Something I learned might be able amp up the awesomeness of the
rocket stove. Perhaps. You all be the judge.
In my search for increasing the efficiency of
wood burning stoves I stumbled upon a
video (it was years ago, if I find it again I will post it) from a guy in Alaska who found a way to ramp up the efficiency of his stove. He created an air intake that drew from the outside of his house to
feed his
wood burning stove.
The concept goes something like this. When ever you draw air from the inside of a structure and vent to the outside of the structure you create a pressure differential between the inside of the house and the outside. As a result the inside of the house needs to draw air from the outside of the house to equalize the pressure. Areas of high pressure always flow into areas of low pressure. So even if your house is extremely air tight the pressure differential will find the weak points and as a result draw the cold air from outside of the house into the house. So cold air will be constantly cooling the inside of the house thus making the stove work harder and create a need for more fuel.
What if you could create a vent that draws air from the outside of the house that is placed on top of the wood feed that would eliminate the need for the
rocket stove to draw air that is already inside the house? It would of course have to be easily removable which might make it kinda clunky. My immediate thought is, would the air be too cold and lower the efficiency of the burn? Also once the fire is out would the cold air draw cool the thermal mass unless there was a way to close the intake vent? I don't know, haven't tried it but would love to see someone try to work it out.
I will attach a lame picture of what I'm thinking about. I would love to hear anyone's comments or if anyone has tried it before or if this is a clunker of an idea. Thanks!
![[Thumbnail for rocket-stove-air-intake.jpg]](/t/12104/a/3274/rocket-stove-air-intake.jpg "Filename: rocket-stove-air-intake.jpg
Description: Air intake for Rocket Stove")
