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Oowasa
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# Posted: 5 Jan 2014 22:21 - Edited by: Oowasa
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Hello Everyone!
I did a search and could not find an answer to this question. I have been looking at heating sources for the cabin we are going to build and have been very interested in Rocket Mass Heaters/Stoves but don't see many people using them here on the boards...why?
I believe they are very heavy and that could be one reason? But with cost and how efficienct they seem to be, it sounds like a good idea (at this point, from what I have learned). But I am curious to why I don't see more of them in cabins? I want to be off grid with my cabin, but living in the mighty State of Minnesota (wind chills of -50 to -60 tonight), heating is an important topic. 
What are your thoughts? Rocket heating good or bad?
Thanks guys and gals! 
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spoofer
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# Posted: 5 Jan 2014 22:45
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I don't think a rocket stove would work in NY. You need long burn times. The winters can be long and harsh.I'm on my 3rd stove. I have learned a lot about burring wood the last 25 years. Next spring I will be installing my 4th stove. I picked up a Jotel 118 a few months ago. My gracious neighbor welded new side plates for it. I hope it is efficient and has long burn times.
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 5 Jan 2014 22:52
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Is your cabin for full time residence or occasional use? They take too long to warm the mass before being able to bring the cabin interior up to a comfortable temperature for occasional use.
Weight is a problem for cabins that are not on a very firm/strong foundation. Slab on grade works best for a mass heater, IMO.
I know someone with one in a cordwood house. They are happy but have a ready supply of small diameter wood that is suitable for use.
Most building departments have never heard of them so code approval, if necessary, is difficult to come by. Only Portland, OR has a easy to follow system for acceptance as far as I know.
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Oowasa
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# Posted: 5 Jan 2014 23:00
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This is pretty much going to be for weekend/vacation time use. We are buying within a 3 hour radius of the house and I don't think it is going to be a slab home.
I knew they were heavy, but did not know they took so long to heat up. I was reading today that when the mass has been heated up it can maintain comfortable heat levels for 24-30 hours? And that was with little wood being burned...compared to a traditional wood stove.
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 6 Jan 2014 00:28 - Edited by: MtnDon
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The idea of mass is to slow down the rate of temperature change. That works for you once you have achieved the desired temperature, but also works against you. In the NM desert I have a friend who uses the large mass of their thick walled pumicecrete home to counter the hot daytime summer temperatures. In the evening the temperatures fall due to the high altitude. The evening coolness is stored in the mass with open windows as the central whole house fan draws cool air through the house.
As far as using a rocket mass heater in a climate like NY goes, the long cold winter works in favor of a rocket mass heaters. They are used successfully in cold climates like the NE USA and in Canada.
Best results are achieved with a home that is well sealed, is not air leaky to cause drafts, but then that also applies to a home with any other source of heating as well.
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Dillio187
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# Posted: 6 Jan 2014 09:27
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I agree with Don, I don't think a thermal mass stove is a good fit for a weekend use cabin. When you get there when it's cold, you want it to warm up fast.
The new wood stoves are a lot more efficient than the old ones, they reburn the combustion gases and gain extra output from it. I feel they are very good on fuel as well.
I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend all of my time cutting up my 18" diameter oak logs into little 2 inch diameter kindling to feed into a rocket stove, I want to toss the whole thing on as 2 or 3 splits.
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groingo
Member
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# Posted: 6 Jan 2014 11:44
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What I got from the video was the CAT stole the show....reminds me of a cat I had just like that one I just called him Bruce.
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Danae
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# Posted: 13 Jan 2014 09:11
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We put a RMH into a cabin in the rocky mountains of Colorado.
Since the cabin is not on a slab, we cut three holes in the floor and pushed the concrete form tubes that you can buy at Home Depot through and filled them with concrete. That was enough support for the RMH.
Because the barrel is not cobbed above the burn area, it puts off as much heat as any fireplace and is the instant heat that the cabin needs to get warm. Then the warmth of the mass holds it there.
We use pinecones and kindling for start up but when the burn chamber gets hot, (15 min) we put in splits and even 4-5 inch round logs.
The only problems we have are oxygen at this altitude, so it does not burn as hot as it does at lower elevations.
To fix that, we put in a small draft fan and that stops the smoking that occurs when there is not enough oxygen to make the fire really hot.
But that means that it also, collects soot and creosote in the barrel and pipes. We have to vacuum it out frequently, and clean out the barrel twice a year. That is not fun, but the barrel comes off easily.
I wish someone could tell us how to fix the oxygen problem, because we really like everything else about the RMH.
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