Chris McClellan

Laisen this is very exciting. How can we help?

Please share the most beautiful rocket heaters you are seeing lately including credits if you know them.
This neatly done job is from Vance Bradler in Mt. Ida Arkansas USA

Excellent question. 7pp. I'll update the post.

Rent is expensive. Mortgages are becoming less possible every day. Paying thousands of dollars a month for a place to live slows down every other plan you might make in this world. Are you stuck? Is a tiny house the answer to you becoming unstuck? Maybe. Maybe it will get you more stuck. Here are true stories of ways less travelled by that led to people getting unstuck. Stuck between debt and pursuing school Sarah built a treehouse and lived in it for a year. Faced with an expensive move into another apartment, Dave moved into his office storage room for a year, then he and his business partner slowed down paying themselves and ate ramen for a few months to pay cash for an abandoned house down the street from their office where Dave camped out for another year using his "rent money" to pay back the business and rehab the house. Consider this a call to action, but a call to measured action. There are so many risks we take every day, some of them huge, but well programmed into our brains as being normal. Sometimes a series of small calculated risks can free us completely from our mortgaged boxes or at least give us the freedom to stick our heads up long enough to see where we want to go.

7 useful pages.

Uncle Mud here,
If you are building back from the California fires or just don't want to be the next victim, eco-friendly earthen building can be done in a way that is low cost, DIY accessible, code compliant, and resistant to fire and earthquake. The Authors Anthony Dente, Michael Smith and Massey Burke are among the world's leading experts. This book is the only place you will find the latest lab tested information on the structural and thermal properties of cob and what you need to know to use it appropriately. Includes instructions on mixing, connections to foundations and roofs, and options for beautiful, durable finishes. Also included are tips for planning, budgeting, quality control and permitting, plus the Cob Construction Appendix of the International Building Code (residential) in case you need to quote chapter and verse.
Available in hard copy and ebook

CLICK HERE

Hello John,
Why am I just seeing this now? Welcome to the crew. Here is one of my RMH in my doublewide in NE Ohio. How's yours coming?
https://youtu.be/19nIXijNYrA?si=w5Spse04AUeuaOM2

Tiny Houses are a special challenge for heating with wood. Generally they aren't very well insulated and a heater big enough to keep you warm through the night will overheat you in no time. There are special challenges with a Rocket Mass Heater. Many Tiny Houses have wood floors and wood walls so its a bit tight fitting a mass heat storage that is big enough but doesn't collapse the floor or catch the walls on fire.

The Red Cabin at Wheaton Labs has been our test bed for Tinyhouse Rocket Mass Heaters for about ten years now. I think we are up to about a dozen different designs now. This one works pretty well, but we are still tweaking it.

The mass bench made from pebbles and cob and dense rock does a great job of storing heat while keeping it away from the walls but we have also discovered that if the room warms up too soon people stop feeding the fire, the mass never gets fully warmed up, and the room is cold by 2am.

So last year we built a sand battery around the burn chamber to slow down the heat. That helped a bit. Over in the Love Shack we found that adding rocks to the top of the radiant barrel--where its the most uselessly hot--does a lot for keeping the heat from just convecting up to the ceiling, but it works best if the barrel top mass is all one piece. The heat lasts longer.

To continue that experiment I am installing a cob surround on the top and back . I call it "The Mullet". Paul hates the name and wants to call it "The Cape and Hat". So I call it "The Mullet."

In case you don't know, a mullet is a particularly American hair style worn short on the top and long in the back--or as they say "Business in Front, Pleasure in back". In this case the Hot Cob Mullet is an add on for the Rocket Mass Heater that traps the heat off the top of the barrel of a Rocket Mass Heater that would have warmed up the room (and stopped people from feeding the fire) before the mass bench is fully heated up. Lets see how it works.

#unclemud #cobmullet #rocketmullet #rocketmassheater #rocketheater #tinyhouse #hotcobmullet

The coals problem that Glenn Herbert mentions is resolved very well by bringing most of the air intake through the bottom of the feed tube through a piece of kiln shelf with a lot of holes drilled in it. There's quite a lively group innovating Rocket Kilns over at Facebook if you don't mind the corporate data mining. https://www.facebook.com/groups/612205583636245/

Ulla,
Uncle Mud here. Samantha is very kind. If you are interested, there are single burner rocket stove designs intended for anyone to be able to build mostly from mud and trash. Here's a link to one of my designs. https://permies.com/t/106214/Uncle-Mud-EZ-Cob-Rocket

A rocket oven is a much bigger beast. I've rebuilt/upgraded the round one at Paul's a few times and collaborated with Rodney on the design of the earthen rocket stove there. I'm about half way through the new rocket oven for Paul's. Given the proper tools a handy person could probably build something rough and functional for about $1000 in parts, much less if they were a great scrounger. It would take them 7-10 days, less if they have specific metal working and/or mud building skills and understood rocket stoves. Having one built for you that looked nice and performed well could easily run $3k to $6k. This is a particularly fantastic one my friend built. Two burners that can be switched out fro griddles and an oven.  If you're serious I will actually be out your way this summer. Drop me a message.

January 18-19 2025

Hey Ohio Mud Family, there's still a few tickets left for the Western Reserve Homestead Summit this weekend January 18-19 2025 at Lake Farm Park in Kirtland Ohio. There will be some great speakers there like Joel Salatin, who appears to be scheduled to talk all day both days. I hope he took his vitamins. I will also be there both days, talking all day in my very own (indoor) Mud Pit playing with the kids, building an earthen pizza oven, a Rocket Mass Heater, a $25 composting toilet, and talking about cob, building code, and mortgage free housing.

There will also be several local homestead and regenerative agriculture experts talking about their favorite things, including local historian, genealogist and author, Cheryl McClellan aka The "Log Cabin Lady", who also happens to be my fabulous mom. She has a bunch of homesteading activities and crafts for the kids to help connect them with the land and our heritage.

The web site is www.westernreservehomesteadsummit.com
Coupon code MudFamily will get you 10% off on Sunday. Come play in the mud with us.

Saturday 1-18-2025
9:30 BUILD A $25 COMPOSTING TOILET: Join Uncle Mud for an hour of poop jokes and sanitary advice. This time tested system safely turns human waste into top quality fertilizer with no plumbing required. Ideal for emergencies, camps, cabins, van life and even just to lower your water bill and environmental footprint. Your garden will love you!

10:45 STENCILING: Before there were fancy printers and computers there were stencils. They were used to label crates and barrels, make signs or decorate anything you could think of: walls, floors, ceilings, carpets, even books. Make your own stencil artwork while you hear about traditional and modern uses for this useful and beautiful art. Learn where to see local examples of stenciling in homesteads of the past.

12:15 FAIRY HOUSES TO FORTS WITH UNCLE MUD–EARTHEN BUILDING FOR KIDS: (Well behaved adults are also welcome). Play in the mud with Uncle Mud and Family. Use clay, straw, stones, and sticks to build little houses you can take home. We’ll also talk about how we can use these same materials to build bigger things like forts, rabbit hutches, and even houses. We’ll have water to wash off with, so come prepared to get dirty and have fun.

1:30 CHORES IS CHORES: Join us for stories and hands-on activities aimed at the younger ones and their adults. Learn about early dairy work. Carry “milk” with a two bucket yoke. Use homemade play dough to mold “butter”. There has always been work for everyone on the farm. Some of it is even fun. Gather “eggs”. Pick “apples”. Go “fishing”. Use carding combs to untangle wool. Find out how homestead chores have changed and how they’ve stayed the same.

2:45 BUILD WITH MUD 101–PIZZA OVEN: Learn how our ancestors built houses, barns and temples out of sandy clay and straw as you help us build a traditional wood-fired oven! See how easy it is to build and bake in your own backyard. Be prepared to get muddy.

4:00 SOW AND SEW: Why spend money on holiday gifts when you can make sweet smelling herbal sachets for people you love? Lavender is an easy to grow herb with many uses around the homestead from soap to tea to sleep masks. Get tips on how to grow, harvest and dry it yourself. See how to repurpose vintage linens to make pretty bags to hold it. Then, see how to slow stitch your own imaginative artwork using leftover fabric scraps and sewing embellishments. Make personal gifts or just add art to your everyday world.

Sunday 1-25-2025
9:30 THE NO MORTGAGE HOMESTEAD: Are you trapped in a loveless mortgage or an endless cycle of rent and security deposits? From temporary converted school busses and hidden garage attic apartments to multi-generational homes and intentional communities built mostly from trash and mud, we'll share our own observed experiences and tips from decades of thinking outside the bank owned box.

10:45 STENCILING: Before there were fancy printers and computers there were stencils. They were used to label crates and barrels, make signs or decorate anything you could think of: walls, floors, ceilings, carpets, even books. Make your own stencil artwork while you hear about traditional and modern uses for this useful and beautiful art. Learn where to see local examples of stenciling in homesteads of the past.

12:15 FIRE SCIENCE–HEAT WITH WOOD CLEAN CHEAP AND SAFE: Damping your chimney down for a slow fire at night can reduce its efficiency by up to 80%. If you see smoke you are looking at wasted fuel that could burn your house down. Join Uncle Mud for a demonstration of clean, efficient wood burning. Learn the do’s and don’ts of wood heat and why we does or doesn’t. Heat your water or your home or greenhouse for pennies. Find out what a Rocket Mass Heater is and how I went from $1000 some months for fuel to less than $100 per year.

1:30 CHORES IS CHORES: Join us for stories and hands-on activities aimed at the younger ones and their adults. Learn about early dairy work. Use homemade play dough to mold “butter”. There has always been work for everyone on the farm. Some of it is even fun. Gather “eggs”. Pick “apples”. Go “fishing”. Use carding combs to untangle wool. Carry “milk” with a two bucket yoke. Find out how homestead chores have changed and how they’ve stayed the same.

2:45 BUILDING CODES FOR THE OWNERBUILDER: What if I want to build my own house or barn or shed? What if I want to use alternative methods or materials? The regulations and permits can seem overly complicated. We will start with a short history and rationale behind building codes, then share examples of code problems and how to resolve them. Find out how a determined amateur builder can navigate the system with the help of code officials instead of their opposition.

4:00 SOW AND SEW: Why spend money on holiday gifts when you can make sweet smelling herbal sachets for people you love? Lavender is an easy to grow herb with many uses around the homestead from soap to tea to sleep masks. Get tips on how to grow, harvest and dry it yourself. See how to repurpose vintage linens to make pretty bags to hold it. Then, see how to slow stitch your own imaginative artwork using leftover fabric scraps and sewing embellishments. Make personal gifts or just add art to your everyday world.