thomas rubino

Hi Ned;
Sounds counter productive does'nt it?  Opening a window in a home you are trying to heat.
The answer is easy.
When you are heating with bricks, the amount of gentle heat that fills your house is so pleasant that you will want a source of cool air, for you more than the stove..
Hard to believe if you have only lived with a metal box stove.

Then there is this.
Consider installing the fresh air pipe. A two or three-inch PVC pipe is entering your home.
This may be an easy install, or it may be more involved than you expected.
Now you have a cold pipe coming directly into your home.
Remember, this pipe must be insect, mouse- & snake-proof.
Now it's six am, you want a fire, first thing you must do is open your fresh air supply, no problem, right?
You build your RMH fire, and it warms your mass.  Great! Except you must remember to shut that fresh air supply when the fire coals out... no problem, right?
After all, you also must remember to shut your air intakes on the stove itself, or your nice heat will draft right out of your mass.
Day after day, all winter long. But what if you are not home and someone else is in charge? Will they remember?
Uncle Joe or cousin Mary has been burning fires their whole life, but not with an RMH.
If they forget, your air intakes and fresh-air pipe could be open the entire time you are not home...
They will not be impressed with this RMH that you have been bragging about, not nearly as nice as you made it out to be...
Now let's talk about children.  Nothing more fascinating than an open pipe that you can drop things into...

A cracked open window is something Uncle Joe can understand; it will not be forgotten.
No creepy crawlies are entering unannounced, no children will be dropping things in the open window.

I guess, in my opinion, adding a pipe for fresh air is extra work that's not needed.

Hey Matt;
Definitely through the roof, as straight as you can.
Through-the-wall generally requires a tall, insulated outdoor pipe and is only recommended if through-the-roof is not an option.

Installing a bypass pipe during construction is always a smart move.
Unless you choose a Shorty Core, you do not need to connect it.
If you have draft issues OR might want a small fire on a cold, wet summer day, having the option of a bypass is nice.

Fresh air supply.
With a tight, newly constructed home, a fresh air supply is important.
However, unless you live in extreme cold temperatures, I suggest cracking open a window rather than a fresh-air pipe.
Your RMH, no matter the style, will only be lit for a few hours a day, unlike a traditional wood burner, which is kept going 24 hours a day for months on end.
As soon as your fire dies out, you close off all intake sources (leaving the exhaust open). This restricts the natural draft from pulling your stored heat up and out.

No, not yet, but I will soon.
Thank you. This is number five, grandbaby.
He is special, though, as his sister is 22 years old!
Bill had a vasectomy after his daughter was born.
His new wife is in her late twenties... it seems things grew back together.
The doctor said his sperm count was like a twenty year olds!
So this little boy really wanted to be here!
At least his grandpa Tom can get the car fixed and go meet him!

I swapped out one valve, but I plan to put both heads on the new block.

On a recent 3.5 hr trip to meet our new grandson, we had a small technical problem with the Subaru.
We were coming down from McDonald Pass, only 4-5 miles from the hospital.
As we came off the mountain and onto the flats in the outskirts of Helena, Mt the car started making a new noise...
Only when you let off the throttle, a noticeable rattle which would quit if you stepped on the throttle...
Liz is looking at me with questions in her eyes, and I inform her that the engine is about to "Throw a Rod"...
No knowing what this means, she is even more worried...
I explain, it is either going to explode through the block, throwing oil and water with lots of steam (very dramatic), or it will simply lock up with no excitement.
The Subaru gods were with us, and the motor simply stopped turning. Being a stick shift car, she just rolled into a convenient dirt parking lot.

Hmmm, not what we planned on for our day!
A phone call to our son led to Liz being taken to see the new baby.
I stayed with the car waiting for AAA to arrive.  
I rode in the tow truck to Missoula, and Liz drove the son's car to pick me up.
The following morning, I took a truck and trailer down to Missoula to bring Subi home.

Yesterday, I finished disassembling the motor.
For your viewing pleasure, the remains of a piston and connecting rod.

What caused this to happen?
Rod bearing failure. The rattle we heard was after the rod bearing disintegrated, the connecting rod now had 1/8" of unwanted clearance between it and the crankshaft... not a good thing at 3500 RPM's, but no worries, as it will only last a few moments...

A new short block is being assembled, and the needed parts are in the mail.
Subi should be back on the road in about a week.
Perhaps, I'll take her on a test drive over Macdonald Pass and go see my new grandson!

Hi Mathew;
40F with wind is plenty cold enough to have an RMH. Add some rain/ sleet, and you will really appreciate it.
I suggest you consider not building a bench with pipes.
Most new builds utilize a brick bell (stratification chamber).
A much better use of space than a long immovable bench.

Shorty Core is a superb choice; being "short," her bell could fit under your stairs.
Construction is more technical, but still well within most folks' capabilities.
A 6" Shorty utilizes a bell apx 4' x 5', easy to add a few extra supports underneath, weight with bricks should be apx #2000- #2500

An 8" J-Tube is very easy to build, though it requires headroom for the tall riser, and the space under the stairs would not be ideal.

Also, there is a big difference between using a barrel versus using a brick bell.
The barrel will rapidly throw heat in the room, and can quickly become too hot.
A brick bell takes some time to heat the bricks before they can heat your room, but once heated they will hold and share that heat for many hours

We have used 1/2" copper for 45 years with no problems.
Installed by the propane company, the tank has only one regulator, the run is apx 60'.
We have a standard 4-burner stove oven, an on-demand hot water heater, a propane refrigerator, a hardly used 10,000 BTU unvented heater, plus two 15,000 BTU heaters in other buildings. We also have our generator running from the large (250 gal) tank as well.
So quite a few appliances, all easily run by 1/2" copper.
We have never had a supply issue.

I will say that now, they are using either 1/2" black steel, with a bright yellow covering, or, as John mentioned a bright yellow all-plastic line.

Perfect plan, Nancy.
Playing with bricks and building your first J-Tube outdoors is the recommended way to approach RMHs.
Some folks get carried away (Like Paul) and build a roof and bench for happy outdoor meetings.
But a simple J-Tube with no barrel will let you experience the roar of a Dragon and how simple they really are to build.
Once you hear the roar and watch the flames burning horizontally, you will be hooked.
And when you build indoors, remember you can start with a J-Tube and a year later upgrade to a Batchbox for a longer, hotter burn.
I highly recommend not building a bench, as they are very hard and take up a lot of space. A brick bell will heat your home equally, or even better, and a comfy chair, be it a recliner or a rocker, is much more comfy and movable than an 8' long bench.

Hi Tiffany;
As a general rule of thumb. The surface temperature of the bench on a J-Tube averages around 100F; perhaps, if you pushed hard for long enough, it could reach 150F.
At those temperatures, nothing is going to burst into flames.  Ignition happens at 456F.
Most of the early rocketeers simply put the cushion on while napping or just sitting, and then remove it when done.
Remember the mass is to warm your home, not a cushion.
That cushion is holding the heat in the mass rather than radiating it into your home, and ultimately allowing it to leave up the chimney.

My suggestion would be to rebuild your RMH and give it a 4'x5' bell, rather than a bench, and then place comfy chairs nearby.

Hi James, welcome to Permies!
I'm planning on upgrading our solar system this summer as well!
As damp and rainy as your spring is, perhaps you need to consider building an RMH to help chase off the chill!
Pop on over to the RMH forum and learn all about how to do so!