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season extender rocket mass heater - for inside of a greenhouse or .... outside

 
author and steward
Posts: 50787
Location: missoula, montana (zone 4)
hugelkultur trees chicken wofati bee woodworking
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This is a creation of uncle mud.

Quite simply, this is a rocket mass heater embedded in a hugelkultur bed.









In the spring we are going to add more soil, seeds and mulch.  It will be a couple feet taller.  


This is an excellent example of a stratification chamber:  made of several barrels welded together.   The rocket exhaust is pushed into the far end of the stratification chamber.   And then exhaust is pulled from the bottom of the stratification chamber near the vertical barrels.  The vertical exhaust actually passes through the inside of the vertical barrels.  And the vertical barrels are insulated on the inside, so the heat is pushed into the stratification chamber (rather than radiating out the barrel (for quick heat) like most rocket mass heaters).    


Some construction pics:














 
pollinator
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Location: Burton, Ohio
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This was really fun to build. We really stretched the limit with six drums in the underground bell (stratification chamber). If I did it again I would cut it down to 5 barrels so there is more heat left in the chimney at the end. The chimney going up through the vertical barrel and being heated really makes a difference in pulling that big plug of cold air out of the bell. I envision this being used in a greenhouse embedded in the floor or in a pebble mass bench so you can water seedlings on it. That doesn't work with a cob bench.

I have built a similar one in a cob bench in a straw bale schoolhouse near Cleveland Ohio and a smaller one in my house. The bell provides a nice even heat and costs a lot less time, money and hassle to build than the pipe in the cob bench thermal mass.--Uncle Mud
IMG_20171009_163404248.jpg
season-extender-rocket-mass-heater-for-greenhouse
 
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Location: Cincinnati, Ohio,Price Hill 45205
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So cool.
The transition,did you just notch out the horizontal barrel and then pack cob into the gaps?

I know in ground RMH are often said to lose too much heat to the surrounding earth, a mound subverts that some. Any concerns about pyrolizing the wood in the mound?

 
paul wheaton
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hugelkultur trees chicken wofati bee woodworking
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See more of the season extender rocket mass heater:

 
paul wheaton
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A very complete description with uncle mud

 
Chris McClellan
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William the buried portions don't get hot enough to melt anything. They are pretty evenly about 105 deg F.
 
Looky! I'm being abducted by space aliens! Me and this tiny ad!
An EPA Certified and Building Code/UL Compliant Rocket Stove!!!!!
EPA Certified and UL Compliant Rocket Heater
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