I want to surround my normal wood burning stove with thermal mass... how?

Any and all suggestions welcome. thank you

Rocks, urbanite, cob--anything that can be stacked and not burn. A good metal drum filled with water placed in the corner would hold a TON of heat for cheap.

Whatever you do, make sure the floor can hold the weight.

R wannabe wrote:Rocks, urbanite, cob--anything that can be stacked and not burn. A good metal drum filled with water placed in the corner would hold a TON of heat for cheap.

Whatever you do, make sure the floor can hold the weight.

No problems with the floor and wright.

So, lots of mass... but not with a complete surround of the stove? And with no direct touching connection to the stove?

I just stacked bricks around three sides of mine, touching the casing. it took around 40 bricks for a single layer. I could put another layer round it. It keeps the room warm for longer once it's all warmed up, and the comfort is better. I didn't put anything on top as the kettle has to sit somewhere.

Roy Clarke wrote:I just stacked bricks around three sides of mine, touching the casing. it took around 40 bricks for a single layer. I could put another layer round it. It keeps the room warm for longer once it's all warmed up, and the comfort is better. I didn't put anything on top as the kettle has to sit somewhere.

Roy, any chance of a picture? thanks

So Eric, have you done anything with this ? I'm also in the same position and wondering how much cob is useful, if the mixture should have more sand than clay (compared to normal cob proportions), if it should be built right on the stove or not...

I am sure that heating will take more time to be transferred to the surrounding since it will have more thermal mass around it, but it will also be retained more time and gradually released.

Any info or idea, greatly appreciated.

Here's what I did at the end of last winter. Surround the stove with solid bricks. I noticed a huge difference in heat given off by the stove. Just piled them up on the sides and at the back...

Hello gents

I am interested in this too as I can't have a rocket-mass heater due to planning regulations. I see you have a kettle atop your bricks, Eric - does it boil or just stay warm? I like to keep my kettle singing on there when possible. Also, please can you let me know if it means you come into a warm room in the morning? This is one of the things about rocket-mass heaters that appeals to me most as I have to creep down and start the fire. We have conventional heating in our house so we usually have it on for an hour or so in the morning, then decamp to the warm rooms for most of the day, but this would reduce our need to heat the kitchen in the morning possibly?

I did think about making a lump of cob big enough to sit inside the "oven" (not really an oven) of our stove, to act as a storage heater. http://www.clearviewstoves.com/pioneeroven.htm. I guess I'd need more than that, perhaps one on top too, but the sides are so cleverly made as radiators that I'm not sure I can obstruct them.

Thanks for any help!

what I can say is that the plan so far is to put approx 10cm of cob (common proportions 3:1-sand:clay) without straw (as it would burn?) around it

how long the heat is "on" I think its down to a lot of factors, so you cant really take it as a general outcome. As you said, the logic is that clay and sand act as a thermal storage mass, so gradually release the heat stored. If it lasts until the morning..

I am curious too about the kettle. Did it get hot enough on top of the stone to boil the kettle? Or just warm enough to keep it warm?
Did any of the stones crack from the heat of the wood stove?