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rocket mass heaters

Rebekah's 8 inch RMH

Rebekah Harmon

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posted 4 months ago

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The work has begun on my RMH. It's replacing a tiny, inefficient cook-top fireplace that barely heated the workspace. No way would the room stay above freezing at nights. A real problem for a greenhouse!

Here are the "before" photos.

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thomas rubino

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Hi Rebekah
Awesome you are building your 1st RMH.
You can use single wall pipe but you need to keep a cap on it.
Also, it is installed upside down. You want the crimps at the bottom or black stinky water will run down your pipes inside the building.

I'm guessing that you are building an 8" J-Tube?
Are you planning on using a piped mass or a stratification chamber?
Are you planning on a barrel or encasing in a brick bell?

Feel free to ask any questions you might have.

Keep us posted and include plenty of pictures

For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
dragontechrmh.com Once you go brick you will never go back!

Rebekah Harmon

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Today, I worked on several pieces of the RMH that are difficult to do with a toddler around. I had a babysitter, so I crawled up on the roof to adjust the chimney. Now it's to code. (Which code for the grand city of Carey (population 600) only says that chimneys on a shed need to have a spark arrester.)

I had no wiggly buddies to bump my level core build, so I got it pretty close to perfect on all the levels. Not bad for a newbie mason.

I do feel that it is rather exposed, however!! 😬 Hopefully I can finish the ducting and lay on some cob before it gets bumped!! (I gotta finish the manifold first, so that I can fire up the system as soon as the cob starts going on, since it's currently too cold in my area for the cob to dry on its own.) Hopefully there is a nap time on Monday...

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I've got my Minecraft avatar going on!

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Being weird is easy. Making it mainstream is hard. Be brave! https://www.youtube.com/@healthygreenbrave

Rebekah Harmon

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Hey Thomas! Yes, it's my first build. An 8-inch system. I will make sure the new stove pipe goes in with the crimps down! The old one always has rusty streaks going down it. I sanded those off and oiled the chimney the best I could to keep it from continuing to rust.

I am using two barrels for the manifold. Do you normally put fireplace braid around the conjunction? I'd like to learn to make a brick bell! Then maybe my hubby will deem it lovely enough to put in our new house we are building. Do you know where there might be a picture of a brick bell?

The stratification chamber will also be two barrels. I got those welded together last night. Although I didn't take a picture because I'm not a great welder! Haha, I guess I'm self-conscious.

Being weird is easy. Making it mainstream is hard. Be brave! https://www.youtube.com/@healthygreenbrave

thomas rubino

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Hi Rebekah;
Well, that is easy, here are a couple of threads for you to check out.
https://permies.com/t/267527/Shorty-Core-bell
https://permies.com/t/248275/Batch-Rocket-Double-Skin-Bell

The easiest way I have found to seal barrels is to use metal duct tape.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KV8HGS4?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

Are your barrels standing vertically or lying down?

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For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
dragontechrmh.com Once you go brick you will never go back!

Rebekah Harmon

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I got a bunch more done in the RMH build today! 😁

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Benjamin Dinkel

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Looks great.
The bendy ruler is such a good idea, thanks for sharing!

A good starting point to all RMH research: https://permies.com/w/rmh-resources and here https://www.permies.com/t/41635/Top-Questions-Rocket-Mass-Heaters
A good starting point for permies.com questions: https://permies.com/w/how-permies-works

Rebekah Harmon

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More progress in my RMH build today.

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Being weird is easy. Making it mainstream is hard. Be brave! https://www.youtube.com/@healthygreenbrave

Rebekah Harmon

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Two days ago, I got the chimney all set. That's all the time I had for the day, since it's the holiday season and I am running between all the kids' school functions.

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Being weird is easy. Making it mainstream is hard. Be brave! https://www.youtube.com/@healthygreenbrave

Rebekah Harmon

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Yesterday, I got the first round of cobbish, the kind with perlite, put around the core firebricks to help insulate the core. Then I had a waterline break in my house from the water heater. Geez! Can I just have ONE day to do nothing but cob!!?

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Rebekah Harmon

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With another layer of cob on the whole system, it was ready for a first firing! I'm really pleased with the very small amount of smoke-back there was on this first firing. The barrels all got wonderfully hot with just 2 loads of wood into the 8 inch feed. In comparison, those two loads of wood would NOT fill my traditional Blaze-King stove that's in my house.

It's below freezing most nights here, so I was happy to get a cement mixer working to help me mix the cob. My toes were so cold after two batches!

On another note, I did like 10 batches of cob yesterday and it wore out my wrists and the skin on my fingers. Hauling around all the buckets of medium and water also took it out on my arms and shoulders
Over 11,000 steps too! I'm taking a break from cob today because my body needs it. Anyone else have difficulty with the physical chores of cob?

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Mike Schofield

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Yes making cob is horrible once the cold weather sets in! I find wetsuit wellies are good for stamping it, keep your feet warm and the lack of grip stops so much sticking to your feet.

Jenny Ives

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Such neat work.

Yes cob treading even in wellies is hard going. And 1 + 1 makes 1/2 is soul destroying plus the smell of it gets me in the back of my throat. Can you tell I am not a fan of wet cob? :D

Glenn Littman

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Bravo Rebekah for getting down to business and getting the job done. Your motivation should be an inspiration to the folks still in the "thinking about building" stage. Hey folks... don't over think it, look what Rebekah has accomplished in a week. You're a Rocket Rockstar Rebekah!

Rocket surgeon and soil builder... healthy plants are all about the soil.
- My 6" Batch Rocket specs and materials list: https://permies.com/t/248275/Batch-Rocket-Double-Skin-Bell
- Batch Rocket detailed build thread with Q&A: https://permies.com/t/238503/Batch-Rocket-Build

Rebekah Harmon

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Glenn Littman wrote:Bravo Rebekah for getting down to business and getting the job done. Your motivation should be an inspiration to the folks still in the "thinking about building" stage. Hey folks... don't over think it, look what Rebekah has accomplished in a week. You're a Rocket Rockstar Rebekah!

Thanks, Glen! I didn't know SO much of what I needed to know just a month ago. But the skills come fast. Thanks to Alexandra and Jeff, who have steered me in the right direction many times, I've been able to avoid or fix mistakes before they became a problem :) They've helped me troubleshoot each situation as it comes, and cheered for me. This project has been HUGE and overwhelming several times. I couldn't have gotten this far without their mentoring.

Being weird is easy. Making it mainstream is hard. Be brave! https://www.youtube.com/@healthygreenbrave

Rebekah Harmon

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3 more batches of cob today. I'm getting into a rhythm. Slowly but surely.

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Being weird is easy. Making it mainstream is hard. Be brave! https://www.youtube.com/@healthygreenbrave

Glenn Littman

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Rebekah Harmon wrote:Thanks, Glen! I didn't know SO much of what I needed to know just a month ago. But the skills come fast. Thanks to Alexandra and Jeff, who have steered me in the right direction many times, I've been able to avoid or fix mistakes before they became a problem :) They've helped me troubleshoot each situation as it comes, and cheered for me. This project has been HUGE and overwhelming several times. I couldn't have gotten this far without their mentoring.

The big reward is coming... you'll soon be basking in the wonderful radiant heat, snug as a bug in a rug... with the satisfaction that you created it with your own two hands and the miraculous gift on top of your shoulders.

Rebekah Harmon

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So I have all the gear and supplies gathered for the next few rounds of cob. It's just...

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Rebekah Harmon

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It feels like a textile day.

Being weird is easy. Making it mainstream is hard. Be brave! https://www.youtube.com/@healthygreenbrave

Rebekah Harmon

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Cob, cob, and more cob. My fingers are raw. Two more days of cob until the finish layer.

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Being weird is easy. Making it mainstream is hard. Be brave! https://www.youtube.com/@healthygreenbrave

Aaron Yarbrough

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Rebekah Harmon wrote:Cob, cob, and more cob. My fingers are raw. Two more days of cob until the finish layer.

Cob is no fun in the cold. Looks like you're making good progress.

My suburban building and homesteading blog https://offgridburbia.com/

thomas rubino

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Looking good Rebekah!
A few more days and you'll have it done!

For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
dragontechrmh.com Once you go brick you will never go back!

Rebekah Harmon

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Aaron and Thomas! Thanks for the encouragement 😁

Being weird is easy. Making it mainstream is hard. Be brave! https://www.youtube.com/@healthygreenbrave

Rebekah Harmon

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My cement mixer did a weird flip-floppy thing and the big metal bell fell off the frame. I'm not sure how to fix this, so Ive been mashing my cob by hand. Or by foot, rather. I made it a bit farther.

But I have to admit, this project is wearing on me. It's been a crazy amount of work hours. I estimate I've spent 40 hours just on cob. Another 40 hours putting the internal plumbing together. Way more time than this learning and finding and buying the parts. If I had chosen to turn my time to another, income-producing project, that's a lot of cash. 100 hours times 60$ an hour that I make to do massages, is $6000. Add the money I've spent buying the RMH equipment, and.... I could have bought a pretty nice, efficient wood stove.

So..... I feel like building an RMH fits into the category of things my husband says permies like to sink their life and funds into. Choosing to do many hours of labor to avoid hurting the environment in some way. I believe it will help make a better world. Or at least help me grow more plants, more luxuriously, in my greenhouse to feed myself, reducing my carbon footprint. When I follow the arrows of incentive, I can appreciate the intangible benefits of all this labor. BUT THE HOURS!! AND the wear and tear on my body! It's a crazy, ridiculous amount of work 🤪 I wonder what else I could have built in all these hours?

Do you know what I mean? Super hard work that we tell ourselves fills some kind of abstract need? I felt it when I built a 12 foot hugelbed, when I planted over 1000 tree seeds this year, hell, I feel it when I spend hours gathering leaves in the fall, that I hope will SOMEDAY produce lovely soil in my gardens. What projects have your poured your life hours into? Did it feel rewarding in the end? What makes it worth it?

These are the thoughts tumbling through my head as I stomp cob. As I wash layers of clay from my fingernails and clothes. As I nourish all the little cuts and scrapes on my hands.

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thomas rubino

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Hi Rebekah;
My first RMH was cob, I sure made a lot of it!
This is why some of us have switched to brick it is faster and easier than making cob.
Cob is cool looking, and it can seem almost free... but as you have discovered, it is a workout!

An idea for your next build.
Do you know how to split a 55-gallon barrel lengthwise, using a side grinder with a skinny wheel?
Split barrels sitting on a stub wall of brick, stone, concrete, or even cob would give you more ISA and less cob to make.

For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
dragontechrmh.com Once you go brick you will never go back!

Clay McGowen

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Way to stay the course and keep working!!

I find the things which challenge me the most are indeed the most rewarding.
Anyone can do the easy stuff in life, and if it were easy everyone would do it.

I think comparing the time to what you might have done instead doesn’t serve as great a purpose as planning for what you will get to do in the future.
Safer growies and animals meaning happier people with less effort … earlier yellow pear tomatoes and more jam 😉

On to your mixer conundrum, it looks to my untrained eye like there’s some keeper/stay/nut which has gone missing. Have you looked around where your mixer has been working for a metal donut looking thing with a set screw in the side?

Could be off base, but it feels like it ought to be something like this:

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Glenn Littman

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Rebekah, hang in there... the end will justify the means for sure. It took me almost 3 months of work with very few days off to build my heater. Granted I wasn't mixing cob but I was mixing fireclay mortar by hand, one small bucket load at a time was the easiest to handle. It seemed like a zillion bucket loads and lots of blisters but the effort paid off. For many of our homestead projects we say "one time effort - lifetime of reward". Your progress is looking great, don't let the negative thoughts derail your efforts.

Here's a little motivation to keep you headed toward the finish line. It was 1 degree F outside Wednesday morning and had not gone above 20F for the preceding 2 days. With a morning and evening burn we kept the outside of the bell in the 150 to 180F range. The 2,000 sq ft room that is is heating never dropped below 60F.

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Rebekah Harmon
In looking at your photos, I am trying to understand your mixer problem? Are you saying the cast barrel is just slid apart along the shaft?, If so, why can't you slide it back ( don't hit with a steel hammer, but there are plenty of low cost plastic dead blows, or blocks of wood then strike that with any large 2# hammer.

Once done a locking collar like what was show, generally would keep it from happening again.

Or do you think something is actually broke? Such as two pieces?

Just curious!

https://permies.com/t/241976/Batch-Rocket-single-bell-build

Rebekah Harmon

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Yeah, Thomas! I would be so happy to do a half barrel next time! Especially since I can feel, when the rocket heats up, that the barrels are hot on top, and barely warm on the sides/bottom. Next time.... will there be a next time? 🤔 it's got to impress my husband enough to build one in our new house or shop. Holding my breath. I would absolutely use brick instead of cob next time. The cob was "free", as you said, which was necessary for this project's budget.

Clay, I think you must be right. Nice freehand drawing in your pic! Unfortunately, it's a borrowed mixer and I am fairly sure it didn't have that circle piece when I got it. It must have been held on by crusty old grease! I bet we can get a new one, tho.

Glenn, that's a lot of toasty space! You must live where it is COLD! 🥶 I'm holding on for that toasty-ness!

Being weird is easy. Making it mainstream is hard. Be brave! https://www.youtube.com/@healthygreenbrave

thomas rubino

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So, it is important to finish covering the barrels completely.
Only then will the cob start holding heat, and you will start to see how nice a heat-holding mass can be!
As is, most of the heat you create radiates off the metal faster than it can heat the cob.

Here is a trick I used for easy starting when I had a J-Tube.
Use 2 larger pieces of cook stove size wood to partially (80%) block your burn tunnel.
Paper and kindling behind, with split wood ready to add as there is room.
As you have seen there can be quite the draw and it can be hard to retain a bed of coals.
The large wood will help retain the coals rather than having them travel down the burn tunnel toward the riser.

For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
dragontechrmh.com Once you go brick you will never go back!

Gerry Parent

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Hi Rebekah,

Have you tried making cob with a tarp?
Easier with 2 people but can be managed with just one.
Place all your ingredients onto one side of a 6x6' ish
tarp, then grab the 2 corners and lift. The tumbling action mixes everything together. Repeat on the other 2 corners back and forth.
I found it best to put your sand down first, clay and then water on top to help keep the tarp from getting all caked up and heavy.
Once fairly mixed, you can then fold the free end of the tarp over the mix and walk on it keeping your boots or feet clean.
Stick with it !

Silence is Golden
For all your RMH needs:
dragontechrmh.com

thomas rubino

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That is how I did it.
It is much easier, and you can use the tarp to move the finished cob indoors.

For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
dragontechrmh.com Once you go brick you will never go back!

Coydon Wallham

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I've done the tarp thing while learning cob at a couple of places, but always with the cheap plastic tarps. The only one of those I have is about to be retired and I don't want to purchase another. Does it work as cleanly using cotton canvas tarps- will it clog and stick to the fabric too much?

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thomas rubino

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Oh My, I think a cotton one would soak up water too much, and the cob would stick to it.
The smaller poly tarps are rather cheap at places like Harbor Freight or even Walmart.

For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
dragontechrmh.com Once you go brick you will never go back!

Coydon Wallham

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I've found those cheap tarps throughout my homesteading history to be a common catalyst of a classic 'permie's dilema'- do I throw something in the landfill when it starts to show wear but has lots of utility left in it, or make full use of it and shed mini plastics (and undoubtedly microplastics) all around the environment? The one I inherited from my Dad has started to fray and I'll let it decay the rest of the way in a landfill where someday someone might find it easier to deal with this sad legacy.

I did find they sell HD tarps of a different type of plastic that is tougher and more UV resistant and bought one to have in the truck: https://www.menards.com/main/tools/automotive/towing-cargo-management/tarps-accessories/yardworks-reg-xpo-green-industrial-duty-tarp/xpo1012/p-1570516239951-c-12172.htm
Something like 5x the price (a little less than canvas), so hoping the UV resistance makes up some of the difference with lifespan.

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Coydon Wallham

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By the way, my cotton ones have taken a beating and are aging well, but they have a wax coating. Might help with the cob process. But I've not been able to find out more about the coating. Obviously (cost- if natural wax they would advertise it) it is some sort of paraffin so petroleum right there, but seems they might have other chemicals mixed in too. One brand smelled so nasty when I opened it up, it went right back to the seller...

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Gerry Parent

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Coydon Wallham wrote:I've done the tarp thing while learning cob at a couple of places, but always with the cheap plastic tarps. The only one of those I have is about to be retired and I don't want to purchase another. Does it work as cleanly using cotton canvas tarps- will it clog and stick to the fabric too much?

The lumber store/ mill often has used lumber tarps free for the taking. I believe they are just destined for the garbage anyways so this gives them a little longer useful life (amongst many other uses out of direct sun for longevity.)

Silence is Golden
For all your RMH needs:
dragontechrmh.com

Rebekah Harmon

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posted 4 months ago

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The last of the cob went on today. 11 batches! I've been mixing 4 or so each day. I literally started working when I woke up, and didn't quit til after 10pm.

As Jeff advised, I used straw in the base layers, then made a straw-less intermediary layer, then used a wheat paste cob finish. I think it turned out spiffy!! Thank you, Jeff!

I burned the stove on and off all day, and I SO enjoyed the steam rising from the cob as it dried. So did my cat. My wonderful family supported me by bringing me firewood and keeping the rocket's belly full, babysitting the younger kinds, making lunch, hauling water for mixing and filling my drinking bottle, and just sitting and talking to me while I worked. I particularly loved their compliments and praise as they saw the project reach completion. Affirmation and service are my love languages, and my older 5 children swaddled their mama with so much love on this strenuous, final leg of the project.

It took 24,000 steps to finish the rocket build today! I feel like I gave birth. I'm so grateful my body made it to the end 🥰 my hands are swollen and rough as sand paper. But they are still intact. My feet and my back and my knees gave me everything I asked of them. Now I get to be done ☺️

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