Masonry Heater Option

Extremebison said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO6xhHHCzis&feature=related

Check this out, sorry I accidently also put this over in the Green Room so if you see it twice It's my fault. Think I may hook up my Blaze king like this. LOL

Click to expand...

Thanks--quite an eyeful.

I was appreciating the aesthetics until the baby blue appeared. :bug:

When the woman appeared, I was hoping for the soundtrack to switch to porno music.

Too bad it didn't include a shot of the chimney sweep's face when the builder tells him he didn't install cleanouts.

"The name's Hammer--Jack Hammer."

Extremebison said:

I really like heaterkit.com because the have a "white oven" in the unit.

Click to expand...

Hey MegaBuffalo,

Thanks for the tip! It took me a bit of investigation, because "heaterkit.com" led me to a vacant domain with a bunch of spam.

Googling on your text led me to http://www.heatkit.com/ , which looks promising. Is that what you meant?

Thanks, and happy planning!

Looks to me like that design would have a pee-poor draft, especially at start up...

phatfarmerbob said:

well i love the idea why couldnt i add one to my outside "campfire area" putting one in the house isnt an option now but im sure all my ladys friends would be much more comfortable coming over for BonFire night in the fall if they had a nice warm bench to sit on ...

Click to expand...

You've got it backward my friend. The colder it gets, the closer she gets.

akennyd said:

Looks to me like that design would have a pee-poor draft, especially at start up...

Click to expand...

No clean-outs or inspeciton ports? It would have been a piece of cake to tee straight to the end of the bench and cap it.

phatfarmerbob said:

well i love the idea why couldnt i add one to my outside "campfire area" putting one in the house isnt an option now but im sure all my ladys friends would be much more comfortable coming over for BonFire night in the fall if they had a nice warm bench to sit on ...

Click to expand...

VCBurner said:

You've got to love this wood heating thing. There are so many options when it comes to wood heating. If you just look into it you can find so many different kinds of heating applyances. Anyway, check out these sort of poor mans masonry heaters. Cool stuff, I found these while searching aroud on the web.
http://www.richsoil.com/rocket-stove-mass-heater.jsp

Click to expand...

Yep, you gots to love it, and you beat me to the rocket stove, Chris.

I've been fantasizing about one of these, but didn't want to put one in my house because of the crudeness of the materials (dirt) and/or mess and difficulty of tweaking it indoors.

But now that PFB mentions it, one of these would be perfect for a bonfire--just a matter of moving dirt around, and if something's not right, no big deal:

http://www.richsoil.com/images/rocket_stove_butt_warmer_4.gif

For outdoors you might want to put some sort of cover over the mound, but once grass grew over it it would be amazing. Or cover it with stone. So many options.

I'd adjust the geometry so that the hearth is in the middle, like a standard fire pit. And the barrel makes a perfect cooktop or warmer for those snacks and beverages.

Uh oh, I think I have to do it.

Now im getin excited i guess im not crazy... guess its gota be done.. if i do it i will document my progress on the forum.... gota wait for about 2 feet of snow to melt first tho, mores the pitty

phatfarmerbob said:

Now im getin excited i guess im not crazy... guess its gota be done.. if i do it i will document my progress on the forum.... gota wait for about 2 feet of snow to melt first tho, mores the pitty

Click to expand...

Oh you're crazy, but not alone, lol.

Take a look at the construction videos on that site. Very cheap and simple--you can almost smell the patchouli, lol.

Playing with fire and dirt, and sitting around a fire under the stars with friends? Yes, it has to be done. Please post photos.

Last year I researched installing a Tulikivi masonry stove. They are beautiful units and can serve as central heating for a large house. I communicated at length with a dealer who is also a house designer. A downside with masonry stoves is that you really do need to design the house around the stove. They are not good retro-fit heaters, say like a wood-stove. Given the expense of these stoves, designing and building a new structure around the stove is the sure way to maximize the stove's benefit. It comes down to a cost benefit analysis - which comes up short with most house designs.

btuser said:

No clean-outs or inspeciton ports? It would have been a piece of cake to tee straight to the end of the bench and cap it.

Click to expand...

A chimney brush on the end of a power snake might work. :lol:

Battenkiller said:

btuser said:

No clean-outs or inspeciton ports? It would have been a piece of cake to tee straight to the end of the bench and cap it.

Click to expand...

A chimney brush on the end of a power snake might work. :lol:

Click to expand...

You're right, that's probably how you'd have to clean it--with a sewer snake. Big design lapse, IMO.

Extremebison said:

I never thought of using the rocket heater as a camp fire. What a great idea. Build one that you light, sit around, your butt is always warm, and the smoke is never in your face it's perfect. I think I found my summer project.

Click to expand...

Yessir! I gotta give PhatFarmerBob a big tip of the hat for that idea.

There are so many things to like about the idea, only one of which being it's infinitely and easily reconfigurable. If you don't like the draw, or the geometry, or its orientation to the prevailing winds, just get out your shovel and play in the dirt! I'll have to look at the videos again, but as I recall the outside construction was just slip-fit, covered with dirt. If you screw up, your house doesn't burn down! Easy peasy, ham and cheesy.

Seems like a great way to play with chimneys. One guy pointed out that the secret to the rocket stove's draft is the pipe-in-a-drum burn chamber, which is essentially two chimney's drawing against each other. One is the pipe in the center, and the other is the drum around the pipe. The key is that the gas in the drum is much cooler than that in the pipe, so the draft in the pipe wins and runs the combustion engine. Also, when the stove first starts, the drum is cold, so the draft is strongest. I also like the vertical hearth--no cutting to length, and wood burns from the bottom.

Pretty nifty.

EDIT: Fun with rocket mass heaters:

http://www.youtube.com/paulwheaton12#p/u/3/a8s-mzfnPy8

Warning: contains hippies! :gulp:

Observations:

Now I know where the name comes from.

Check out the Class-M (mud) chimney pipe! (Or is it Class-C?)

Be sure to catch the wood burning at the end.

Any estimates on that split's moisture content?

EDIT:

More resources, including a design tool:

http://www.rocketstove.org/

I was just looking at the Woodstock website (woodstove.com) and under the new stove blog, there is a picture of a masonry heater that they are playing around with, including a built in oven.