Skip to content

Tag: Rocket Mass Heaters

Beyond 600 – A Learning Experience – Part 2

Published by MichelV69 on March 10, 2015

Post Views: 325 “No plan of battle survives contact with the enemy” — Murphy’s Laws of Combat So, as I said in my previous post, I had a problem with the “Core” of my Rocket Mass Heater (RMH).  This is the concept design I started with:   If you take a look at how the bricks for the Burn Tunnel are put together, you’ll see that  they use a technique called a “boat builder’s corner”. The idea is that each piece is attached at the corner to simplify construction as well as “lock together” strength. If you look carefully at the Burn Tunnel image, you’ll note that one cuff is “backwards” to the other.  That’s intentional.  It means that the seams don’t line up, so when the are stacked vertically, there is…

Continue readingBeyond 600 – A Learning Experience – Part 2
Leave a Comment
Beyond 600 – A Learning ExperienceSimple Sketch of the RMH "Core" Components

Beyond 600 – A Learning Experience

Published by MichelV69 on March 7, 2015

Post Views: 1,166 So I had a brickwork issue with the rocket stove that has resulted in me deciding to do some surgery and determine how well this thing has been running. The “manifold” area is badly designed and now that I understand basic masonry and high-temperature gas-flow behaviour, I can clearly see it needs to be replaced. So, I broke the adobe up with a hammer and chisel to be able to lift the barrel cover off. Anywhere within 60mm / 2.1″ that the adobe had come in contact with either the exhaust gasses or the steel of the barrel cover was functionally soft-fired brick. It needed the masonry chisel to remove. That was pretty surprising to me. I hadn’t really considered that a possibility. There was…

Continue readingBeyond 600 – A Learning Experience
1 Comment
Searching for 600 – My Experiences With A Rocket Mass Heater – Part 3R&D Rocket Core - Test Burn

Searching for 600 – My Experiences With A Rocket Mass Heater – Part 3

Published by MichelV69 on November 28, 2014

Post Views: 564 Searching for 600 – My Experiences With A Rocket Mass Heater Part 3 In my last blog post, I talked at length (3 pages!) about the fundamental concepts behind Rocket Mass Heater systems as well as the physical parts of the system. I also talked about safety issues as well as ways to better incorporate them into your living and working spaces. In this post, I will talk about how I run my Rocket Mass Heater system in my greenhouse, including lighting, feeding and cleaning. After that, I’ll talk about my first and subsequent testing burns that I have done with the “Version 2” system and a few surprises I have learned along the way. “Normal” Operating Temperatures As a quick review, when you are…

Continue readingSearching for 600 – My Experiences With A Rocket Mass Heater – Part 3
2 Comments
Searching for 600 – My Experiences With A Rocket Mass Heater – Part 2Simple Sketch of the RMH "Core" Components

Searching for 600 – My Experiences With A Rocket Mass Heater – Part 2

Published by MichelV69 on November 24, 2014

Post Views: 1,554 Searching for 600 – My Experiences With A Rocket Mass Heater Part 2 In my last blog post, I talked about why it was I made the decision to try and build a Rocket Mass Heater system for my aquaponics greenhouse. I also talked about how my first attempt at building one worked out, and what I learned. From that, I ultimately decided to try again, and pressing the edge of what I knew to get where I wanted to go. In this post, I want to discuss how Rocket Mass Heater (RMH) systems work, what the key components are, and the crucial math that drives these fascinatingly simple yet efficient combustion systems. Burning Smoke Wood smoke is unburnt fuel that is being wasted. This…

Continue readingSearching for 600 – My Experiences With A Rocket Mass Heater – Part 2
6 Comments

Searching for 600 – My Experiences With A Rocket Mass Heater – Part 1

Published by MichelV69 on November 23, 2014

Post Views: 683 Searching for 600 – My Experiences With A Rocket Mass Heater Part 1 For those of you who have not been following along since this journey of mine started a year ago, I have been working towards a year-round aquaponics growing environment that would supplement our household groceries. That said, a 1400L / 275gal aquaponics system just cannot feasibly go in the house. However, we live in Zone 5 and our last winter saw 100cm / 3ft of snow with a couple of days that were -45c / -49f including the wind chill, so a heated greenhouse is a minimum. In the January to February window, our most bitter part of winter, the day time temp is usually 10c to 15c warmer during the day…

Continue readingSearching for 600 – My Experiences With A Rocket Mass Heater – Part 1
5 Comments