Énergie-Alternatives: Rocket Stove mass heater

Rocket stove mass heater

1/10 the consumption rate for the same effective heating to your living space

Rocket stoves are a type of fuel-efficient device, named in the 70s, but dating back millennia in concept. A super-hot chimney above the fire draws the flames sideways and up, blending hot fuel and air into a quick, hot, clean-burning fire that takes little wood, leaves little residue, and has lots of uses.

Rocket heating stove heats up your home with 80% to 90% less wood, exhaust is nearly pure steam and CO2 (a little smoke at the beginning)
the heat from one fire can last for days you can build one in a day or two
folks have built them spending less than $20
less CO2 than natural gas or electric heat
if you buy the wood, it costs less to operate than natural gas
Virtually no smoke or carbon monoxide byproducts, just carbon dioxide, and steam
Very little ash buildup with easy clean-out
Vertical wood inlet to a small firebox
Horizontal burn chamber
Insulated internal flue or riser
A drum or barrel over the riser for gases to cool and give off heat

An exhaust at the bottom that often extends through a cob bench to slowly store & release heat

The average wood stove sends 80% or more of the heat created by the fire up the chimney flue and out, giving off only leftover radiant and convection heat transferred to the body of the stove and into the room.

A Rocket stove, by contrast, is able to scavenge almost all of that previously wasted exhaust heat without the buildup of creosote or other deposits.

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Rocket mass heater's plan

A quick video| how a rocket mass heater works

Chimney through in mass

"The Rocket Mass Heater takes this useful, clean-burning heat, adds a self-wood burning box, and channels the exhaust through a masonry block to store a touchable warmth for hours or days. (Masonry heat storage is also seen in Roman hypocausts, Chinese 'Kang'stoves, European masonry heaters, and ancient masonry dwellings and hearths)."

This could be the cleanest and most sustainable way to heat a conventional home. Some people have reported that they heat their home with nothing more than the dead branches that fall off the trees in their yard.
A regular wood stove will extract heat immediately. A rocket mass heater will direct the fire through an insulated space to make the fire burn much hotter before harvesting the heat. This burns the smoke and creosote. Then most of the heat is extracted and put into the room. Any remaining heat is pushed through a mass to be slowly released over the next couple of days.
Smoke is wasted fuel. It's also poisonous. Good mixing, high-temperature combustion, and the right balance of draft and drag create a clean-burning, efficient stove. Efficient stoves use less wood, as well as promoting healthy air for everyone in the neighborhood.
The smoke coming from a chimney of a regular wood stove is typically 300 to 600 degrees and a large volume - and typically stinks up the neighborhood. The exhaust from a rocket mass heater is typically 70 to 120 degrees and a small volume - and is usually clear and without odor.

How much it cost to run? "We've heard from a lot of people that they heat their home with the sticks that naturally fall off the trees in their yard, so, for them it costs nothing. We have one story of a guy that heated his home all year with junk mail. If you choose to buy wood and have it delivered, the cost is usually about $200 per cord (about a mounded pickup load). We have a lot of people that are heating their home with about a half cord of wood per year. But depending on how cold it is where you are, how insulated your home is, how big your home is ... maybe you will need as much as two cords per year."