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I need stove pipe for my rocket mass heater on the cheap.

 
Posts: 26
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I've been looking at stove pipe and it can be pretty darn expensive. Does anyone know of any cheap stove pipe or any alternatives?
 
                                                              
Posts: 24
Location: Waltham, Massachusetts
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http://www2.permies.com/t/2869/alternative-energy/rocket-mass-heater-duct-burns

Save up and get the right pipe, a cheaper alternative could keel you!
 
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Around here stove pipe (single wall) is around $7 for a 5 foot section. I can't think of anything that can stand the heat that would be cheaper. You might be able to form your rocket stove bench a little at a time and pull out a pipe you used as a form in the cob then use it for the next section, but I'd be worried about it caving in over time. You could form with brick in the bench but I don't think that would be cheaper.
 
Clayton Taylor
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Thanks for the info, it helped a lot, both of you. If the stove pipe is only $7 for a 5 foot section that is great. I've been looking at it online and its been much more expensive. As soon as I get out of the Navy which should be in about 8 months I'll shop around home.
 
D. Bumpus
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I am thinking of galv flue pipe like i installed for my furnace. Following the link posted above gives some good discussion on galvanized pipe. I would still use it in the bench but probably try and get or make something better for the riser.
 
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Location: New Mexico high desert Zone 7a, alkaline soils. 9" average annual rainfall.
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What about collecting a gazillian coffee cans and taping them together with metal foil tape, it should hold up long enough get the cob in place. If this is too scary, maybe use something more robust toward the combustion chamber. Anyone try this yet or is this a super bad idea?
 
Clayton Taylor
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The coffee can method would be ultra cheap, I like it. Im going to use regular stove pipe on the one in my house though. However, I'll have to experiment with the coffee cans and see what I can do. Would be fun.
 
gardener
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Location: Central New York State zone 5a
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Can I use aluminum stove pipe for the ductwork or is the black steel the best way to go? Aluminum is significantly cheaper.
 
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Location: Victoria British Columbia-Canada
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Aluminium will melt at about 1250F . The rocket can get much hotter.
 
gardener
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Location: Tonasket washington
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ducting in the bench can be aluminum if that is all you have. bricks for the heat riser are good you dont have to go buy a ton of stove pipe. heck you can cut the bricks down to 1 inch thick and use the slabs. While I developed the type of heat riser you make from duct and perlite its not your only option. if you find some triple wall stainless pipe you can use that as well (buying it is costly but sometimes you can get it in the scrap yard for cheap.
 
Isaac Hill
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Location: Central New York State zone 5a
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I have a 30 gal barrel and I was gonna make the heat riser out of a "6 black steel pipe inside an "8 steel pipe and stuff that with crushed pumice, clay and sand. Would it be better to use fire bricks for the heat riser?
 
pollinator
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Location: Northern New York Zone4-5 the OUTER 'RONDACs percip 36''
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Hi All : possible sources of stove pipe, old houses, fire damaged houses, demolition jobs, watch for boarded up windows on the 1st floor and really large demolition trailers, the kind that most come loaded on the back of a large truck, check with contractors esp. those that have HVAC in their descriptions in their ads. Check with local Fire fighters, as a group you will find a lot have skilled crafts as a hobby or side job and be willing to talk to you.

Once you pick a stove pipe size, you can use any stove pipe, old and rusty is not bad, its basic-ly a form around which you'll pack cob, stone, and Urbanite. The hot air flues and cold air returns May be a lighter weight thats fine . I have never used Aluminum piping, though I have found it in some House/Rv Trailers it must be regional , again they are just a form you will use and if you crush it you might be able to straighten it out again , Grab every Elbow and "T" you can find, even the draft corrector, you can even make a "t' out of that !

I would patch any holes and all the joints, you decide, tape and/or R.T.V silicone sealant, you will be using some Clean-outs weekly and all of them yearly so when you fasten them together ( after a dry fit 1st! ), use Short self tapping screws, or rivets , you will hate yourself if you don't, and wont give it a thought if you had ! Hope this helps , Pyro - maticly yours Allen L.
 
allen lumley
pollinator
Posts: 4154
Location: Northern New York Zone4-5 the OUTER 'RONDACs percip 36''
67
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Hi! All : i have not tried this, it is only a suggestion! During 1973 the people that pre-dated opec turned of the taps, we had gas lines every where and the federal government said you couldn't burn more fossil fuel than you burned 'last year' AND a lot of people started burning wood ! Every buddy and their brother got into the "wood stove chimney'' cleaning business . The term 'chimney sweep' got re-introduced to the world, AND a Company called wait for it - - Chimney Sweeps invented a process to inflate a long skinny balloon say 8'', inside a chimney so that the chimney could be relined with an insulating cement let me say that again insulating cement the cost of that process drove the over night growth of the insulated metal stovepipe business ! And bankrupted a whole bunch of ' Chimney Sweeps '

So I wonder what happened to all the inflatable air bags that NOW could be used to help make The horizontal runs of pipe through our cob thermal benches ? Any one else out there know what I'm Talking about ?



 
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is it a bad idea to use bricks with a hole, like this one for the bench?
brick.jpg
[Thumbnail for brick.jpg]
 
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