Rocket Mass Heaters

Posted by One Community on Friday, September 30, 2011 · Leave a Comment

A rocket mass heater (also known as a rocket stove mass heater) is an innovative and efficient space heating system. Developed by combining the technology of a rocket wood stove and a masonry heater, the rocket mass heater uses a ‘J shaped’ combustion chamber and heat exchange that then feeds the hot gases along a horizontal metal ducting embedded within a massive cob thermal store that can retain heat for hours, and even days, and is typically built as part of the building.

The way that it works is that as the chimney like pipe (depicted above) heats up, it draws the fire to actually burn sideways where the pipe acts as a combustion chamber that maximally uses your fuel and then circulates the heat through the piping/thermal store where it is slowly released. The more the system heats up, the more efficient the entire system becomes.

BENEFITS OF A ROCKET MASS HEATER

Simple to build
Moderate to low-cost to build
Heat from one fire can last for days
Heat a home with 80% to 90% less wood
Can be built by an individual in less than two days
Exhaust is only steam and CO2 once it is up and running

Here is a video by Paul Wheaton (the expert on sharing rocket mass heater information in my opinion) that compacts a weekend workshop on the subject into 10 minutes.