Steve Dalcher

Richard Wood wrote: spray foam kit, insulate down just below grade. this will seal your walls and insulate. if you want it pretty, board lath ? and dry wall.

skip the insulation on floor, let the heat climb into floor and warm your feet upstairs.

Never did the large heat sink. No room between equipment I have 80inch lathe , Cnc mill in basement, plenty to heat up.

2 garage (un insulated doors) Plenty of heat loss in mine. I ditched wood stove (tried 2cd burn with this unit) and went to Rocket/Gasser. Little dangerous to run, but cut my wood consumption in half last year.

Man after my own heart! I have a manual lathe and mill in the basement and a small CNC lathe and mill as well. Spend much of my free time down in the man cave! Like you looking for options to decrease wood consumption and maybe get a little more warmth. Lots of feedback on insulating the walls and floor, but not much on the heater... Not familiar with rocket/gasser... If not so messy would just go with a waste oil heater. built one for the foundry propane start and then wean onto the oil once fired up. Works really well, just messy, transferring oil and all that jazz. But it really puts out the heat. Aluminum melt too easy, thinking could melt cast iron, but not really setup for it, maybe sometime in the future.

Steve

Ok folks, I do understand that my setup is not ideal, however it is the only place that it can be done. I have heated with wood heat for 4 years now. I understand that the uninsulated walls and floor don't help. I go through 10+ loads of wood a year with my current setup. If i can make changes and use half that amount it will be a huge improvement. Even a 1/3 improvement would be a worthwhile investment of time and resources. Please give some constructive feedback on the heater design. I saw where a portable RMH used sand with success, I would like to expand on this concept and make modifications as necessary to make the best of a less than ideal situation. Thank you

Al, thanks for your reply, I am well aware of the need for some type of castable refractory for the actual burn chamber and have a good supply of firebrick and a source for 3000 degree castable refractory. I have dabbled with oil burners and reil type propane forges in the past with good success. Unfortunately the basement is the only area that I can install a wood fired heater. As to the drudge of feeding it, It seems that firing once or twice a day would not be too big of an inconvenience. Additionally my workshop is in the basement and I spend much of my time there piddling with one project or another. Not looking for a perfect solution, just a good workable solution that my wood fired iron stove is not.

New to the forum and considering a RMH type wood heater. Here is what I have: I have a full basement that is un-insulated on the walls as well as the floors. The wall and floors are poured concrete approximately 100 years old. I currently heat with a cast iron wood stove which is terribly inefficient and uses a bunch of wood every day. The chimney is external to the house and is of recent construction. I have a wealth of old concrete residue several tons that I can use and a full pallet of recycled soft brick. I do not have access to clay short of buying it. Here are my thoughts. I will insulate the floor and the concrete wall with Styrofoam board and create a brick fascia for the foot print of the heater( front and back). I can get quickcrete partial bags for pennies from the local lumber store. My thought is to create a brick front and back and then a concrete conglomeration in the middle between the two runs of stove pipe. I would add my concrete slab fragments and pieces and then use quickcrete to tie it altogether into a solid mass. This would essentially form a trough which the stove pipe would lie in . I'm thinking that I could line this with sand creating a fully filled trough creating a thermal bridge between the fascia, the stove pipe and the concrete conglomeration in the center. I have enough concrete stepping stones to make top for the stove. This would allow for easy adjustment of the stove pipes and easy access for repairs as needed. What are your thoughts?