Satamax, thank you for the links; there's so much information there and it's fascinating!
Here's a question for you (and whoever else feels like jumping in!), and although it may seem a bit, er,
persnickity, here it goes: We have spent the last 5 years figuring out how to build our house. Finally figured out a system that works for us. We've known the whole time that we would either build a RMH or just install a
wood burning stove (I know, I know...). Well, the house is finally "getting there" and our experimenting faculties have been spent. We would really love to install a RMH based on time-tested "what works" methods without trying to improve upon, experiment, or otherwise tinker with a system much. That's not to say that we assume you can just throw up a RMH like you would install a refrigerator or set a vase on a table. We get that there are variables based on individual situations. However, we understand that there is a method with sound mathematical and scientific principles in place. All that's to say, as I look through the batch burn RMH information, it appears that all of that lot of the deal is still in the works, whereas "traditional" (HA!) RMH's have had time to settle into their own conventions. Am I WAY off? Given our situation, would building a RMH "by the book" be the wisest move for us? Meaning mass bench, central location, yada yada... Also, we are not welders or metal fabricators or expert masons (we obviously can stack stuff straight, etc.). We do well with
wood and dirt. Oh, and gravel. I hate gravel. It's expensive to have delivered, hard to shovel and *necessary*, and we've moved something like 90 tons of it by hand over the past 5 years. But I digress.
Background, this is a bale-cob house with a well insulated metal roof and insulated earth-bag (gravel filled-ha!) stemwall in central Oklahoma. We are zone 7 (b?) and considered sub-tropical. We suffer more from drought and fires than floods and storms, although we do have our traditional tornado seasons with short bursts of driving rains in the spring. We occupy the highest elevation in our area, and therefore never see the flood part of our state's storm season. Our heat index can reach 115F+ in summer and an average high temp of 94F. Our wind chill in winter can be in the single digits, but not too often and not for long. Our coldest month is traditionally January, with an average low of 29F. We have a long growing (and therefore building) season with our last frost date set at April 15 and our first frost date at October 15.
The house is situated on a gentle southern slope, facing SSE. We have windows on the south side of the house (3 rather large ones for the living space, then 1 in each bedroom), none on the west, 1 on the north and 1 on the east all placed with winter
solar gain and summer airflow in mind. We have a 24-ish inch overhang all around the house.
Taking all that into consideration, gimme your best guess: what heat source would YOU use? Also, there are 7 of us. This is a 2700 ft2 house with 3 bedrooms. The living space is completely open and amounts to something like half of the total square footage, with the bedrooms, bathroom, laundry/family closet off a hallway, and each of those rooms (excepting the bathroom) will have open-able transom windows above the doors. We have 30+ linear feet available for a mass bench with a 90 degree turn (SW corner of the house) about 2/3 of the way through. There is a whole-house fan centrally located with gable-end fans in each end of the attic. Can't think of anything else, but if there's something else you need to consider, lemme know. Oh! and ceiling fans. There will be ceiling fans. Also, it's "off grid" with
solar power for electricity and propane cooking/
water heater. In addition, all of the "heat producers" are located on the N. side of the wall ie, oven/stove,
water heater,
dryer (although we only use that when hanging laundry outside isn't an option and we can't hang it inside for whatever reason. This is rare.) We are not installing radiant floor heat.
**Deep Breath**
So, lay it on me, if you will.
Blessings upon you for reading through all that and for your thoughtful responses.
Zee
