Rumford Rant

I have a friend who is building a ceremonial space out of Cob. They want a Rumpsford stove, but they don’t know it yet. . .  “I was just thinking of a beautiful hearth that would be able to keep the space warm and also I like to see the fire when I am sitting in ceremony, so I know that is not always the most efficient, but it’s important for my intentions with the space” . . . . Rumpsford all the way right!?  

But when I was trying to find beautiful images online to backup my explanations to her. . .  I came up completely blank!  Google would only show me ugly little code-driven angular versions of something that should be so elegant, beautiful, TALL and flowing, like the hearth in the community kitchen at the Cob Cottage Company in Oregon.

Does anyone have pictures of this particular hearth they could share???  Pretty please!!!  Or any additional photos of well done, elegant tall Rumpsfords. Google was kind enough to supply me with a nice technical schematic, which I will try to share here. So. . . I could theoretically build the thing. (I've built two successful RMH).  But I’ve never actually used a Rumpsford or even started a fire in one. . .  am I thinking correctly that a good way to light one would be to build up the burnables below; but before lighting, warm-up the flue at the top . . .  like. . .  maybe partially by smudging!? Perfect for starting any ceremonial fire. . . .  Anyway, help me keep the vision of what a good Rumpsford should be alive! Does anyone have images they could share? Is anyone aware of any physical cob Rumpsfords in existence anywhere near the Bay Area in California? Any Rumpsford thoughts or wisdom you might like to share with me or my friend?

There are some pictures of the Cob Cottage Company Rumfords at FireSpeaking.com

Interesting! Looks like these photos are from the very beginning/onset phases of that building. . . by the time I had gotten there in 2019, they had modified this Rumsford (sp?) quite a bit. . . The whole section with the brick and the darker color acting like a hood wasn't there, and a tall smooth elegant single curve of Cob that encompassed the whole corner went pretty much all the way to the ceiling~

Code people would hate this! Options of roaring open fires 5 feet tall taking up the whole corner and going up near the ceiling! . . .  (Don't they know the entire house is fire proof?) Also, if you want to have a small fire. . .  how elegantly the smoke follows the warmth of that 8 foot tall wall all the way up and never goes drifting into the room. . .

Maybe someone has some more updated photos?

Or different examples! Some of the others on Firespeaking were getting a little closer to the vision. . .  The idea is that the schematic of the flue can basically be arranged as a small feature at the top of an expansive and smooth wall, and if you train the smoke from the beginning where this flue is, it will know where to go. . .  With a nice tall wall, any size fire can be built, and the flames grow beautifully tall and natural like a campfire, never running into anything up above. . .  Has anyone else seen one like this?

Meni Menindorf wrote:

Code people would hate this! Options of roaring open fires 5 feet tall taking up the whole corner and going up near the ceiling! . . .  (Don't they know the entire house is fire proof?) Also, if you want to have a small fire. . .  how elegantly the smoke follows the warmth of that 8 foot tall wall all the way up and never goes drifting into the room. . .

Maybe someone has some more updated photos?

Or different examples! S

The site-built Rumford fireplace has been in the building code for about 10 years now and is an acceptable prescriptive design.
If you want to show your client some photos of different types, and construction plans, thry this site: https://www.rumford.com/