Permaculture Enthusiast - New to the site. Rocket Stove Curious, Big Time...

Hello Permies.

New member here. Lurked for sometime and I knew it would be either Huglekulture or Rocket Stoves that got me to finally make an account & participate....

The timing is perfect because I just bought my first property, a sweet 3.5 acre piece in the interior of BC and now I can implement and experiment with many of the permaculture techniques i've been researching all these years.

As far as rocket stove go, i've seen a pile of youtubes, ordered and read some books, cruised the websites and am now letting it all sink in and swirl around a bit. Many questions are answered by further reading ,but there are a few things still foggy to me. Such as:

What are the current best ways to attach the barrel to the base of the heater where it sits? I understand through my reading that there are some newish techniques where a part/half barrel is embedded in the stove-base and the full barrel clips on to that by way of a barrel strap (or similar). I'm assuming the reason for this mod is to allow access for inspection/cleaning/repair of the riser area. I'm trying to grasp the basics but also get up to speed with innovation.

Basically I was wondering if anyone had the time to help link me to info regarding how the barrel is afixed to the base of the RMH (is it just cobbed in place) and if one uses the "barrel and a half" method with the lid strap, does anyone have a link as to how its done?

The other grey area for me is how the first piece of ducting that attaches to the under-barrel area is done. My limited understanding after reading the books and seeing the videos is that an opening/channel under the barrel , made of cob? , is built and then the T-shaped piece of ducting attaches to it. What material is used to make the exhaust channel? And how does that first ducting T get attached? Getting this connection right seems important, this is why I ask...

Anyhow,just saying hello and I would appreciate any help anyone can give.

Thanks in advance & sorry for the blatantly newbie questions.

PS: Just for clarity, what I'm hoping to build is a simple RMH cob-bench system for a small cabin using refractory brick riser, barrel and 8 inch ducting.

Howdy Alan, welcome to permies !
I am going to give your question a bump back to the top in hopes that some of our experts in RMH's will chime in.

alan stewart : I hope that I can be a little help, and maybe marshal my own thoughts. Here I am paraphrasing what Ernie And Erica Wisner Say, and I am pushing
my luck, if I don't get it right Erica will assume I was sleeping in class The 1st part is easy, build it outdoors first when the Barrel goes on you put up a Vertical
Chimney, this allows you to prove to yourself you have built a functioning Rocket, and then you can lay out the horizontal runs, add the vertical chimney back on
and test again !

Generally when you have your base finished you want to fire it up right away to promote drying, if you cob in the bottom of your barrel to the burner base and allow
the cob to set up around the Hot and Expanded metal rim you will lessen the chances of cracks appearing later from letting the base cure/dry completely and then
firing it !

Here I want you to Find the Forum Thread '' Rocket Mass Heater Shippable Core in the rocket stoves forum and clickon-> it
Then I want you to scroll down and look at the third picture, in this example any horizontal hole can be made through an arc of about 300 Degrees, add in the 360
degrees the rocket burner base can set, and your choices become almost infinite!

It is only important in this case that the wall of material of the Rocket burner base be thick enough to support the horizontal pipe (and clean out 'T' and Cap), but leave
enough room for the Transitional Area to be a couple of times bigger than the Constant cross sectional areas of the Feed Tube, Burn Tunnel, and Heat Riser!

A round shape holds the greatest volume in the smallest space, your Rocket Burner Base can be any shape that fits your space remembering the need for most of the
Feed Tube and Burn Tunnel to be insulated outside of the bricks making up the Tunnel!

I actually do not have a clue about a lid strap. If one could get barrels in good condition for $5 ,and get two 1/2 barrels, this might seem a cheaper way to build a Cob
Thermal Mass Bench, but I use mostly scrounged light weight ductwork for my Thermal Mass, so I have not investigated its structure Sorry, perhaps some one else
will attempt to answer that part of your question !

All sections of ducting stove pipe should be secured to its neighbors with short sheet metal screws or pop rivets this,and a thick sturdy wall that can be re-enforced
with hardware cloth or chicken wire. This should hold everything rigid during the Cob sealing of the Pipe before laying in stones, rocks or other heavy dense materials!

What is your location, 8'' is generous for a small cabin ! Though you did not state so, I am assuming that you plan on Refractory brick for your Feed Tube and Burn
tunnel. for the good of the craft ! Big AL !

Thanks very much for the info. I'll read up on those leads you gave.

I live in the interior of BC and generally it is about 20 F or so in a mild winter, but it can and does get colder. Right now I am just getting going on the land and have built a 12x16 cabin to start with. This cabin is built on cedar log skids, jacked up & on blocks, so it's not really conducive to a RMH system as the building could shift and what not.

I will take your advice and build my first one outside for some kind of project such as a sauna or another more permanent foundation structure like a small house or outdoor kitchen. I will definitely build whatever structure with RMH in mind from the beginning.

I'm looking forward to reading the info you mentioned. In the books I bought and have read they show how the barrel is attached to the base and the first ducting hooking onto the base, but it doesn't go into much specific detail about those connections and the materials used. Most videos I've seen skim over the topic briefly as well.

We'll its off to do some more homework ..

Thanks again.

alan stewart : Yes ! saunas are the perfect starter project ! You intuitively want a small sauna, and where do you put your thermal mass -under you! With high and
low screened vents the whole thing becomes a dehydrator, a small air lock facing due south will recharge your sauna and keep all the heat from escaping, and you
can experiment with having the Feed tube on the outside of your sauna and or go massless for a while ! Inside a small space like a sauna a 4'' system with just a
little horizontal run before your chimney should aways work and with a pre heat air lock be super easy to start ! Consider going to Aprovecho for plans for a cheap
summer kitchen w/ an improved Rocket cook Stove Big AL !

Big Al...

Sure enough I hadn't seen that thread yet. Very interesting, thanks. Now of course i'm thrown for a loop because those pics are state of the art, not seen before designs. As far as how the barrel attaches its easy to see those pics, but less so in many videos and books on RMHs.

I'll keep investigating.

Earlier I was asking if the manifold exit hole from the bottom of the barrel was okay being cob, or did it need to something stronger. In that pic you mentioned the whole shebang is cast.
Its going to take me awhile to get going and by the time I do there might be some good options available with casts. But I still will likely make a system with brick riser and basic setup. Looks like I may be able to buy a shippable core at some point in the future...maybe.

Also, great tip on rocket-sauna doubling as a mass dehydration unit !!! That is excellent.

Cheers

Thanks Allen Lumley !