon Movie (YouTube)	47:24	Vertical Dragon	mylittlehomestead	RMH project start to finish	2017
	Building our batch box rocket mass heater (YouTube)	3:52	Batch box Metal grate life expectancy.	Nimela	batch box 2-bell RMH build	2017
	Rocket Mass Heater Bells and Benches Discussion (YouTube)	22:32	Round Rmh	broaudio	RMH construction and concepts discussion	2017
	Rocket Mass Heater from Repurposed Materials. DIY	8:43	Rocket Stoves	MrPinkBuildsIt	demo and explanation of home-built, wood pellet-fed, bell-mass rocket stove with 4-inch riser heating a greenhouse	2026

Skill expansion!
I came across this in one of permies' fabulous pocket-discussion threads.
This tip is from a YouTube video posted to that thread.

I expect to be handsewing more in the future. Concepts like this help me shift my thinking from "which hand stitch imitates the machine stitch the closest" to "which hand stitch gets me the best result for a given construction element".
With darts, I would have said a running backstitch is most like my machine's straight stitch - which is what I would have used to machine sew a dart. But I think a ladder stitch probably gets me more control and a straighter line.

So it's not just about pattern matching, but how different stitches manipulate the seams, and how to apply that to get different results.

Ooh, I recognize rsync from previous research! And Timeshift sounds familiar, too...

Aaron Pate wrote:Doesn't seem so weird once I wrapped my head around it.

I think this is the sticking point for me. I don't understand yet what I'm telling rsync to do, so I don't trust it. Sounds like I can learn, though. Or at least learn enough to be comfortable using it. (Maybe this in-depth guide from LinuxCapable will help?)

Oh, hey, looks like TimeShift does indeed work on Fedora: FOSS Linux has an updated guide for installing and using it. That's hopeful.

Thanks, Aaron!

This is super helpful, thanks to you both.

I'm really enjoying my Linux OS experience with Fedora and GNOME so far. Fedora seems well-supported and stable, with active development. I'm running it on an older machine with no issues.
For me it's a positive that GNOME looks and behaves differently than Windows desktop. For some people that's a turnoff, and Linux Mint or something with KDE Plasma might look more familiar.
I believe GNOME can be tweaked to include a dock (making it more Mac OS-like), but I prefer so far to run it mostly as designed.

I go into more detail in a permies thread over here, but briefly, from these lists, I use:
hardened Firefox w/uBlock Origin (general browsing)
Brave Browser set on aggressive blocking (purchases, Big Tech log-ins)
DuckDuckGo
Proton Mail
GIMP and Inkscape
LibreOffice
VLC media player


I'm still struggling to find a good (relatively easy, simple) way to run data backups on Fedora. I use Pika Backup currently for file backup (documents and photos), but I haven't figured out a good system backup yet. Can anyone point me to something? I'm on a laptop so I don't need an automated/scheduled program. Just something to run manually as needed. I back up to local external hard drives only; no cloud storage. I consider myself a "normie" as far as tech goes, with a light dusting of "not afraid to mess about in the command line if it's relatively low-risk". Any recommendations?

First, a super-helpful permies resource thread! At least two links (so far) to lists of free, open-source software and privacy-respecting software and services.

Two-year report (summer 2026)

I switched from Windows to Fedora Workstation (GNOME desktop environment) last year. Love it so far!
It lets me keep my workflows separate and decluttered.

KeePassXC and its browser extension manages passwords on my laptop. Impressions: robust, powerful, easy to use. Probably am not utilizing it to full potential.
Strongbox handles passwords on my phone.

I pay for Proton Mail, mostly so I can have access to some Proton Pass services. It is so worth it to me. Encrypted emails, aliases, multiple addresses to send from so I don't have to give out my main account address - I feel I'm getting big value for my money.
I fully expect to expand my use of the Proton suite of services in the future.

I browse the internet in a somewhat-hardened Firefox.
If I need to log in to any Big Tech accounts, or shop and pay for something, I use Brave browser (aggressive blocking), choosing a profile specific to what I'm doing (shopping, YouTube/Google, Facebook).

uBlock Origin (medium mode) in Firefox continues to perform well. I understand it's no longer available as a full version in Brave (or other Chrome-based browsers).

I search with DuckDuckGo. I don't love it but I like it way better than Big Tech options. Nor do I have time these days to spend researching and experimenting. I accept DDG as the best for me, right now.
Partly that is DDG, but mostly I'm frustrated by wading through AI-generated results. A sometimes-useful workaround: restricting my results to those published before 2020. Not a perfect solution.
I like that Duck search settings are so tweakable; however I prefer Firefox to forget all the cookies. So I think my DDG settings get forgotten too, and I'm not prepared to open the cookie flow just for Duck.

I discriminate between which Free, Open-Source Software I aquire. I favor actively maintained/updated options, and Fedora-verified ones. A few favorites, so far: LibreOffice, GIMP, Inkspace, WINE (from Fedora repositories, using Terminal), Planify, Progress, VLC (media player), and Pika Backup.
I'm familiar with Audacity (audio manipulation) and will probably get it at some point but don't need it currently.

I still have my old laptop running Windows 10. I turn it on rarely. I keep it away from the internet. I run one Windows-based program in WINE (e-Sword). It's not perfectly smooth, and I may keep the Windows laptop solely for that use. Undecided so far.

I think my biggest weakness right now is that I visit Kongregate regularly to play free online games. I'm not a gamer; this habit helps me wind down in the evenings. I haven't found a substitute yet. I do this in hardened Firefox with uBlock Origin running on medium mode. I don't have an account there; I don't log in.
I'm not sure how serious I should be (from a privacy/security perspective) about changing this habit.
Can anyone tell me?

I have more to do but switching to Fedora was a major step forward. I'm happy with the progress I've made, and am content to tread water at this level for a bit. I still am working out some things in Linux (haven't found a backup system to satisfy me yet) and I'm still getting used to using Terminal. Weaning off Gmail is the ongoing next big task, but there's no set deadline for that yet.

Rich Aylesbury said

"Plasters do need to do a bit more than just look good. They're not just a decorative finish to the room; they also help to regulate the internal environment."

Takeaways to entice you to watch
Vapor permeability! Capillarity! Hygroscopic! Durability! Alkalinity! Lime plaster has all that, and this video explains it wonderfully. There's even a helpful spectrum.
Did you know gypsum plaster is salt-sensitive? And therefore it reacts with paints over time?

Structures must withstand wind-driven precipitation, freeze/thaw cycles, maybe movement and structure flex.
This of course begs the question - it does! really! -
Would you rather wear a woolen overcoat or a plastic bag in damp weather?



This is it, y'all - the kernel that's got lime tripping all my nerd triggers.
Feel free to be amused at my expense (I am! ) while I attempt to explain my over-abundant excitement:

Here we have a single construction component that, once installed, will interact with its environment to make me more comfortable for longer inside my home.
No blower motors.
No duct work.
No moving parts.
No switches.
No noise.

Just one thing -
one material
one component
that sits there (for years!)
silently improving my life
SIMPLY
because of its chemical and physical properties.

Aaaaand... people knew this a very, very long time ago.

Wow.

So now my mind explores:
What other traditional or natural or historical construction components and concepts are available to me which will similarly make my dream castles more luxurious for longer? And is there anything even better than lime?

Note: I picked on modern HVAC systems merely to contrast simplicity versus complexity. Probably the "simplicity" of lime is relative, too - given difficulty of installation, time to dry, maintenance, and probably other ways I'm still ignorant of.
I don't think that lime is a 1:1 substitute for heating/cooling systems. But maybe utilizing it (or other materials) would help me simplify those systems, or decrease my dependence on them.

Welcome to permies, Ti!
I hope Nick's recipe works for you.

I hope someone familiar with pewter work can chime in! I have no experience with it.
The times I've encountered the various JB weld products (helping husband on various repair projects), I seem to remember some pretty strong vapors/odors. Probably it depends on which of their products you're using, and the maturity of your students. I personally would be pretty hesitant to let them handle most of those products (especially before they've set). I think some of their stuff starts out putty-like, and some is more liquid glue-like.

This is not historically accurate experience, but I'll share just in case this sparks something for you, or for future seal-makers:
Several years ago I made some seals out of air-dry clay. They weren't medieval by any means, but they were functional. I rolled them into rough cylinders to make double-ended seals. About 2 1/2 to 3 inches long, as big around as a quarter or a bit smaller. They became their own handle. Since I stored them in a pouch, I didn't think about sculpting loops - but you probably could.

I carved some designs myself (directly into the clay), but what I liked best was pressing some interesting charms and buttons into the clay to make an impression. I may have oiled the buttons a bit to make them easier to remove from the uncured clay? With this method I didn't have to be so precise with my own designs, and they turned out sharper than my carvings once the clay had dried, if I remember right.

I think I would experiment to see how the clay behaves with the pewter without any adhesives. What if you "nested" the metal into the clay? Like - wrap the clay around the disk's edges a bit, and let it dry that way. Or to keep it all metal: use a different metal (wire of some sort?) to "cage" the disks and create a handle or loop?

I'm really interested to see what you come up with! This is a neat project - lots of layers of learning here!