Scott Saxon

Seems to me more along the lines of these.  Perhaps someone can improve on this theme.

High Efficiency Space Heater
Or
High Efficiency Heater
Or
Clean Burn Heater
Or
Burn Clean and Save the World Through Efficient Use of Free Wood --- Heater    (just kidding) But you get the idea.  

I think the name should address what it actually does.  Rather than what it is.  Rocket Mass Heater is clinically accurate, but seems to not elude to the benefits.

I've just been using Ivory soap for everything for years.  Can't remember the last time I used shampoo.  I saw Paul's 72 steps or something like that.  I didn't even come to this thread, I just stopped using the soap.  Amazing how little difference it made.  Who needs soap?!?!?  Only thing is that around my ears and my nose, it still feels oily, so I've gone back to using just a bit in those two areas.  It works for me.  I enjoy a hot shower every night before bed.  100% poo free and 95% soap free.  My bar of soap is lasting like forever it seems.

As for deodorant, I found out years ago that what I eat seems to determine whether I smell or not.  Haven't used any deodorant for years either and no one seems to notice.  Other than when I was in training as a UAV pilot and away from home, eating who knows what from fast food joints and such.  Then I got complaints.  Same when I went to Afghanistan and ate military fare.  Same complaint.

I'll apologize in advance, but I just couldn't resist. A couple people commented on difficulty in getting bottles because of not drinking soda. I don't drink soda (or pop as it is called here) any more either, but if you are looking for materials to experiment with and don't mind spending a bit, you can use bottled water bottles.  You are still spending money, but at least you are not poisoning your body.  Another possibility would be to simply knock on a few neighbor's doors and ask for them.  Or here's one...  Head out on the day your local refuse folks pick up "recycling".  Yes, I am suggesting you go STEAL them from the neighbors cans.  At least you don't have to dig through actual garbage.  And I would be remiss to leave out good old dumpster diving.  Have fun with it.  If you want free plastic bottles, there are literally millions of them out there.  Get creative and go get'em.  Heck, you could kill two birds with one stone and go pick them up off the road somewhere.  You'll be getting your bottles for free and doing a great community service at the same time.

Scott Saxon wrote:

The problem with wood chips is the inconsistent sizing and bridging issues. The chips have to be extremely small, consistently sized, and even then its probably not going to be 100% reliable. We haven't tried it with wood chips so we dont know for sure if it will work. Every chipper produces slightly different size and shapes of wood chips.

I think I'll try it.  Maybe screening them to get some consistency in size.  Of course, to try it, I'll need to order one of your heaters.  I'll do that now.  

The problem with wood chips is the inconsistent sizing and bridging issues. The chips have to be extremely small, consistently sized, and even then its probably not going to be 100% reliable. We haven't tried it with wood chips so we dont know for sure if it will work. Every chipper produces slightly different size and shapes of wood chips.

I think I'll try it.  Maybe screening them to get some consistency in size.  Of course, to try it, I'll need to order one.  I'll do that now.  

Sky Huddleston wrote:
^Our rocket heater can also burn wood, too. So you are not tied to pellets. You can burn free fuel in the form of sticks and waste during the day, and pellets when you are gone and for overnight. This extreme versatility is something no other commercial pellet or wood stove can offer.

I read the entire thread (whew) and have one question.  Sky, you said it would burn waste, and the video of the guy "testing" showed he fed in coal and even a duraflame log down the regular feed tube.  I am thinking your stove will burn darn near anything, including wood chips.  Evidently most pellet stoves will not burn chips, due to the auger feeds, but it looks like anything you put into the hopper will drop down into the burn chamber and get consumed.  In our situation, for at least this one winter, which is fast approaching, where we will be living in two RVs inside an 1800 sf presently uninsulated pole barn in Minnesota, where temps can get to sub zero I'm told, we will likely be burning 24-7.  So instead of buying pellets for $dollar$, couldn't one get a chipper and run some sticks through the chipper and then feed the chips into the hopper? This property has maybe 40 acres of wooded land that has been neglected for probably 20 years.  Lots of usable wood in all sizes and states of decomposition.

We'll also be setting up a simple inefficient cast iron stove that we can throw logs in during the day, but it won't carry us through the night.  We figure if we can keep the barn to 50 degrees or so, the propane heaters in the RVs can do the rest.  This is a temporary fix for this winter only.

I am collecting bunch of more efficient ideas and plans, and will eventually be insulating the two pole barns - setting up my machine shop - rebuilding the 1860 something farmhouse - building more rocket stoves and waste oil heaters - and playing with other heating sources, but I'm told the first freeze could arrive as soon as September, (a few weeks away) so for this one winter, we are primarily concerned with, well, actually surviving our first winter here by heating this one barn.  Fortunately we are still young and strong (71 and 73).  

Hopefully pretty soon I will set up the sawmill I made and will get a lot of sawdust from that.  Will be looking into making some sort of machine to reclaim that and press it into logs too.  But that won't happen until we are set up in the barn.  Priority one, don't freeze.

Sorry, I wandered off a bit, but wanted to give an idea of our situation.  And yes, according to what I've gathered from this forum, we could just buy enough pellets to burn 24-7 for about $250 a month, which is not unreasonable.  We could do that, but why not use what is free and at hand?

I guess I should update this. I did find some significant restriction in the pathway just before it entered the mass. I guess that is what you are calling the horizontal transition area. Opening that up made the biggest difference. It's still not as good as most I have seen online, but it might work now that it is dry. Winter will tell us when it comes.

I tried the vertical stack both before and after doing this and it made no difference whatsoever that I could tell. I believe this is because the air coming out of the mass isn't hardly even warm.

Looking forward to playing with it again as the temps drop later in the year.

I built mine in the cold winter weather and it has been drying for a few weeks. I would say it is probably near dry. Good to hear the target temps.

Also, my mass is only cob. No rocks or urbanite so it will likely take longer to dry.

There is no vertical chimney at the end. Hardly seems necessary with only slightly warm air exiting there.

However, I have new information. I enlarged the area below the barrel and raised the barrel slightly. Propped it up on a couple blocks. Whoosh, good rocket action. So was it the raising of the barrel, giving a larger barrel to riser gap, or the widening of the channel below the barrel, or the opening of the gap between the barrel and the cob? To find out, I closed the gap mostly... with just more wooden blocks. This reduces the flame velocity, so I feel comfortable in thinking the problem is after the J-tube and the barrel. I will try opening the ash cleanout again tomorrow and see if I can enlarge the pathway in that area more as well.

I'll let you know what I come up with.

OK, so I have built my greenhouse system. Took a bit more than two days. Where did I read that? Oh well.

Anyway........... I guess I should have built an 8" version. There is a lot more info on that, but it's for a small greenhouse, and I had all this 6" pipe so went that route. Results are less than exciting.

Can anyone tell me how hot the barrel should get? I'm getting only about 540 degrees right at the top center and less than 400 on the side near the top. When I put in really dry cedar, I get thick black smoke out at the end. Almost smells like chemical or something. Kinda weird. Seems like I'm not getting the secondary burn explained in the videos. The inside of the barrel and outside of the riser insulation is covered in black soot. Inside the riser, I have a clean burn. I do get a sideways burn in the burn tube... most of the time, but it seems like it should be "roaring" if I understand what I have read and seen from the DVDs and the book. My riser comes within 2.5" of the barrel at the top. Barrel is a 30 gallon barrel. 18" Diameter. About 3" clearance between the barrel and riser insulation. I also tried putting a 55 gallon barrel on, but did not adjust for the riser/barrel clearance. Made no difference.

I also get fire coming up the feed tube when I use good dry wood. The cedar burns quickly and leaves a bunch of coals, which then tend to block the burn tunnel too. I must clean the burn tunnel after each firing of the stove. I tried to follow as exactly as possible, the recommended dimensions, increasing only the height of the riser since I read that it was good to do so. Higher riser, better draw. This resulted in raising the cob at the bottom of the barrel so I have about 9.5 inches of channel that feeds into the exit. Any of that make sense? Perhaps this is it. The actual dimension of this extra 9.5 inches is slightly smaller than the barrel, but the one side is a huge hole leading to the exit. I can ream it out. Sculpting dried cob is pretty easy with a crowbar, actually.

With about 28 feet or so of 6" stovepipe buried in cob, I thought I might have too much back pressure or drag, but removing the cleanout at the bottom of the barrel exit does not result in better breathing.

The base of the stove seems to retain heat nicely, but the mass is a real disappointment. Hasn't actually been warm yet.

Anyone care to give any advice?

Thanks.