Karla Arnold

Looking at rocketstove mass heaters on you tube I found this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxZazZHari0&list=PLUVwBGeHDjzItJY9pUPKy6U-XH68-xFxs&index=4&feature=plpp_video

They put a pyrex plate in the front so you can see the fire, and here are some of the comments... no design plan thought. I love to watch a fire.

My wife and I no longer live in that house because it was only temporary. If I had to change something about the design, I would have spent about $20 or so and bought real stove glass and built the front in the correct location. I moved my pyrex forward away from the feed tube about 5-6 inches so that it would not be as hot. So I believe that extra distance changed how well the stove worked. I hope you can understand what I'm trying to say. Do you have the pdf plans?

lespaul49 in reply to johnjmw1 1 year ago

How has the pyrex pan been holding out? Have you fired it full out to see how it would hold up to the heat? I'm hoping to put a window in the one I am getting ready to build also.

Hiei12345 2 years ago

I haven't used it in months, but have never seen even a hint of a problem. I should stress again that the glass is about 4inches farther from the fire than the originally designed front wall. any glass that you choose, I would burn over a good fire pit with flames touching, to make sure it will last

lespaul49 in reply to Hiei12345 2 years ago

Well I said I would let ya'll know either way. It is a no go for my small space with a rocketmass heater.. Maybe someone with more know who will design one.

Thanks for all the post.

New to the thread.. I will get caught up.. I am 47 but disabled, a reply to a post I started suggested I drop by here.

Andrew I don't agonize over climate change, but I do not stick my head in the sand either. It is real, it is a fact and it is not going away. Most people are stupid about it, and just keep keeping on, but that is another topic.

I hope you can get better hon. Living with pain 24/7 is no fun. I also have 5 bulging disc none on a nerve root currently and I plan on keeping it that way, and some nerve damage from two back surgeries at age 25. I am stubborn and just modified they way I DIYed things after that, did ok until..

I am also considering buying a home already built close to what I want. Again I would need to make up my mind on which style form works, earthship etc. I have looked and even they seem to be cheaper to buy already built than to build.

My current home I am still working on insulating it properly, but one tornado and it is gone and I live in Kansas.

I will take ya'lls advice about NOT building with my health conditions, under consideration. As I said I am not ready to do either just researching what would be the best and sharing that with others.

ok to many names for me to keep up with but I will try to hit the topics everyone posted.

I am aware that low stress is best for me, along with low light and low noise. I have my best days when I am home and can set my own, slow pace. No doctors appointment etc. Building a house is stressful. My parents built a house, the one I grew up in and I remember the energy around that, and I did not know the half of it back then.

Also the longer I am like I am the less chance of a full recovery I have. After 5 years your chances drop even more. I started going down hill May 2010, the dizziness and everything else got so bad I stopped working March 2011. I am at 2 years and still losing ground.

Great on someone you trust enough to live with and share land with and that she has 2 boys.

I have my partner, she is not a DIYer, but no one else I trust enough to do that with.

I have bartered with two people so far, one was a bust, traded a lawn mower for our grass to get cut for a summer, and the second one I am having trouble getting things done around the house which doing them was the barter for the use of our truck. Really getting annoyed there. So trusting someone to take care of things in exchange for something is well hard right now.

My family what is left of it is in Louisiana and Georgia. Both state are humid and humidity and I really do not get along any more.

I prefer cats and dogs to most people.

My doctor said keep my mind active, suggested cross word puzzles.. uck.. I did not like them when I was well, so I do research. I have researched all I can of my illness, big issue now seems to be a name for it, like I care what you call it, and so I started on organic gardening, rocket stoves and houses. Stuff I am interested in to keep my mind going. I am not even close to building at this point, sigh. But in a way it is good because I can do more research and talk to people and figure out what is best for me.

I currently live in the city in a tender box waiting for a match as I call them house, but she has done me well so far, the house that is.

I do better when everything I need is under one roof, I can pace myself and know what I need to do is close along with places to rest in between. I know a small space is easier to clean and some people love it. I am 6' tall and hate small spaces. I panic if I can not see a way out.

Also my fur babies need their room to run and play. My cats are indoor cats, dogs too. The dogs do go out into the back yard to potty and bark at the squirrel family that live in the maple in our back yard, something they really enjoy doing.

My fur kids really help me with my disability. They love me for who I am good or bad days. They even cuddle more and check on me more on my bad days. Of course now that the temperature is dropping I have my fur blanket back, when I am in my recliner. In fact Ms Blue is on my chest right now looking at me like why aren't you in bed mom.

I know you can not build a home or plan for everything but I would love to get close. And this forum has loads of information and experience and people willing to share it.

Thanks Judith.. I will check out the aging on the homestead thread..

Great on the diet/herbal thread.

I have done heaps of research on the herbal treatments for my illness, most of it from Europe. I am a massage therapist, Reiki Master, so I had some knowledge of alternative stuff. I can show my partner how to work on my really sore calves, and that does help. I have tried all they suggest some help some don't the ones that help I keep of course, but I am willing to try more herbs out to see if I can get some improvement, I will take a 1/2% in improvement at this point. I will take a look.

Glad there are more thinking about it than it appears, my topic that is.

I do have a partial basement.

I try to avoid earthquakes.. hence I stay away from CA. , even though the weather is better their for people with my illness.

R Scott.. I am so glad you had a "cure" I would not wish this on my worst enemy. I will check on the treatments for lyme if it is a medicine it is highly likely I will react badly to it but I would be willing to talk to my doctor. I know the symptoms are similar because that was one of the many many things they tested me for.

Tyler..glad you agree that it is an important topic. You are correct and it is not discussed people like living in their own litter world where these things are someone else problems and what get old.. all the focus is on how to stay young looking.

Maybe and add on like granny flat, that is what they are called in Aussie I lived their for 4 years.. like a one bed room apartment, open kitchen and living room and one handicapped bath room, attached to the main house, for your father, all one level that you could use when you get older, and could rent out your house to someone you trust when the time comes? Just a thought.

I think of these things even before my illness hit me. I working as a CNA in a disability home when I lived in Aussie, that taught me a lot and a different way to look at things. My grandmother was also the youngest in her family so I grew up around the elderly, and yes had to do many things for them. I was a gopher being the first of her grandchildren.

I think every home should be planned and built with getting older in mind really handicapped accessible, no stairs, ramps or elevators if you must have more than one floor. I know an issue with a home powered by solar and wind. Also BIG DOORS room to get furniture in so it is not a battle, no corners to fight.

electrical outlets many of them and high enough to be reached without having to get on the darn floor or stand on your head.

There are many things being disabled brings to light.

I will keep that in mind I don't think formworks uses blue foam insulation. That is who I am leaning towards. Bugs will become a bigger issue as the planet warms up and they can move into areas they have not lived in before and can breed long because it is warmer. Already seeing it in some kind of wood beetle, able to move as far a Canada or close to it, snaking on trees all the way up and killing them.

Thanks for all your post and ideas. Glad some people are thinking about these things now at least on a small level.

My disability, well I will tell you what I have. You will either accept it or not. CFIDS/FM, are my illness that have lead to my disability. I have very low energy, pain, cognitive issues, trouble with holding on to things, light and noise sensitive, chemical sensitive, changes in weather, etc. I am still in the adjustment phase here as I have had them for under 2 years. Can't take the meds they usually use to treat it, what few there are and no they have not a clue what causes either of them.

Ok enough of that. I am trying very hard for my disability not to define who I am, it is hard enough that it defines what I can do. I was very active before it hit me. My last DIY project was to put in 3 raised bed to grow veggies.

So stairs are not an option.. single level house. Low maintenance as I can no longer clean my own gutters, paint, native plants, no mowing the grass that way.

I want the gray water raised bed connected to the house so I don't have to go far to give them some TLC.

My area that I am currently living it is Kansas. High winds, and tornado's, with the drought we are still in fire can be an issue. Who knows what else climate change is going to bring on. Bugs are on the rise, in live trees, dead trees, house made of wood, and fleas this year... wanted to pull my hair out trying to find a way to run them off with out chemicals.

having to rebuild after a disaster is hard on the earth, all the waste from the trashed houses has to go somewhere and the resources to rebuild with. Better to build it once to withstand as much as you can an not build in a flood zone.

I mention hurricanes because I was born and raised in Louisiana, hard not to when you grew up with them and my grandmothers training on how to prepare for one.

I figure if I can come up with something for me than it would work for others with disabilities and the elderly.

The small home, tumble weed are great for young singles, or a couple with no kids that don't have pets or many at all. Not so much for those of us that are pet loves, and have to think of things like using a damn wheel chair in my near future. I am fighting that one, tooth and nail.

Thanks for the input. I feel that the housing is not addressing all of the needs of the people, so I brought it up. To see if any one else has thought of it or has ideas to make it so.

I got is $50 home book. very interesting....but loads of wood.. so rot, fire and bugs are a problem, I am very sensitive to chemicals, and it has increased with my disability. One good thing about my disability is I have gone to simple cleaners, cleaned out plastic etc. I make my own Landry soap etc. I even make my own vapor run and muscle rub. So some good has come out of it.

I really like the form works..yes they use steel and concrete but it last....much longer than any other home out there from my research.

Monolithic dome homes are the same price but you have to spend more money on top of that to coat the air form.

I could cut cost by using recycled stuff on the inside and cob..

That is the way I think I am leaning, they can design it with the earth ship concepts I like so much. but that is $110sq/ft.

But that combo is the only way I can figure at this point getting all I want from a home.