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all (41!) of the rocket mass heaters and rocket contraptions at wheaton labs (with pics!)

posted 9 years ago

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here is a list of all the rocket mass heaters and rocket stoves at wheaton labs. there are links to their individual threads as well, some of them have great, super-detailed threads, some of them don't. feel free to start a thread about an individual one if you think it necessary and post a think to it in this thread.

and there are some videos too!

pebble style rocket mass heater in fisher price house

You can see the build of this one in the better wood heat videos

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rocket mass heater in a tipi

You can see the build of this one in the better wood heat videos

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6-inch RMH in the red cabin (installed October 2022)

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pebble style rocket mass heater in 'the library'

You can see the build of this one in the better wood heat videos

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8" batch box rocket mass heater in the shop/classroom

You can see the build of this one in the better wood heat videos

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minnie mouse heater for tiny houses

You can see the build of this one in the better wood heat videos

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rocket mass heater in cooper cabin

You can see the build of this one in the better wood heat videos

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6-inch RMH in Bartell's Bunkhouse

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6-inch pebble style RMH in the solarium

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Batch Box RMH in the Wood Shop

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bun warmer

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season extender

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The cottage rocket mass heater as it is being constructed:

It has now been fully installed and tested - we just need to take some pics!

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the new double shoebox

The double shoebox has been reworked and installed. It still needs a bit of polish and proper pics/video

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Rockety Things
(that are not rocket mass heaters)

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rocket oven

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rocket water heater at the dish washing station

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rocket water heater at the shower shack

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8-inch modular rocket forge, kiln, and crucible

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rocket stove kiln

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lasse's rocket cook stove

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the lorena cooktop with rapid boil dutch oven

Rockety things that are currently not installed

fat rabbit batch box rocket heater

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Rockety things that are no longer here

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rocket oven, griddle and water heater (cockit-lockit-rocket)

Tim Barker scavanged this to create ....

You can see the build of this one in the better wood heat videos

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the barker's baker: a rocket oven, griddle and hot water heater

Tim scavanged this to create the stand alone rocket oven and the standalone vertical rocket hot water heater.

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rocket mass heater in allerton abbey (first wofati)

The person that created this tried too many new things at once and ended up with something that didn't work. Peter van den Berg modified it to work in the short term as a "rocket heater" but then created the double shoe box rocket cook stove to replace it.

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ring of fire rocket mass heater

This lasted several years. It was built quickly and because it was exposed to the elements, it wasn't expected to last terribly long. It's parts were reclaimed for other projects in 2017.

You can see the build of this one in the better wood heat videos

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rocket mass heater cooker/smoker

You can see the build of this one in the better wood heat videos

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quartz barrel rocket mass heater

This was a one time thing so we could what it looked like inside the barrel.

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2 inch system

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cyclone heater in the red cabin

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COMMENTS:

paul wheaton

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Location: missoula, montana (zone 4)

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posted 9 years ago

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Evan is putting on some low cost workshops here - like $50 for a week - where you can try out heaps of rocket mass heaters:

https://permies.com/t/52318//PEA-Workshops-Permaculture-Experience-Ava

Or, you can just come out and, say, stay in the tipi for a few days, or one of the other buildings with a rocket mass heater:

https://permies.com/t/52814/labs/rent-tipi-cabin-wofati-wheaton

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John McDoodle

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posted 9 years ago

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I've seen about 7 or 8 of these online already. I've been all over the highway, like horse tracks

.

I really like the 8" batch box, near the top of your list.

Is your lab here in Canada?

positively optimistic 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/@613Builds

Glenn Herbert

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posted 9 years ago

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Wheaton Labs is in Montana, near Missoula.

Brian Clugston

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Location: Perry County PA

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posted 8 years ago

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So I bought the dvd sets and Love the info off of them.
As I'm going through these i don't see something that I'm curious if anyone has tried. Most of the piping runs on an incline then to the stack.
And all the pipes run in a mass for sitting on , etc. Has anyone tried to do a vertical mass against a wall?
My thinking is if someone had a basement like a dirt floor basement, running the pipes so they zig zag up the sides of the wall, then packed in with cob, masonary work or what have you creating a radiant heat in the basement that warms the floor above or something to that effect.

James Wisco

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posted 8 years ago

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Brian - check this out - http://www.heatkit.com/research/2009/lopez-rocket.htm
(sorry for temporarily hijacking the thread. back to your regularly scheduled RMH tour at Wheaton Labs)

Brian Clugston

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Location: Perry County PA

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posted 8 years ago

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kinda....but i was thinking with the duct work starting at the bottom and winding its way up to the top inside kinda like an old wooden marble machine toy, then filling in the wall with stone or something. instead of an giant open center.

Su Ba

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posted 8 years ago

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Every turn in the chimney is like adding feet to the length. After a few turns the chimney is in danger of not drawing. Thus the stove develops an airlock and the fire goes out (or smokes into the room). I don't know the formula for determining the maximum amount of chimney the stove could support, but in my early years of heating my home with a wood stove I made the mistake of putting too many bends in the stove pipe.

It's never too late to start! I retired to homestead on the slopes of Mauna Loa, an active volcano. I relate snippets of my endeavor on my blog : www.kaufarmer.blogspot.com

paul wheaton

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Location: missoula, montana (zone 4)

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posted 7 years ago

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Tracy and I updated the first post a lot. Anything we left out? Any mistakes?

I'm gonna add this image to a few ...

wood-heat-videos-220.png

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Adrien Lapointe

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posted 7 years ago

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any more pictures of the cottage rocket mass heater? Some people are having difficulties to visualize it from the discussion in this thread

paul wheaton

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posted 7 years ago

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Adrien Lapointe wrote:any more pictures of the cottage rocket mass heater? Some people are having difficulties to visualize it from the discussion in this thread

I think there are a few more pics in the jamboree thread.

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Chris McClellan

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posted 7 years ago

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Adrien,
Cottage Rocket, Workshop Model
Here you go, thanks to Attilio.

Cottage-Rocket-Workshop-Model-(short)-Wheaton-Labs-October-2017-Jamboree.jpg

Cottage-Rocket-Workshop-Model-(short)-Wheaton-Labs-October-2017-Jamboree-3.jpg

You can follow my latest adventures at
https://www.unclemud.com
https://www.youtube.com/unclemud
https://permies.com/u/164246/Chris-McClellan
Buy my stuff at https://unclemud.com/store/

Coco Fernandez

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posted 6 years ago

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The allerton abbey

Best before photo I have

Thanks,
Coco
Fernandez

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paul wheaton

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posted 6 years ago

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A new video about the rocket cooktop at allerton abbey

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Joe Repella

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posted 5 years ago

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I watch every video that I can find and have heated with wood for many years. Want to build in my building have an auto shop and apartment all in one building so I am able to feed fires regularly, my biggest question is chimney draw in the fisher price house there must be a really good draw and you stated it was very hot. Could you incorporate a damper in the system? Thanks Joe

John F Dean

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posted 5 years ago

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Hi Joe,

Welcome to Permies!

If there is one thing the Wizard of Oz has taught me, it is not to trust school teachers on bicycles.

Joe Repella

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posted 5 years ago

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Joe Repella wrote:I watch every video that I can find and have heated with wood for many years. Want to build in my building have an auto shop and apartment all in one building so I am able to feed fires regularly, my biggest question is chimney draw in the fisher price house there must be a really good draw and you stated it was very hot. Could you incorporate a damper in the system? Thanks Joe

Collin Dach

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posted 5 years ago

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Can a clay flu be used as the heat riser of the j tube in the barrel as long as it is cut to the right height? P.S. What is the correct clearance required between the inside of the barrel an the top of the heat riser?

Gerry Parent

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posted 5 years ago

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Hi Collin, Welcome to Permies! Nice to see a fellow Canuck interested in rocket mass heaters.

A clay flue liner or tube will not make for a very long lasting heat riser. It just can't handle the thermal shock and will more than likely crack and break apart in a very short time.
The bronze option would be to make a perlite/clay riser. The silver option would be to make an insulated firebrick riser. The gold option would be to make what is called a 5 minute riser out of ceramic wool. Lots of information has been written about all three of these (including more) in the forums, so let us know if there is more information your looking for.

There is no real correct clearance, but rather a minimum clearance of at least 2-3". This is to help avoid a bottleneck which can lead to drafting problems when it starts to accumulate ash over time and restricting the flow of gasses. So based on your goals, if your looking to cook on top, then stick to the minimum, but if not then it would be better to go more and not have any problems.

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Christine Circe

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posted 3 years ago

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This thread has a bunch of things that are not up to date should we move them to Rockety thing that no longer here?

Updates:
Cyclone Heater Doesn't Exist
Minnie Mouse in Love shack??
rmh cooker smoker n/a?

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paul wheaton

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posted 3 years ago

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cyclone has been removed

minnie mouse is in the love shack now

smoker has been removed

the old kiln has been removed

---

new kiln / forge

new rmh in the solarium

new rocket heater in the wood shop (liberator)

new rmh in the red cabin (gamera)

new rmh in bartell's bunkhouse

what about the two water heaters? We even have videos about them.

the cottage rocket is now in the dog star

the lorena

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Saana Jalimauchi

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posted 1 year ago

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A pre-trailer for the upcoming Freaky Cheap Heat Movie!

In this video you can see clips from the movie featuring the latest J-tube rocket mass heater in the Red Cabin, the rebuid of the rocket mass heater in the Library and the new batchbox rocket heater in the workshop.

Tina Wolf

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posted 1 year ago

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I saw Paul mention the Minnie Mouse is in the Love Shack now. This video just came out showing an improvement made to it. A mud hat to make it hold and distribute the heat better. Always a good thing in winter!