Harnessing the heat in the form of steam

I've been thinking about how the rocket stove works and a few things come to mind. If you were to super heat water you could do quite a bit with the steam. It seems likely that you could have a fairly efficient steam engine/power if you wanted to go that route. Or a heating system where you could move the steam to other rooms and even heat a secondary clay seating area, floors, heated bath/shower, etc. I'm early in my thought process around this, but I don't want to repeat other's efforts either. (Didn't the Romans use steam extensively?)

Am I missing something as to this potential? You would likely require more wood because you're pulling out more energy from the local system.

Does anyone have any experience leveraging the rocket stove system to drive a steam system?

I also recommend you take a look at Mr. Teslonian's gasifier stove devices/accessories on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrTeslonian/videos?shelf_id=5&view=46&sort=dd&tag_id=UCVP1PTBbRGpmTQE1oQx8xNw.3.gasifier
He also has a few thermo-electric effect accessories.

Eric Bauswell: Two words, Boom Squish ! Goto> U-Tube and watch a Mythbusters Exploding hot water Heater Video, Think the Boston Marathon Bombing, only
with more Full Thickness, Full body Burns ! Big AL !

Go to this link for heat storage other than mass http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVpseNZI9vY&feature=c4-overview&list=UUHVAng_sQGlfp6yf6tdBJNw , His other video is good and show how water is a better heat storage than mass. open system not closed so no boom!!

Hi Eric,

building a steam engine is probably not in the DIY range. But you can buy wood burning steam engines driving a generator. They are already highly efficient, so it is unlikely they would benefit from a rocket stove design.

There is also the concept to use the heat loss of a heater to produce electricity. The more efficient systems of this type usually incorporate a sterling engine. Not in the DIY range either.

On the other hand, if you are that kind of engineer to build and calculate one of theese, squish boom is probably not an issue.

Couple considerations I've gone through:

If you're going to make pressure, look into your local regulations on boilers. In Virginia they have to be inspected annually, whether you use it or not. If the inspector has to travel it's on you to pay his expenses. You can't work on it unless you're a certified boilermaker. Myriad ETC.

You need at least two methods to supply water to a boiler at working pressure. Condensers need to be large to recover all the water unless there is another source, then you're using extra energy to heat cold water.