JoeO Woodshop ! Welcome to
Permies.com, our sister site, and a Big Welcome to the Rocket and
Wood stove Forum Threads !
Here is a second to Glen Herberts excellent
Thread Extension ! If you were successful in creating a working 4'' system you would find it a little small
for your needs, with a very well sealed Garage Door(s) openings, the 6'' rocket is sufficient for your needs! however only 40% of the heat is prompt
heat that comes off of the barrel, the rest of the heat needs to be allowed to run through the thermal mass giving up its heat energy along the way!
Then it will take at least a couple of hours or more depending on construction for the heat energy to travel through the thermal mass to reach the
thermal masses radiating surfaces to give off the heat energy !
Because there is insulating air trapped between each and every grain of sand, back filling your Thermal bed with sand will S-l-o-w the transport of
heat through the Thermal mass. Largish stones, the size of an egg are a much better medium for heat transfer due to the larger Air pockets allowing
for heat transfer by convection! Better still is the conventional build with a clay mortar usually called
cob,and lots of very dense rock for backfill and
the careful elimination of any air pockets, this will speed up the transfer of heat through itself. The deeper the horizontal pipe is placed within the
thermal mass the more heat energy will be stored! the shallower it is placed within the core, the faster it will warm through and start warming your
work space with radiant heat ! This is heat that warms the objects it hits and not the air a further saving of heat energy !
Short version 40% is prompt heat, the other 60% will continue to heat this space for hours after the fire goes out, which is better than a very efficient
wood burner that still dumps its heat out of doors !
While you might find a second hand older edition copy of
Rocket Mass Heaters via Amazon
Books, or Alibris Books, I can highly recommend the
Brand New 3rd edition, direct from Evans and Jackson At
Rocketstoves.com , and recommend the Downloaded PDF copy that lets you be the
printer of as many copies as you can actually use ! One Low price, and if you are familiar with PDFs- puts the information immediately into your hand !
This book will quickly allow you to talk with your fellow members here at Permies.com knowing that you will be using the same simple terms to describe
the Size(s), Shape(s), and Orientation of the parts, both to the whole and to each other !
It will also save you Time. Money and Frustration as it helps guide you enroute to the final build of your own
Rocket Mass Heater RMH!
If there is a Rocket in your future Your fellowMembers here at Permies will help you find it ! For the good of the Craft ! Pyro-magically Big AL !
