I have a small room that will get some humidity from earth behind a wall (I cannot dug, no way!)
I have the idea that the air from the room will be sucked by each fire, creating some air circulation and removing humidity.
My idea comes from crossing 2 facts I heard about:
1) I read the advice to close the mouth feed after the fire, so that the hot air will not go away from the room.
2) People from the countryside say that a good old chimney is the best for drying a house.
This cannot be only from the heat, as the water changed into vapor must go away for a real drying effect!
I guess that vapor goes away with the heat, through the chimney.
-> So I conclude that if I can afford to loose some warm air (anyway the conduction effect is what I first need!)
then each time I make a fire, and more over if I do not close the fire place when the fire is off, then a draft will be created and will replace some room's air with air from outside (or according to the entry of air I will provide).
I believe this effect can be typical of any open fire versus closed fire (those behing a window).
Have some folks already noticed some drying effects in a place that is heated by a rocket?
Xisca - pics! Dry subtropical Mediterranean - My project However loud I tell it, this is never a truth, only my experience...
Xisca : Yes, a friend does water bath canning, mostly Apple sauce and Tomatoes, and finds that her windows steam up less when she uses the RMH to can. Certainly,the
area right around the RMH will be dryer, However if you have highly porous rock it may always be damp when the water table is high ! Best Regards Big AL!
Success has a Thousand Fathers , Failure is an Orphan
Thanks Allen, hope some other testimonies will show the same!
Did not think about humidity from cooking,
good example.
Such drying might be a not so much mentionned advantage of a rocket...
Just for the smile... There is no water table here, just rain water coming from above. All homes have at least one side of the house underground, as flat soily lands are for growing! Everybody has infiltrations here just when it rains.
Xisca - pics! Dry subtropical Mediterranean - My project However loud I tell it, this is never a truth, only my experience...
I don't think that is a particular advantage of a rocket, any woodstove has that drying effect--probably more of one because they are less efficient (drawing more air per amount of heat generated).
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R. Scott, that's what I would have thought before!
...until I learnt that old people here say that a chimney dries better.
I live in a place where rain has not been taken into account because it does not rain a lot.
So believe me that it is to a point that when it rains,
I have seen buckets for dripping water even in modern new shops or bars!!!
A lot of people's clothes or books smell dampness and most people have no heating (or heat 1 room)...
So I decided to pay attention to this telling...
And looked for a reason. "any woodstove" has a door, it is closed. ok, there is some air input, but not that much when you reduce the entry and let the big log glimmer for hours.
A chimney and a rocket stove move more air because they are opened.
The difference is the temperature of this air.
Xisca - pics! Dry subtropical Mediterranean - My project However loud I tell it, this is never a truth, only my experience...
R Scott wrote:probably more of one because they are less efficient (drawing more air per amount of heat generated).
I do not understand what you mean.
I add one more thing about stoves.
Of course they all dry because any heat will transform liquid water into gaz water.
This does not mean that this steam leaves the house!
Another example: the wind makes the snow melt much better than the sun.
Xisca - pics! Dry subtropical Mediterranean - My project However loud I tell it, this is never a truth, only my experience...
If the wall which you wish to dry has an unlimited moisture supply, any heat soiurce including a rocket mass heater raise your specific humidity (the total amount of water vapor in the space also occupied by air), since energy is wat converts liquid water to vapor and keeps it as vapor. So if the wall is cement and the soil on the other side is saturated keeping that room hot will give the apperance of a dry surface and you may have a lower relative humidity, but you will certailny have a higher specific humidity which may cause problems elswhere in the house as it condensates on surfaces which have a dew point lower than the dew point of the environment, which is typically northern exposed areas with slight or no airflow or inside walls. By baking this one room you may cause a bunch of other problems. It is best to fix the water intrusion, and yes anything can be fixed.
A berm makes a great wind break. And we all like to break wind once in a while. Like this tiny ad: