Katya Coad

Ha!  Indeed, we are in the West Koots, and yes, I think you are probably exactly right... Black Cottonwood is my guess too.  

I am thinking of trying transplanting one our in front of our yurt.  They seem to grow really fast and I need a good fast growing tree, as we are in an off-grid yurt, and it gets horribly hot inside w/ no A/C.  

Thank for the guesses, guys.

Can anyone identify this type of tree/shrub?  They seem to grow really fast and spread easily.  Thanks.

Here's a photo of our RMH, which is still a work in progress - one of the things that is great about these systems is they are relatively easy to alter after the fact.  We still need to build up some more mass around the base of the barrel (E & E suggested about 1/3 of the way up), do finish coats, etc.  But it is quite large, as you can see.  While it does take up space, it serves as not only as a seat, but also stairs and wood storage (out of view on the other side).  Under the loft we built in quite a bit of storage for clothing and kitchen items, along with a small bathroom (sure made us aware how important it is to have solid wall to be able to construct shelving, etc).  So we don't mind the footprint, as it is so functional.

As for our winter climate... it can get as cold as 20 below during the really cold snaps, but - 10 is more typical.

Our ducting is 6".  The mass is rock and cob.  We do have an overhead ceiling fan that can push and pull air, as well as the smaller stove fan, but the pipe system you mention sounds like a better setup, which I am curious to know more about.

We live in a 30' yurt (from Pacific Yurts) in the Kootenays in BC, Canada.  For the first two winters we used a Pacific Energy wood stove.  The down sides were that it was harder to regulate the temperature (it got too hot at times, and heated inconsistently throughout the yurt w/ hot and cold pockets) and once the fire went out, it got cold very rapidly.  The up sides were that it heated the place quickly and it was nice to watch the fire through the window on a cold winter's night.  

Last September we installed a Rocket Mass Heater and moved the wood stove out into the storage shed.  Unfortunately, we have had some design issues (if you decide to build one, make sure you either research it really thoroughly or consult w/ people like Erica and Ernie Wisner, who really understand RMH's).  Regardless, we still really love our RMH for different reasons than we do the wood stove.  We love the rustic look of the RMH (we built cob stairs in ours leading up to a loft we constructed) and that it lets off a nice, steady heat over a longer period of time.  It is great for rising bread or making yogurt or kombucha.  It is wonderful to get up on a cold morning and "cuddle up" to the RMH... our cats love it too for that reason.  But we found that in a yurt we have to feed it pretty constantly to keep things warm enough, and this also presents a challenge when we went out for the day/evening and had to come home to a very cold place.  Also, while our wood consumption is perhaps less than w/ the regular wood stove, it is not as much less as we had hoped for (it might be different in an insulated structure).  But perhaps the greatest drawback is that, with the RMH alone, it takes a very long time to heat the place up (3 or 4 hours) on a cold morning, so we want to either stay in bed or stay huddled on the RMH... forget facing the world!  So midway through the winter we ended up buying a lovely kerosene heater to compliment the RMH and heat the place up quickly.  The two work quite nicely in tandem, but kerosene is definitely a little more costly to run.

Just today, in preparation for the coming winter, we moved our old wood stove back in, and we are looking forward to having it up and running again.  As the temps have been starting to drop, we have not yet been running the RMH due to the "design issues" previously mentioned (the Wisners have since given us some remediation suggestions which we will attempt to implement before winter hits).  We hope, however, to use the two technologies together, and I suspect that, the combination will be the best that we can achieve in a yurt.  

My best guess is that for someone looking for the most comfortable and efficient way to heat a yurt (assuming you can afford it), either a very slow burning Blaze King Princess (though I cannot claim to have ever used one), or the combination of a wood stove and a RMH, is the way to go.

Also, emphasis can be placed on how important it is to spend warm family time, eating and sharing love with one another... helps them to understand your priorities and not make it about what they are doing wrong.  Anyway, this is what has worked for us.

This is a big issue for anyone who chooses to go against the mainstream in any way, but it brings up a very wonderful opportunity to provide a role model for others, not that should necessarily be your intent.  Your intent is simply to let people know, in a direct way, where you stand in consideration for both them and for yourselves and to avoid confusion or hard feelings.  My husband and I have found that the best way to deal with it is to simply have a conversation with loved ones and let them know that you have chosen to opt out of a consumeristic lifestyle.  We ask our loved ones to either get us no gifts at all, or if they do, to get, or even better make, only healthy, organic food or perishable items (soap, candles, etc).  And we do the same for them, things like homemade chocolate, almond bark, jams, etc.  Granted, not all families will respond as well as ours, but this is your best chance for a positive response, for sure, as it is respectful for all involved.  People have to come around on their own time, but if they don't respect your wishes when you have spelled them out clearly, I'd ask them again and then simply opt out of family functions if they are not able to abide by what you've asked for.

Oh thanks, Glenn, that actually makes so much sense.

Hi, just wondering if anyone can tell me if it is ok to add more cob to a rocket mass heater after aftera finishing coat of, say, olive oil soap or other product has been used? We want to do a finishing coat now, in order to keep the dust down for the winter, but may wish to come back to it next summer and add some detailing. Feedback would be appreciated, thanks. :O)

Thanks for the feedback J :O)

Just wanted to say thanks again everyone for all your great suggestions... lots of terms and ideas I'm unfamiliar with, but I'm slowly learning.