How hot should the barrel get ?

Dave Lot wrote:

Found out the chimney was shadowing one of my panels really badly . . so the chimney had too go . .

And ... now the stove runs like crap.

Luckily, it snowed, and covered the panels with 6 inches of snow . . . put the chimney back up, and the stove works good . . . hmmm . . . can live without hydro . . can't live without heat . . . chimney stays.

O.k. . . . I had too put the chimney back up . .. I guess you could say that I am making a trade off . . in the winter time, it is MOSTLY cloudy, so the solar panels are not producing as much power . . when the sun goes down, the angle of the sun is such, that it makes a large shadow across one of the panels . . . In the summer time, the sun should be straight overhead, so when the sun sets - the shadow will miss the panels. . .

That is my story, and I am sticking too it . .

At least I can get warm now. . .

Here is an update for you guys and gals . . .

I really want to see how this heater coil is going to heat the house this winter, so to that end, I went out and picked up 80 feet of pex tubing, and ran two lines from the rocket stove - into the house.
First I ran the pipes, then supported them with concrete blocks and 2x6's.  Since wood is an insulator, it should be better than sitting on the cold concrete . . Then covered the pipes with a piece of old eavstroughing to keep the pipes and foam dry...

Just inside the back kitchen wall, I installed the low temperature radiator, and it blows out alot of heat - anywhere from 90 - 115 F.... so it should work good for this project . ..

On the rocket side of this thing, I only installed one pail and the pump . .  since I don't want to use alot of energy heating water - but heating the house.

You will notice the drain tap on the far right of the copper piping . . . I kept hitting the darn handle, so - problem solved - remove the handle ....

While I was tinkering with the plumbing, I realized that the hottest area on that barrel is the top half, so I concentrated the pipe in that area...

First, put two lines of strapping on the inside of the pipe coil...

Then by using two large clamps,  pumping the clamps slowly closed and raising the coil up nice and tight at the top . . .

Notice that the top of the clamp is overhanging to catch both the barrel and the coil....

Then fold over the strapping and bolt the ends together. . .

Once that is done, take the remaining ends of the strapping and bolt them together to keep the coil at the top - and the hottest - part of the barrel.

finished the install, by filling the pail with water, and pumping it around the loop, until it falls back into the pail.  Once the pump is turned off, it still sucks the air back into the line, draining the coil on the stove.

Glycol antifreeze should be here Tuesday...

Bring on the cooler weather  . .

I would like to apologize for the multiple posts, but the reply section of this forum drives me nuts !!!
All the other forums I go onto, let me type - post picture - type - post picture .  . . and when you review it, it shows you the picture !
When I hit the preview button here - nothing changes . .  just shows me the printing.

So I figured out how to keep the pics and the text together.

Well guys, it finally happened....

Went out into the shop, and fired up the rocket stove . . had it burning nice and hot, so I decided to take  picture of the temp gauge . . pegged up as high as it would go . .

Then realized that the barrel was glowing !

The water system is also helping to heat the house . . . it's not enough to heat the house on it's own . .  without more tubing to absorb more heat . .  but it works .  . .

Excellent documentation of your build, burn cycles, and results!  Thank you!

 Barrel sure is getting good and hot there!

 You could put a big stainless or aluminum crab cooker pot on top and add a drain at the bottom on the side feeding back over to the bucket, and pump water into that too, for safe, open vessel collection of heat from the (presumably) hottest point on the barrel...

 I had a thought about that chimney blocking the solar panel... Could you turn the elbow at the wall exit to go up at a 45, and then use a 45 elbow to come up more even with the back/higher end of the solar panels to avoid shading any of them?

Matthew Goheen wrote:

 You could put a big stainless or aluminum crab cooker pot on top and add a drain at the bottom on the side feeding back over to the bucket, and pump water into that too, for safe, open vessel collection of heat from the (presumably) hottest point on the barrel...

I have been tossing around ideas for getting more heat out of the stove - to heat the house with . . .  from a pot on top .... to a welded round plate affair - big enough to fit inside the lip of the barrel  .  . . about 6 inches high, with a valve on either side . .  a sealed unit - since I have an open ended pipe for the pressure to get out . . . but - at the same time, I want too keep the steam release too a minimum inside the building . . . doing clear coat fiber glassing in there . . .

Matthew Goheen wrote: I had a thought about that chimney blocking the solar panel... Could you turn the elbow at the wall exit to go up at a 45, and then use a 45 elbow to come up more even with the back/higher end of the solar panels to avoid shading any of them?

Ya... not sure about that darn chimney . . . I am tempted to leave it were it is, but then every kilowatt of power adds up !

I guess since the insurance company would cancel my insurance on the shed when they find out about the rocket, I can do whatever I want . . .first idea is I could shorten the chimney down too roof level, and see how the stove runs  ?  I would like to keep the chimney in straight runs - so using your  idea - If I understand you right , I could turn the existing 90 elbow going straight up - too make a 45, towards the high side of the roof  - up too the level that I need  - then at the very end put a 45 with the cap on it, too keep it as straight as possible right too the end   . .  thanks for the idea . . .

While heating up the workshop, too get it warm enough to work in.  I have realized one very important thing about my rocket stove.  That is, DO NOT  let the embers of the fire build up directly under the wood.  I find I can burn the stove far longer and hotter, by following these steps :

Load up the stove and get it burning good.
let the load of wood burn down until you can barely see any wood left - some chunks of wood, but not very many large ones.
Take a long - thin - flat piece of wood, and by using it as a mini shovel - shove the coals and bits back into the burn tunnel- give it a good hard flip, as far back as you can go l - where it is REALLY  hot - too encourage them too burn faster.
Load up the stove with another load of wood - and repeat.

I find that softwood will plug up the burn tunnel after 3 loads, (since it burns so fast), but I have done 5 loads of " 2 finger" sized hardwood easily . . . and only  shut it down too go to bed . .

I have too use a long thin piece of wood to push it back, because after 3 or 4 loads of wood, the radiant heat coming from the bottom of the burn tunnel - can melt my glasses to my face... not too mention burn the fingers - fast !

Just a suggestion for you guys and gals !

Great thread Dave. Keep up the good work and keep us up to date.