NSW Australia Rocket mass heater.

A Rocket mass heater I built in NSW Australia.
I designed this heater to heat a 9x6m poorly insulated shed/barn with a 4m high ceiling.
The current combustion heater was doing very little to heat the space unless you sat directly in front of the heater.
I'm not much a fan of barrels on rocket heaters (visually speaking) but damn........they do an amazing job of getting quick heat (and I mean within a minute or 2) out into the room.
Naturally, the "Waste" heat, that would just go up the chimney in a combustion heater, fills the bench and bell (to the right of the heater) and stores that heat for later.

[@quantumofconscience6538]

I've never seen more confused commenters, but some have a point..... if the video maker was going to do all that showing every single moment for 2 days, 60 seconds of narration explaining a thing or two is not a lot to ask. Here you go, ... the gasses hit the top of the barrel. The gasses exit the barrel and move in all directions, some filling the "hollow" bench with warm air to heat it up and some gasses filling the brick "bell," .....(to our right of the heater with warm air.) The long metal (final) chimney is placed strategically collecting gasses at the bottom to allow gasses to escape the building, hopefully, after warm gasses have moved past most bricks to warm the brick so it can radiate heat for several hours after the fire that heats the upside barrel, is extinguished. The rocket mass heater is made of ceramic fiberboard sold on Amazon.

[@DidiArte]

Hey, I'm a learner here. And though I have been studying up on these things, I found this really hard to follow and pick up on what was going on, even when slowing down the playback speed. A few words or captions and a better camera angle or close up might help a LOt!

[@positiveaspect5730]

I'm sure it would help, but alas, I was on somebody else's time $$$. Perhaps you can get a few friends together and send me some cash and I will happily make an instructive video for you ;) Seriously though......you either get something like this or you get nothing. Have a look at some of my playlists and you may find something more instructive.

[@markfgraves6983]

narration better than repetitive music

[@positiveaspect5730]

Yes I agree but time is money and you ain't paying

[@chrisvenables4584]

Did you get it passed in aus? Im looking at how to do that in tassy. Also, how long does it hold the heat for?? Thanks for sharing

[@positiveaspect5730]

No, as this is in a shed and the owners did not want to. If you want approval, you just need to follow the same rules as you would for a ye old masonry fireplace. Emissions etc don't come into it. They are just looking at materials and clearances. Metal box heaters are a totally different game. They come pre-approved from a factory....these are one-offs. If you want to do it (and get council approval (which you really only need so you are covered insurance-wise) I can at least consult for you.

[@duncanseath745]

Thank for useful video. May I ask: Are you using high density fire bricks for bench/bell or regular building bricks? The large mass of bench back looked to be cob filled, does that sufficiently absorb heat from the small surface area it is in contact with hot gasses in bench or does it have some porting/channeling to help this? Sorry for long message.

[@positiveaspect5730]

Jeez, it was a while ago this one and I've built a few. They are regular clay bricks in most places. Where they may get really close the the heat source, I will use firebrick but using firebrick throughout the build would triple the material cost. The back of the bench is filled with a slate cob. I wanted to have it hollow but it proved to be taking too long so I changed plans mid-build. It works better. It holds heat for much longer. Yes, it takes more time to heat up but that is a moot point when you are only recharging it a bit each day...you are not running it from fully cold very often.

[@duncanseath745]

Thanks for answering my questions succinctly and clearly. @@positiveaspect5730

[@aboaazam]

Did this method make you save the amount of firewood you usually used, or did it increase?

[@positiveaspect5730]

75% decrease in wood use

[@DataSmithy]

How is it working for you? Does the bench get hot?

[@positiveaspect5730]

I built this for someone else. Yes, the bench gets hot.

[@victoryfirst2878]

What method would you use to eliminate the MASS part of the stove. Do not have room for that size of mass. What would you recommend.

[@positiveaspect5730]

how much space do yo have available?

[@victoryfirst2878]

@@positiveaspect5730 Room size is 12 X 20 feet. Height is seven and a half feet.

[@jakebredthauer5100]

@@victoryfirst2878 If you like barrels, I would say use a double barrel, extra tall, with a normal riser. Check with Walker Stoves to see whether a double barrel would be the right number of square feet of radiator. He has plans for various stoves.

[@victoryfirst2878]

@@jakebredthauer5100 Thanks Jake for that information Sir. Peace

[@MrKOtenor]

Why on earth would you block the window with a row of cinder block? Could have thought this through better.

[@positiveaspect5730]

noyfb

[@jakebredthauer5100]

@@positiveaspect5730 Wow.

[@user-pq6uv2kk2f]

Гарна робота🇺🇦☺️👍

[@CMAenergy]

I would like to see how those 45 gallon drums are after a few years of being exposed to such heat Rusted burn through possibly But what really puzzles me is the fact that this chimney did not go through the slab to the left and there was no fill put in there to contain the heat

[@positiveaspect5730]

Seems like you have a lot to learn. Good luck

[@quantumofconscience6538]

New barrel in 3 years for $5. Big problem solved.

[@CMAenergy]

Not a chance fellow You haven't seen the facts of inflation will be out of control by then, more than they are now, you can almost assume it will be across the board for everyone, with everything hard to get/ War is going to hit here sooner than you think, if not civil unrest, and the war will push fossil fuels out of reach for everyone, So buy a few now when you have the chance. You will not be able to travel. And i pray it does not happen, but the governments of this world are the fools that rule@@quantumofconscience6538

[@rajahlifestyle6907]

@@positiveaspect5730 I also have al lot too learn :P I asked myself the same thing. A lot of the time i see the piping go trough the seating area and then somewhere a outlet. What am i missing, isnt the hot air going to leave straight upwards ?

[@michaelstansell1001]

Would love to see a diagram of how the fire exhaust stream enters and exits the bench. I didn't see a run of pipe, so it looks like the bench is a stratification chamber. However, the entry to the bench looks lower than to the masonry bell to the right of the stove (8:40), which is also where the chimney flue is, so wouldn't most of the exhaust stream bypass the bench chamber?

[@positiveaspect5730]

the chimney flue is next to the barrel and not in the other bell. the entrance to the bench is much large and higher than the second bell so most of the heat goes to the bench. thanks for commenting.

[@sparsons306]

So is that other bell doing anything?

[@positiveaspect5730]

@@sparsons306 it was going to be a large wood storage shelf/cupboard but I ran out of time. They were using it for clothes drying with a drying rack.

[@l0I0I0I0]

Why is the riser necessary? Why can't you go straight into the Mass material then flue?

[@positiveaspect5730]

You would need to read up on rmh design. I can't answer that in a comment.

[@l0I0I0I0]

@@positiveaspect5730 TY for the reply.

[@jakebredthauer5100]

@@l0I0I0I0 Combustion occurs in the riser.

[@l0I0I0I0]

@@jakebredthauer5100 ty! I've been sort of figuring that out.

[@pekkakoski6595]

Greets from Finland. Rocket mass heater is OK, but as a ignorant northern dweller I must ask where in Australia you do need heating? According to my TV AUS is jungle or hot desert :)

[@positiveaspect5730]

There are a number of small alpine areas in NSW VIC and TAS. Tasmania is pretty cold most of the year. You also need to know that the buildings in Australia ("Building" is a fairly generous term....Shed would be more appropriate) are a bit crap. Insulation didn't become mandated until around 2010 and double glazing is still not a requirement in new buildings

[@sean369]

How do you get this passed on building regulations? Keen to build one on a new build house.

[@positiveaspect5730]

depends where you are and the local regulations.

[@jakebredthauer5100]

You need to educate your code enforcer about how safe it is. Use a first-class chimney to demonstrate your commitment to safety. Because the chimney stays clean and operates at a low temperature, these things are less likely to start fires. There are books written about these things.

[@nizarahdragon3973]

I like the look of the bench but it doesn't do anything

[@positiveaspect5730]

if you say nice things to the bench it will sing and dance.

[@nizarahdragon3973]

@@positiveaspect5730 sorry I was not trying to disrespect you every thing I have read indicates that there needs to be 2 channels in the bench to direct the air flow

[@positiveaspect5730]

@@nizarahdragon3973 All good. no the bench is just an empty space that fills with warm air. it works just like water in a bath. hot rises to the top and cold sinks to the bottom. hot air displaces cold and the old goes up the chimney.

[@markfgraves6983]

but great otherwise

[@ajaibbrar841]

Instead of music say what is done

[@Skashoon]

Not useful as a teaching tool. All this says is: ‘Look what we did!’ This is why time lapse videos are generally a waste of time. Without explanations, tips, warnings, options…why bother?

[@positiveaspect5730]

if you can please send me some money (say $10k) I will happily re-shoot the build for your viewing pleasure.

[@jakebredthauer5100]

I suggest you try Walker Stoves.