Nate Stoltzfus

Thanks guys. I will take the dirt it this weekend and put in sand, then a bit of fiberglass around that. I will increase the top gap, too. I think I was under 2 inches for it before. I'm excited to try it and see how it works. I will update after I try it again and let you know. I have had some locals already tell me that they want me to help them build one.

One other question... They burn a lot of dried cow chips here. How will that work in one of these heaters? Anyone have any experience trying that?

Thanks again

thomas rubino wrote:Can you get sand ? It would be better than dirt.

Yeah, sand is no problem. Should I mix it with the dirt? What ratio? Not a lot of wood ash, but a bit. I might be able to get some low quality fiberglass insulation, to. Should I wrap an inch or so of that on the outside of the riser?

I'm curious, too. Is the length of the burn chamber critical in relation to the height of the riser? My heat riser is around 50 inches, burn chamber is around 24 total length

Thanks Thomas,
I am actually in a remote, mountain region of China. The locals here use dirt to build everything, including significant portion of their houses. Some still use dirt to build their cook stoves though most have gone to metal stoves which are very inefficient.

It seems like you are right on about the back draft. It seems that after an hour or so of burning, a lot more smoke comes back into the room. Any other suggestions for insulation?

www.dzachusama.com

Hey guys, I am building my first RMH. I live in a part of the world where refractory brick and perilite are really hard to get. So, I built my riser out of normal clay brick, then made a form and packed dirt about 2 inches thick around the outside of the brick. When I did a test burn, my fire tends to draft good enough that no smoke comes out the feed box, but I am not getting nearly enough heat, and it seems the fire isn't burning as clean as it should. Any ideas what should change?