Ernie Wisner wrote:yes it has been hoed and planted and harvested. but like most things that can kill you. it needs careful stewards. For instance have you ever worked with live steam? have you ever done plumbing (not the connect pipe A to pipe b in this book but actual work on systems that are pressurized and if you get it wrong you get to try and shut it down while its spewing fluid at pressures that saw through 2X4's?) That sort of thing. Do you under stand the concept of dont put a valve in a system unless it is absolutely necessary cause some on WILL come shut it off Etc.
Well thanks or the info, I do have a bit of common sense but that doesn't mean I can't do something stupid now and then... I've seen some of the designs with a copper pipe around the exhaust riser and I believe the one in the aprovecho book was similar... I don't want a continuous system but just a small batch setup for an off-grid cabin. My main question is about the efficiency of using a smaller "tea kettle" boiler looped into a regular off-the-shelf water heater for the main holding tank... This tank would already come equipped with the standard blow off valve...
The two tank idea (I'd like to say came to me in a dream just to sound cool) is with the main tank in the rafters of the cabin, water is introduced into the system from an elevated cold water storage tank to generate the water pressure... Unless you turn on the water in the shower the water heater tank would remain full... I suppose it could be a single tank system since there is water pressure but then this means a larger "boiler" in the RS heat stream... Anyway the smaller "tea kettle" size boiler is catching the heat and the hot water would (hopefully) move up one pipe into the upper and larger hot water tank while colder water would come down another pipe to be heated... Once the desired water temperature +/- 130 degrees is achieved you stop feeding the rocket stove and take your shower... Since the shower uses a standard shower valve you can moderate the water temp to suit by mixing in cold water like a normal shower...
This idea is not for a community type setup but an individual cabin with persons of reasonable common sense... I have a different (crazy) idea for a steam boiler to power equipment but this would need to be constructed to handle much higher pressure and not for showers... Any thoughts on the efficiencies of using the smaller tea kettle boiler instead of a coiled copper pipe around the exhaust riser? This is akin to putting a pot of water on a rocket cook stove rather than circulating water around the exhaust riser... Guess I could make two side by side systems for testing and see which one uses the least fuel to get the water hot enough for a shower...
