Rocket Mass Heater For Renters

    My girlfriend and I rent. Tthe house is a small little two bed one bath. Originally the house relied on the heat from an old pellet stove, the owner informed us that it is not working and should not be used... the two bird nests in the exhaust pipe is probably not helping the cause. Base board heaters are the only other source of heat for the home. So, I've decided it's time to bust out the chisels and the ryoba and make a rocket mass heater that can be removed once we leave the house. For the last several weeks I've been planning and plotting to build an RMH that can be constructed inside the house as modularly as possible. Much like Paul did, I plan to build the stove inside of a wooden cradle. Rather than Cob I'm planning to use river rocks from fist to head sized that will be surrounded by used bricks and held together around the exhaust  pipes by a wooden frame held together by a series of joints.
    During my time at Evergreen I worked with a man that for many years was an artisan furniture maker. He was trained in both the western and eastern traditions and methods of woodworking. Many of the methods will seem common but there application in the proper format will allow the frame to support the weight of the rocks and brick.
I have almost completed all of the designs for this project and I'll be buying the wood for the project next week and begin he fabrication of the parts.
    I would like to welcome any and all to comment and contribute to this project. This will be my first attempt at a RMH and would love any input. I have a copy of Evans and Jackson's book and it has helped a lot but I would love some interaction. I am having issues posting images of my project . Please help me get these pictures up.

Well, I for one would love to see pics of your progress. Sounds interesting.

I've tried to post pictures but I'm not having any success... HELP ME PLEASE

03USMCWA_RAR wrote:
I've tried to post pictures but I'm not having any success... HELP ME PLEASE

When you post a reply, at the bottom left of the message box there's a line that says, Additional Options...  Click on that, and you'll get some new options that include ways to attach files.  Click on the "Browse" button to browse to the location of the picture files, select the file, and click "Open".

I've attached a picture to this message using these steps.  Happy posting!

Yes they are rough But I can read them

More

almost all of them

Done for now

Missed one

Comment on using river rock.  Moisture in rock expands. Had some explode when placed around a camp fire.  I do mean explode. Think Grenade!  Not familiar enough with this type of stove  to know if heat reached by pipes would compare to that around the edge of open fire. just wanted you to know this.

The rocks I'm using are not comming out of a continuously running river. The bed they are coming from has been dry since about mid March and by the time I harvest the rocks they'll have been sun dried for about four months. This should be enough to bak out most of the moisture. I do appreciate the concern and if I have issuse during the test runs I'll just use brick.

Is there a way to design a 4in system.

  Three issues come to mind immediately. One. Get permission to do this it's not your house. Two. If you're not doing this on a concrete floor then make damn sure that you protect the floor from heat and that it is capable of supporting the amount of weight you're adding. Three. If you want to store the heat for any length of time you'll need to put some sand around those rocks. It might also be a good idea to put a thermometer in the sand adjacent to the wood frame just so you know how hot it's getting.

03USMCWA_RAR wrote:
Is there a way to design a 4in system.

The recommended minimum is 6in. There have been people who have made 4in systems... One who seems to have one that draws well, has no mass involved and a chimney that draws quite well on it's own even with no fire. The other has a fan to help move the air (flue gas). So the answer is that it has been tried and doesn't work well or reliably.