Opinions please

Hello, this is my first post to this forum. I like it alot and there is so much collective information and expertise. I currently use a small wood burning stove to heat my house and although it heats the house, it consumes alot of wood and I can tell it is not very efficient. I really like the rocket stove design and would like to build one but I expect to sell this house in a year or 2 and I dont think most people around here would even understand what the thermal bench was and it wouldnt appeal to them. Just like our culture, looks are more important than function ... which is sad, but it is the way things are now. Nevertheless I would like to use this design so I have come up with an adaptation of the existing design and I would like you guys to give me your opinions on it and see if there are any weak points or any room for improvement. My goal here was to make this thing lite, cheap and removeable. I would use
2 - 55gal drums,
1 - 35gal drum,
one single barrel burner kit http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202398323/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=barrel+stove+kit&storeId=10051#.UOcBmHcS98M
some sections of flue pipe for the j tube and inner riser tube
some larger tube for the outer riser tube

all fitted and welded together. I would probably make the exhaust / flue make a few turns in the house before going into the chimney adaptor and notice everywhere there is a common area like the common cavity inside the 35 gal drum, but inside the 55 gal drum, there would be pearlite insulation packed in the space to act as insulation for the firebox and the heat riser.
On another note, I designed an oil burner a few years ago for my biodiesel setup that is instant on and unclogable, it uses just about any type of oil and produces alot of heat, if you guys are interested, I post diagrams, pics and plans here. Thanks for any help

I have a similar dilemma. I think that this type of rocket stove may be your best best since it is removable: rocket stove idea
It is what I'm looking at doing and still getting the benefits of more efficent wood burn. Plus since a rocket stove has yet to get a UL listing/rating, you will be able to remove it and the evidence of using it easily.

You oil burner idea interests me, and I'm sure others. It would be helpful if you would share your plans on it. I have been looking for a way to use the 30-40 gallons of used oil I have, and heat my garage with it.

Other people have done an outdoor rocket that heated water that was pumped to a radiator unit inside the house. Its on youtube somewhere, but seemed to be more involved in terms of building it.

I have a hard time envisioning exactly how your design will look when it is completed, but the plans look solid to me.

Matt,
Thanks for the reply, I think that is very similar to what Im gonna build. I keep wondering why the combustion chambers in these stoves are so small, are they that efficient, because it looks like you would have to load it every 30 minites. My woodburning stove has to be loaded again about every couple of hours now and thats what Im looking to avoid with this new design.

Here
http://s64.beta.photobucket.com/user/mobiusmobius/library/vert%20BB
is a link that should work to a photobucket album with alot of pics of the vert babbinngton burner

Here
http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/8541078231/m/9201068341/p/1
is a link to the original posting of this idea.

Please let me know if you have any questions about this design. I used to cast machine and sell the burner dishes, but there are a couple of ways to put something together just as good from a frying pan that you can get at the store. Believe me, I am the king of cobbling something together from scrap to keep from buying something, and you can use the concept if you want

Does anyone know the practical real size of the size of the combustion chamber that I should design??

I think the efficiency comes from the fact that it burns wood about as hot as possible (i.e. fast drafted air into the wood fire). Then that heats the metal tank/barrel up which convects the heat into the room. The thermal bench is just a way to squeeze even more out of the heat produced. I mean even a potbellied barrel stove will produce a lot of heat, its just whether that heat is effectively distributed that determines the efficiency...I guess a small fan would help that some.

THe link to the project in my last post he used a square 4" chamber IIRC. I am planning on a minimum of a 6 inch system, but may do a 8inch system depending on what I can scrounge up for spare parts.

The Ianto book states a minimum of a 6inch system for home heating. BUT he is talking about a thermal mass heater so that may change it slightly???

Soon I plan on starting a small barrel rocket stove (20gal maybe?) in my garage to prove that the system works before building what I plan on using in the house. Then I will build a 6inch or bigger for the house.

For me, I don't really care about the "thermal mass" and wish to extract the heat into the room more "instantaneously" as in the garage I'll only heat it when I'm in there either working on cars or building more rocket stoves! and the house is the same. Ianto also states in his book that houses are heated for the occupants, not the house itself, I"m inclined to agree...

here is a link to my garage heater
https://permies.com/t/18822/wood-burning-stoves/homemade-wood-stove#161530

Clifford,
Yep, that looks like what I was going after , using a little thinner (cheaper) materials, but something just like that. Thanks for sharing your pics and If I build this thing, I will do the same. I have a question for you. After building this stove, how much more efficient would you say it is than just a regular small wood burning stove, and in what way. Does it extract more heat from the same wood you think?
I have aquired a gas water heater which I will use for the inner barrel and the tube going up the center of it for the exhaust riser and j tube since they are made from steel that is about twice as thick as barrel steel. The water heater vessel placed inside the 55gal drum should give me about 3" on both sides making a common cavity that I will fill up with pearlite to insulate the firebox. I also have the 2 open top 55gal drums and I should start construction soon. Thanks again for sharing your ideas, your stove looks awesome.

Oh and one more question: the top of the riser is at 1.5" below the top of the upper barrel in the standard design, I was just gonna use the same dimension , how close is yours from the top and would you change that if you could?
thanks

I burnt this stove all day in the garage ( 10 hours) while working on various silly things and used a five gallon bucket full of small pieces of wood from 1/2 in ch to 3 inch diameter and a wooden pallet broken up in pieces to burn.
once the heater gets up to operating temperature I put small amounts of wood in about every 30 or 40 minutes, got a good bed of coals and shoved one large piece of a tree branch in and turned the drafts down and went to the store for about an hour and half when I got back put in more wood and opened up the drafts a little.
She does use a lot less wood than any other wood stove I have had, but does not heat up as quick.

my riser tube is 2 inches below the top of my heater, I know I could have gone a little closer but opted for just a little more clearance, I am happy with my decision to have the extra 1/2 inch because the paint has already burnt off of the top right above the riser tube, I was wanting to make sure that I did not warp the top.

Quick question. Love the Ideas, but wondering about the metal flue being used in the system. These normally burn out on conventional stoves, is this not an issue with this system? at what point in the flue does the temperature drop to where this is not a worry, and if steam comes out the far end, is this now a rust issue?

the flu pipe is truck exhaust pipe, the tempurature where the gas dumps in at the bottom is usualy 350 to almost 400, I do not think I have steam coming out of mine but I dont know

Thanks, I am just learning about these stoves and their application versus conventional wood burning stoves. Hope to put them to good use in near future, thanks for responding.