[color=black] [/colorThis is our first build and any useful advice from experienced builders would be greatly appreciated.
Our situation is this: Our cottage has a 576 square foot slab for a floor, our existing 6 inch
wood stove chimney is about ~ 14 feet long from the top of
wood stove to the chimney cap, We have 8 inch SIP paneled walls and 12 inch SIP paneled roof so the cottage is well insulated. The 6 inch chimney dictates the size of the
RMH we intend to build be a 6 inch system since everything is set up for that and we are not heating all that big an area.
In “The
Rocket Mass Heater Builder's Guide “ that I got from our
local library system ( obviously they are in on Paul Wheaton’s plot to rule the world) in Chapter 4 , Step by Step Construction Example, they use an 8 inch RMH as the model so not much use in my situation. For some reason I recall 42 feet of duct work being the absolute limit for a 6 inch system but for the life of me I can’t seem to find that specific info. in the book. If anyone can guide me to that page or quote me the right number I would be grateful.
So here is the question, is the maximum allowable amount of duct work (whatever the number) considered the total of both horizontal duct and vertical chimney or is the chimney considered be less of a drag coefficient since warm rises and is not struggling to go sideways and therefore I can have a greater amount of horizontal duct work in the thermal mass.
Our goal is to have 2 lengths of 6ft. - 6 inch duct plus 1 length of 3ft.- 6 inch duct and 5 90 degree 6 inch elbows/tees.
All total this would come out to the equivalent of 54 linear ft. 5 90 degree elbows/tees = 25 ft. , horizontal duct = 15 ft., Chimney = 14 feet.
Is this practical? Is I don’t want an RMH with slow to no draft.
Any feedback you could give would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks