newbie rocketeer

hi all!! i have been watching videos about rocket stoves and mass heaters and i have some questions. please don't hate, i'm new to all this. i have a 24x32x13 workshop pole building with metal sides and roof, open rafters and no insulation. i installed a pellet stove that was originally heating my house into the garage, and it barely takes the edge off on the really cold days we have had in my area this year (NE). i use the shop for a hot rod n such and projects, i was using a propane turbo heater but that is expensive to run. i was looking to sell my stove to gather funds to build one of these rocket mass stoves. do you guys think it will work?? i would like to not have to finish the inside of workshop, maybe at worst close off ceiling, but could one of these heat an area like that?? or am i reaching for the stars??

Need insulation, then a rocket stove would work. Now, you are trying to heat the outdoors.

Cindy Mathieu wrote:Need insulation, then a rocket stove would work. Now, you are trying to heat the outdoors.

Exact same answer from me!

Any cost effective way to insulate a building of that size? I really like those mass stoves as pellets are getting expensive!

Joe; If you put a RMH in your uninsulated shop you will at least have a warm spot to sit on and a warm spot to set your tools,BUT your air temp will still be chilly. Plan on running the heater right down the middle of the shop ,so a car can sit next to it. Your pellet stove is not going to do the job at all , a regular double barrel wood stove would do more, but a rmh is the answer. Untill you can afford to insulate your shop nothing will keep it truly warm but putting plastic on the walls and drop ceiling will help to keep it temperate. If you want to insulate but have no $ then saw dust , wood shavings , newspaper, cardboard anything that can fill the void ,bubble wrap with big bubbles works very well in my greenhouse and is readily avalable. Good luck Tom

this is all great information, i've been hearing rumors in my area of a place that recycles insulation products from construction sites, i was going to try and find them and maybe see
what foam board would be cost wise there, does anyone here have experience with foam boards.

i'll get some pictures of interior of building so y'all can see what i have so far

Satamax Antone wrote:

Cindy Mathieu wrote:Need insulation, then a rocket stove would work. Now, you are trying to heat the outdoors.

Exact same answer from me!

I will third this motion!

Joe, strawbales on the inside wouldn't do it?

How do you insulate with strawbales, sounds interesting?

joe clarke wrote:How do you insulate with strawbales, sounds interesting?

Inside, outside, whatever takes your fancy.

https://www.google.fr/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=&oq=retrofit+strawbale+insulation&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4SAVJ_enFR550FR551&q=retrofit+strawbale+insulation&gs_l=hp....0.0.1.38890...........0.qDgvzPkFWJw

use lime between the layers to stop animals living in it. If your building is metallic, carefull of the condensation if you do inside retrofiting. Tho, corrugated steel should let air pass around the bales. On the cheap, hold the bales with osb on the inside, and threaded rod through the balles and steel. Two rods per pannel of osb should be good enough. You're loosing some space tho. Just pilling them up on the outside and replacing every ten years is good enough too.

i went to our sports complex and got Styrofoam sheets 4'x5' x 2" thick, for free. they get frozen food on pallets encased in this. they were just tossing it into the dumpster. you could cover ceiling and walls in it then just tape the joints. mite take all summer to gather it though.