My house has solar heated hydronic radiant floors. There are collectors on the roof heating water which heats a tank in the basement full of water which is then pumped through the floor. I use a more or less conventional wood stove as a cloudy weather backup both for the convection and to heat the water to pump through the floor. I've been doing this for about five years now and haven't blown up my house yet. This is because I'm not storing the hot water in the tank. As soon as the water in the tank heats up to about 100f the floor pump turns on and pushes the water through the floor, cooling it to about 75-80f. The floor will warm up to the upper 70's at most and it's just wonderful to walk around on barefoot in the winter.
I've recently been thinking of building a new house and using a rocket stove to heat it. Most installations I've seen discussed use the exhaust pipe to heat the thermal mass. If I wanted to replicate the hydronic radiant floor I have now, but use a rocket stove to heat it, what would be the best way to arrange that? I saw one example with copper pipe coiled around the outside of the barrel. I suppose that's better than inside, since the creosote that accumulates on the stainless steel water pipes inside my current wood stove is really gnarly.
Does anyone have suggestions or ideas?
Thanks,
GK
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