Hello all! My name is Bob Brocious. I live outside of Campbellsburg, Kentucky on 134 acre Tenacity Farm. We named it after our only virtue. I work at UPS so I can afford to play in the dirt, as a Systems Engineer. I am a fan of Joel Salatin and have modeled a number of our farm enterprises after the work he has done.
I built a new house in 2005. It is an All American systems-built home. 6" exterior walls. 4" interior. Well insulated 2,000 sqft 1.5 story farm house with a 10' deep wrap around porch. The house sits on a full basement with 9' walls. I use a wood stove as my primary heating source and a heat pump as my secondary. We cut all our own firewood from our farm, ourselves. I want to convert to a Rocket Mass Heater and am hoping to find a lot of help for this newbie as I've never tackled a structure built with clay. I have attached a picture from a Sketchup model of our living room/dining/kitchen area. The wood stove is pretty much in the center of the main floor of the house. I am thinking that I would remove the woodstove and use that space, and some more, to build the rocket heater into a bench with seating on two sides. One towards the living room area and one towards the dining/kitchen area.
I am concerned about weight on this floor, sizing the heater for this house, and all the construction questions you would expect from someone who has never built a rocket stove or heater before. Debbie, (my bride) and I would like this heater to be a centerpiece for our living area. Not only very functional, but also beautiful. I am hoping to use it this winter!! If someone else has tackled a similar project with a similar kind of home, I would love to sit at your feet and feast on your wisdom!! So ... that's that. I am a sponge. Let the education begin!!
