More aesthetically pleasing heat chamber...?

Ah yes, I am curious as to some ideas for a more aesthetically pleasing heat chamber for a rocket mass heater. I understand that the metal drums and such are probably the best for efficient heating and circulatory process but I was curious if anyone has come up with something else that might look a bit better? I had considered covering it mostly with the cob mix but this would decrease my "instant gratification" heat and with the way the weather is here in the Ozarks , that is definitely a must. Thanks!

Hi Alisha; Check out mine, mostly covered by cobb with a row of 2" tiles for color. Instant heat gratification is still 100%

The general advice here is that the system needs something to radiate the heat out quickly to make the system function. When you cover the barrel in cob, the top of the riser becomes the same temperature as the bottom, and you loose the chimney effect, and you end up getting smoke coming back out of the burn chamber. You can put a screen up if you don't like the barrel, or you could make a custom barrel out of nicer metal, maybe with some designs etched in, but you need something that will dissipate the heat the the top of the riser quickly to maintain the rockety-ness of the stove so it will function.

I imagine surrounding the barrel in bricks or stacked stone with a good few inches of airspace between the sides of the barrel and the bricks. There could be a couple of courses at the bottom that have spaces between the bricks to allow air to enter, be heated by the barrel (or cool the barrel) and exit at the top.

Here's a couple pics as an example of the spaces between bricks to allow airflow-


http://mitsubishielectricarchitect.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Brick-Wall.jpg

There's a thread by Erica Wisner which addresses this.
https://permies.com/t/12578/rocket-stoves/Oil-Drum-Living-Room-design

Tom OHern wrote:The general advice here is that the system needs something to radiate the heat out quickly to make the system function. When you cover the barrel in cob, the top of the riser becomes the same temperature as the bottom, and you loose the chimney effect, and you end up getting smoke coming back out of the burn chamber.

See that was what I was some of my concerns.






I do like the idea of creating a screen with some of the metals that were shown in one of the above links. I am curious about the bricks since that would allow air flow and when they get warm they would also radiate heat for a bit perhaps. I am also trying to design my home with proper chi and unfortunately metal is something that I need to avoid seeing a lot of so that is why I was curious. I like the way it looks with the tile but general worry of air draft and instant gratification with my system is still there.


Thanks guys! If anyone else stumbles upon this please share! I am always checking out new ideas....and I love photos!

thomas rubino wrote:Hi Alisha; Check out mine, mostly covered by cobb with a row of 2" tiles for color. Instant heat gratification is still 100%

Do you have any issues with lack of suction through chimney?

Thomas rubino wrote:
Hi Alisha; Check out mine, mostly covered by cobb with a row of 2" tiles for color. Instant heat gratification is still 100%
No not at all, I do have 1/4 barrel exposed. If I had covered it completely I would have expected the loss of my heat pump. I also have a tall chimney all inside after my mass , that creates its own draw as well.

Creating the "draw effect" can be accomplished (as Thomas has demonstrated) by other means than just the "metal barrel." I love RMH, yet must point out once again that this is just another form of masonry heater and all of them run on very similar principles...many of which can be overlapped with each other in design.

A squirrel cage fan attached to a deep cell 12 volt battery and solar panel can also be a very effective "cure" for a design that is not achieve good draw...especially when first started. Not my first choice, yet I do place these fans in many of my past designs just to augment combustion and draw should I need it.

It looks like in Thomas's case, he has achieve good draw by exposing only the required amount of mental and having a taller chimney.