Les Frijo

Tommy Bolin wrote:

Les Frijo wrote:
I'm sure I'm not the first one to think about this but it just dawned on me that there should be fairly simple ways to turn RMHs into Assbackward Turbo Mass Coolers in hot times of the year? Anyone doing work with this yet?

I think where I live it could be as simple as pulling air backward and out the door inside with a small fan overnight. I imagine that eliminating condensation damage would be the main concern.

It might be worthwhile to read John Hait's 1982 book 'Passive Annual Heat Storage'  to consider the speed at which heat travels through mass exposed to airflow, and the actual mass required to store any appreciable amount of heat/cool, as well as the methods of storage and retrieval.

Hi Tommy, Thank you for the recommendation. Sounds like just what I'm looking for.

I found it right away and hope it's ok to post the link here...

https://archive.org/details/passive-annual-heat-storage-improving-the-design-of-earth-shelters-john-hait

Nest

Thanks Thomas,
The sun effect is a good thing to remember no matter heater or cooler.

Here where I am in the northern midwest United States of America, it is usually too humid when it's too hot. Swamp coolers can't be relied on. It's pretty much expensive air conditioning or whatever cooling you can get with windows open overnight. Possibly making it even more humid inside and never getting near as cool as outside.

Any system here would have to have some sort of cooling coil and condensation trap to be really helpful but if you didn't open windows at times of high humidity it might be pretty good at keeping the place cool and less humid. Maybe offset some of the mass of the hot house itself if pulling air inside the mass.

I'll try and wrap my head around some stuff and start another thread. Back to the Rocket Mass Heaters!

Thanks.

M Ljin wrote:

Les Frijo wrote:I'm sure I'm not the first one to think about this but it just dawned on me that there should be fairly simple ways to turn RMHs into Assbackward Turbo Mass Coolers in hot times of the year? Anyone doing work with this yet?

I think where I live it could be as simple as pulling air backward and out the door inside with a small fan overnight. I imagine that eliminating condensation damage would be the main concern.

They are doing this at Wheaton Labs--it was in the Low Tech Things movie. I forgot how it worked but I believe they just opened the windows at night and it worked that way.

Oh yes. Even more simple. Probably a combination of both would double the cooling of the mass being cooled from Inside and outside.

I'd love to build one and try it out. Still looking for the place to do it. The longer I wait the better they seem to get too. Thank you scientists!

Ben Zumeta wrote:I love the idea of a rocket mass heater to use wildfire fuel thinnings and orchard prunings from my property for heating instead of over harvested and laborious or expensive to acquire hardwood. I also hate how any energy I might buy, including wood for heat, tends to come with paying people with environmental values and practices I oppose.

My reasons for not having built one yet are many. My wife is skeptical of it as a priority over other homestead projects that I am more qualified to undertake on my own. The one local person I know who has built one also has told me he doesn’t use his much anymore because in our mild climate (rarely below 25f, but cool and rainy from Nov-April) it tends to easily overheat his house for hours. He does have a cob house that holds a ton of heat and makes his alternate wood stove more efficient as well, but this did take some wind out of my RMH building sails. We also have a top of the line woodstove that came with our house (purchased 2020), and I think my wife would be much more inclined to let me build a hearth around it for thermal mass than to build an RMH. Even so, to do list will have to be cut down before I get to any such project. I should get to that now!

I'm sure I'm not the first one to think about this but it just dawned on me that there should be fairly simple ways to turn RMHs into Assbackward Turbo Mass Coolers in hot times of the year? Anyone doing work with this yet?

I think where I live it could be as simple as pulling air backward and out the door inside with a small fan overnight. I imagine that eliminating condensation damage would be the main concern.

I like all of these solutions.

For a sand replacement/enhancer I like a mixture of the black pumice(if available), used coffee grounds, biochar and wood ash. All of that could be swept up and used to improve soil somewhere in the spring. When the sun does come out there could be additional melting with the darker color as well.

Vinegar is supposed to help some too. Maybe mix that right in with the rest?

Timothy Norton wrote:Fortunately our village now has a little tractor plow that zips along the sidewalks to help out.

My city has giant equipment that costs more than my house to do just city property. Their sidewalks are usually worse than anything un-shoveled. Unless they dump the piles of salt later

Hello Amelia,

I live on a busy street/sidewalk at a 4-way stop. The salt use is brutal but at least there are no Harleys in winter

Sand would still be better than salt but you might have to sweep some up in the spring.

I found this on clearance and bought it to use as a partial pumice replacement in potting soils.

https://www.lavagrip.com/

I'm not recommending it. I'm sure it has it's environmental issues, mainly the mining. It's probably better for the surrounding soil than sand. Works great in soil. I would not have bought it if it wasn't on sale. The company never responded to questions I had so there is that too.

I would say that almost anything can become a sheet of ice in the winter under the right conditions. I would opt for leaving all the snow and ice and people adapting to it rather that all the silly icky stuff we do now.

In my observations what we do now creates terrible drivers and false senses of security. And poor people pay for it all. At least where I live.

Permie solution would probably be loads of straw or something. I bet it would work too.

I almost never soak dry beans before cooking. Very very old beans probably benefit from a soak.

I cover beans with about 2 inches(50.8mm) of water and then bring to a boil and rolling boil them for about 10-15 minutes. That deactivates the nastiness then I reduce to a simmer and cook for at least 2 hours preferably 3 depending on the bean. Some people wait to add salt and other things but I have done it all ways and don't notice any difference in bean cookage. Lots of people like to use a pressure cooker and can reduce cooking time substantially. I have not tried this yet but I think it makes sense in summer heat or with fuel consumption concerns.

I will make a pot of beans and as long as the pot has a well fitted lid I will leave it on the stove and keep reheating until they are gone being sure to reheat the pot at least once a day even if I forget to eat some. If liquid gets low I add more water.

If you do forget about them you will know if they are bad. I've not smelled many things worse than spoiled beans.

I love beans. You're in for a treat.