Adding a mass to the Liberator rocket stove

We bought a Liberator rocket stove last year and used it all winter to heat 1200 sq. ft. It had a bit of a learning curve. I had flames coming back up the feed tube and when I threw the cap on that, they shot out the side vent a good foot or more!  Scared the crap out of me!  It also made me realize just how leaky the system is when you have smoke pouring out of every seam on the stove and the chimney pipe.

Other than that, it's an amazing heater as far as pellet stoves go. One 40 pound bag lasted 11 hours if we let it burn straight through. It burns kindling great as well but be prepared to feed it every 20 minutes. That brings me to the point. We are getting very confused as to whether we can add a mass to this thing. We bought it with every intention of turning it into a mass heater, but words from the wise and mighty Paul have us shying away from that now. He warned us (at the Thrivalist Fair in Addy, WA) that our little stove doesn't have a large enough feed tube/burn tube to make a mass heater work.  It made sense at the time, but pouring over Uncle Mud vids and the RMH forum makes it look like there's no reason why we can't build one, as long as we stay within the manufacturers guidelines for numbers of 90s and horizontal length.

Does anyone have a Liberator with a mass? If so, what did you build (materials, size, etc).

This is the current set-up.

I would love to have a Liberator if I didn't live in a tiny house that is already too full to add anything else. Though, I am a big fan.

Here are some suggestions for adding mass.

Sky said, "Chris "Uncle Mud" also did a lot of work in figuring out various ways Liberator Rocket Heaters can be integrated into thermal mass and has an excellent video series on the subject.

https://permies.com/t/162648/EPA-Approved-Rocket-Mass-Heater#1467510



https://permies.com/t/156323/Uncle-Mud-Liberator-Rocket-Mass



I hope you will find some of this beneficial.

We are building an ecovillage here in southern Nova Scotia, Canada, and were hoping to use the Liberator rocket stove heater with a thermal mass bench (by a certified mason).

The rules are strict here and insurance will NOT cover this unless it's certified or built by certified/qualified persons. We would love to have every home include a RMH, if possible.

I'm interested to hear more about if anyone else has done this too, what their experience was like, and what challenges were overcome, if any?

So quick question having some time with the liberator do you still see it as a viable option.i live in Nova Scotia been thinking of adding one to my house

Yeah it’s the only one that would be legal here in NS because of its being manufactured and its rating. But be prepared to double check with your insurance company first. Just be sure and frame it verbally as a “pellet stove”, not a RMH!

I am also curious about this.  We are in central Kentucky  and have a Liberator, but no mass attached yet.  I had a similar experience in that we needed to feed it about every 30 minutes or so, and without the mass it quickly cooled off during our chillier nights here when it reached 0 to 10 F.  I was also planning on adding a mass this summer/fall, but am having doubts as to whether or not it will have a big enough impact. Have any experienced rocket mass folks besides Uncle Mud used the Liberator?  Will adding a mass make a big enough difference with a stove this size?

I am considering pulling it out and adding a traditional wood stove or attempting to build a custom RMH.  Any thoughts or feedback would be appreciated!

Hi Michael;
Adding a mass would help, but loading every 30 minutes is excessive.
My 8" J-tube only needed feeding once an hour.
If you can have a Batchbox RMH then build one this summer, you will not regret it!
My 6" batchbox burns for 2hrs and has coals for another hour.