Rocket mass heater owners - willing to give tour and ask questions about their heater?

Hello! I have been reading about rmh for a while and am wanting to build one. Before I made the huge remodel commitment though, it seemed like a good idea to at least talk to someone about how it worked (as in, what sort of heat it put out, how well it heated their entire house, etc. - not how to build it or use it). And maybe even visit a home with it while it was being used to see what the result was? I live in Texas, north of Houston. Is anyone in this area using them? or anyone willing to endure some question/answer drills?

Hi L;
Ask away.
I have four RMHs here, including my newest one, a Shorty core built indoors rather than in an outbuilding.
My wife resisted this build for three years, and she resisted it while I was building it.
Now, she is Shorty's biggest fan.

I'm in Montana so that a visit could be cost-prohibitive for you.
If you would prefer, you can write me directly at dragontech@blackfoot.net

Montana! You certainly experience more cold than I do!

First question - All of the discussions I have seen emphasize the fabulous heat of the mass that is usually used as a bench, etc. And a heated seat certainly sounds wonderful! But, my interest is in how well it heats the air of the rest of the house. If I am not sitting on the bench, how warm is the rest of the room? And if the heater is in the living area, what chance is there of the heat making it into the bedrooms?

Depending on the interior design of your home, a mass heater will create a toasty, warm zone all around it.
Fans can be used for back rooms.
Heat registers can also help keep your whole house warm.
Imagine having 500 bricks radiating 150F all night long, sitting in your living room; everything warms up!

In northern Montana, temperatures were below zero at night and in the low teens during the day all last week.
In our 97-year-old house, we burned one small fire in the morning and the same in the evening.
The temperatures were even throughout the entire rambling structure, and there was no fire all night or all day!

With a traditional steel box stove, it is hot near the stove, warm five feet away, and chilly the farther away you get.
In colder climates, a steel box stove is lit 24-7 all winter.
Your chimney can become plugged with creosote, and chimney fires are always a possibility.

Our new Mass Heater is like having central heating in a 100-year-old home!

Most new RMH builds do not use a long low bench, rather they use a Stratification chamber (brick bell)
It is much more comfortable to sit on a couch or a recliner than on a cob bench.

My bell-style RMH is at one side of the 25' x 26' main floor, and the entire floor is comfortable when it has been running, even the stone-floored entry hall at the opposite corner. Radiation from the mass makes all surfaces in sight warm, yet the heater surfaces are only pleasantly warm, not uncomfortably hot. The lofts are always the warmest places aside from right next to the heater.

I would love to visit someone with a RMH as well. Is there anyone near Indiana or Michigan who could give me a tour?

I don’t know how post a thread can someone help me get started on a 8” batch box heater? Just have a bunch of silly questions that needed answering. If you be kind enough to pm or call me let me know!? Thanks so much! I’m so glad to find this site!

Hi, Von, Welcome to Permies!
To start a new thread, choose your forum (Rocket Mass Heaters) and click New Topic.

Name your thread appropriately, perhaps "Help with new Batchbox."
Tell us about your location, what temperatures are expected, and the size of the area you are trying to heat.
What kind of building are you wanting to heat?
This will keep all replies on your topic.
With the information we currently have, I can tell you that not many spaces require an eight-inch Batchbox.

I live in Wisconsin. My zone is 5b. I have a hoop house 100 ft by 30 ft double insulated with plastic. The under layer plastic is 8 feet tall 100 feet long and 30 wide. I want to build two 8 inch batch boxes on each end. On the inside along the wall of the greenhouse, I want to dig a ditch underground and insulate and add mass on top of it. The ground will be flat when I finish and I will build a water tank all around 6 inches off the ground. The tank will be 4W X 2H X 250L, with wood and rubber liner, all around the mass. As the mass is heated, it also heats the tank all around. The 6 inch gap from tank to the to the ground can be vented to control water. This is just an idea not sure what obstacles I will face or if it’s even possible. My biggest issue is insulating the mass so it doesn’t escape into the earth. The other problem I’m thinking is that because the mass is so long and takes a long time to heat, will I even achieve air draft into the chimney. My solution is to use a propane heater to heat the long mass tube and close off the chimney letting the warm gas back into the hoop house. Another solution is to have a small heater and heat the chimney to pull air. Please help. I never build one and yet tackling such a big task but I need this to work!!! This is like one step further to heat efficiency transfer. I just don’t know the basic yet so help!

thomas rubino wrote:Hi, Von, Welcome to Permies!
To start a new thread, choose your forum (Rocket Mass Heaters) and click New Topic.

Name your thread appropriately, perhaps "Help with new Batchbox."
Tell us about your location, what temperatures are expected, and the size of the area you are trying to heat.
What kind of building are you wanting to heat?
This will keep all replies on your topic.
With the information we currently have, I can tell you that not many spaces require an eight-inch Batchbox.