Anthony Mecca

I am looking to purchase a biomass cookstove for daily use and am considering these two silverfire stoves. I have a RS in our greenhouse, so have experience with their operation, but none with TLUD stoves. If anyone can help me understand the differences it would be appreciated.


- I am still a little unclear as to the length of burn time between the survivor and the hunter - to say, boil and simmer 2 quarts of water and rice, would a few sticks suffice, or would you start with a few sticks to boil and then more to simmer? Or more fuel? If using the hunter, would you just select the right amount of sticks, load them, light them, and let it be? Or would it need one load and then another?

- How low is the simmer on each, if there is much 'control' of the burn?

- How do you 'shut down', or end the burn process when finished cooking on each?

- I am not so adverse to tending, especially if it allows more control. Is this the case in working with the survivor vs the hunter?

- I like the burning cleaner part of the TLUD. Folks say it burns faster - does this mean it heats up in a shorter time, or burns the fuel quicker? Would the TLUD Hunter use more fuel?

thank you
-Anthony

what do you mean "you want a bit more oomph out of the exhaust"? Do you mean you want to attempt to capture as much heat as possible, leading to building such a large mass and that you don't see it necessary to build such a large mass in a greenhouse?

The depth of the cob above the duct will certainly be 6 inches, probably closer to 12 inches or more. How much is too much and how even should the amounts of cob below and above the pipe be?

I think that is my basic question, how much do I need to worry about cob and rocks underneath to keep the heat from moving into the ground? Will the majority of it move up? This is a question for me because it is not the hot air/exhaust, but the hot air/exhaust heating the metal pipe (which conducts heat much better and would even out quickly) and then via conduction moving out into the cob.

Our greenhouse rmh is coming along well; we're about to begin building the bench. We're have an 8" exhaust and are looking to build a 3' x 15' bench to start seedlings on. Using cob at a weight of 100 lbs/ cu ft we calculated we needed the bench to be just under 3 feet high to weigh in at 5 tons. Does this seem correct? Most other systems i've come across don't seem to have such a large heat storage.

The second question is regarding the placement of the pipe if the thermal storage is 3 x 15 x 3. I'm thinking to place it fairly deep in the bench, but since this is in a greenhouse and I'd like to capture as much heat as possible in the bench and not in the soil itself, I am wondering about how to set the cob and rocks underneath the pipe so that most of the heat will move up into the bench and not be drawn into the soil. Is this a legitimate concern that I should try to work with or can I throw down a layer of small rocks for drainage, then 6 - 10" of cob and rocks for the pipe to sit on and then build the rest of the bench and expect the heat to more or less rise? Should I place less rocks and more cob under the bench since the cob doesn't transfer heat as fast as the rocks?

thanks!
-Anthony

Thanks for the replies and great explanations, I feel a bit more confident going forward.

I'm planning to mitigate the seedling bench being constantly wet by sloping it slightly to help the water drain rather than puddle and applying a few coats of whitewash. I was thinking maybe a little lime plaster layer on top of the cob just to be safe.

About to get started on a Greenhouse Rocketstove install with the mass being a 15' long bench to germinate seedlings on. While shopping around for exhaust pipe I came across some in 8" x 60" sections but it is 28 ga metal. Is this too thin to hold a whole lot of cob? How much cob could I feel safe about piling on?

Related, is it necessary that the chimney in the heat riser be thick metal (I think it was suggested in the book to be at least 1/4") ? What gauge can this piece be?

It also seems that many folks are forgoing the metal drum with top and bung for the wood feed area in favor of one built of bricks. What's the reasoning here? Are small drums difficult to find? Is one preferable?

I'll try to do some documentation along the way for those interested as I've learned a lot from what has already been posted. Thanks!

-Anthony