Rocket Stove Mass Heater

Laura

Laura

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These are pretty cool, or should I say... pretty hot! They're really efficient too.

There's a thread with a little bit of a discussion and experimentation here:
https://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,30986.0.html

I wasn't sure where to put the thread either; diet and health probably doesn't work. What about a preparedness section of the forum?
 
My family has researched a bunch on rocket stoves and recently purchased two-one small and portable, one larger that can be vented to heat a room. I haven't seen it work yet, but my husband did and says they work great. You can cook a meal on a handfull of twigs! He's currently overseas and is also building a solar oven. I'll try to get some photos to post.
 
Re: Rocket Stove Mass Heater/Fuel for the Fire

Good Day Everyone.
I am a little surprised to see the dates posted on these rocket stoves, you guys are ON IT! :cool:

Glad to see the Rocket Stoves already here as daily events bring certain possible conditions to the for front and the "what if's" keep growing. I too found a Tube that I thought is doable. It uses junk mail - pretty much everything from your shredder- I would not include plastic from envelopes, I guess you could even breakdown boxes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aLZ88_DZz8
 
Thanks for sharing.

Great little examples of these simple effective principles, which the imagination, through design, can build upon for many uses.
 
After doing quite a bit of research on various vendors that are out there I decided on two models by Silverfire (company out of Oregon):
- Silverfire Survivor:
regular rocket stove concept
_http://www.silverfire.us/page_10_15/silverfire-survivor-rocket-stove
I've done tests with twigs and corn cobs and this thing puts out a tremendous amount of heat
This model is very portable and can get a large pot of water boiling in no time (faster that a cooktop)
Downside with any biomass stove is soot deposition on skillet or pot (i.e. yellow flame)


- Silverfire Super Dragon:
top lit gasifier stove
_http://www.silverfire.us/page_12_15/silverfire-super-dragon-forced-air-fan-stove-chefs

https://youtu.be/m_jWz3H-48M
The fan control makes for very nice regulation of heat production which is very useful for canning
I've done tests with corn cob, wood pellets, charcoal, twigs/sticks
I thought charcoal was nice because once you get to the hot coal stage there is no soot to speak off, just nice heat.
 
The only downside if the electric powered fan. I suppose a clever person could replace it with a foot pedal fan like the old sewing machines?
 
monotonic said:
The only downside if the electric powered fan. I suppose a clever person could replace it with a foot pedal fan like the old sewing machines?
Click to expand...

The fan can alternately be powered by a 12V car battery (or via 12V car socket) or solar panel.
There is a model that uses a chimney to create the draft: _http://www.silverfire.us/page_11_15/silverfire-hunter-natural-draft-chimney-gasifier-s
 
[quote author= Domi]
After doing quite a bit of research on various vendors that are out there I decided on two models by Silverfire (company out of Oregon) [/quote]

That is the company we purchased from too. They are well built and not overly expensive. :cool:
 
Lilou said:
[quote author= Domi]
After doing quite a bit of research on various vendors that are out there I decided on two models by Silverfire (company out of Oregon)
Click to expand...

That is the company we purchased from too. They are well built and not overly expensive. :cool:
[/quote]

Pretty impressive, thanks Domi!
 
domi said:
monotonic said:
The only downside if the electric powered fan. I suppose a clever person could replace it with a foot pedal fan like the old sewing machines?
Click to expand...

The fan can alternately be powered by a 12V car battery (or via 12V car socket) or solar panel.
There is a model that uses a chimney to create the draft: _http://www.silverfire.us/page_11_15/silverfire-hunter-natural-draft-chimney-gasifier-s
Click to expand...

The heat is so intense in a rocket stove that everything is burnt and it's basically just steam exhausting, so I think the main issue might be getting the draft. The rocket stove design is different, so I don't know if the normal rules are changed any. Many designs run the exhaust pipe/chimney long distances and surround it with a thermal mass like cob to capture and radiate heat. Thinner chimneys usually need to be higher than the roof at a greater ratio than regular chimneys. I have seen a rocket stove chimney that just shoots out horizontally from a house, but they might have used a fan.
 
Renaissance said:
The heat is so intense in a rocket stove that everything is burnt and it's basically just steam exhausting,
Click to expand...

The Silverfire models that I have burn well but the flames are yellow so there is soot deposited on a pan or skillet.
Which is one of the reasons that I switched to propane for canning because otherwise it have to use a scouring pad on the bottom of the canner every time.
 
I came across this and think one could probably incorporate this into a rocket stove.
-http://www.biolitestove.com/products/campstove/
 
I have been interested in rocket stoves (and mass heaters) for some time, and finally purchased a portable one recently, called EzyStove. I like the intelligent, highly efficient design concept of these stoves and enjoy the abundant, free fuel aspect too! :) The day I chose to 'test drive' it was a real miserable, cold, showery day. As most twigs and sticks on the ground were sodden, I cut a couple of dead branches from a spruce tree which was sufficient. The needle-like leaves were ideal tinder and lit first time, and within 5 minutes I could boil a kettle. Every now and again I kept pushing the fuel inside the combustion chamber and cooked bacon and eggs in my frying pan in the equivalent time that it would take on my Coleman petrol stove. I am quite impressed with it :)

It is marketed as "Beautiful design meets outstanding functionality in this high-performance wood-fuelled portable rocket stove" and I think that sums it up quite well. At £75 it seems good value for money. Conventional fuel for cooking may well sky rocket (no pun intended) in the near future, so I think it is a valuable asset to have for my 'preppers kit'.

http://wildstoves.co.uk/rocket-stove-cookers/ezystove-wood-fuelled-camp-stove/

For folks in the US, the biomass stoves from StoveTec looks really good value too!

http://stovetecstore.net/
 
Maybe this topic should be merged with this one:

http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,30986.msg409791.html#msg409791

The problem we always had with fires in general is wind. The wind just blows the heat away from the pot or whatever you're trying to cook. Maybe it's only a problem where we live. There might be an exception when heat reflectors are used to aim the radiant heat of the fire at the pot, assuming it absorbs heat well. It would however be very nice to have an indoor stove that concentrated heat on the pot without turning the kitchen into a smoky oven.

The SilverFire stove that was posted earlier is one of the best options to me. From their site:

http://www.silverfire.us/page_10_15/silverfire-survivor-rocket-stove said:
Cheap clay stoves and extruded combustion chambers are heavy and fragile. Thin mild cold rolled steel stove bodies found with many rocket stove manufacturers are subject to oxidation and can limit stove life. Poor quality, thin cast iron tops crack. Pop can thin steel combustion chambers used in the Deluxe StoveTec, & EcoZoom Versa are subject to failure in the field.
Click to expand...

What would be even better would be a wood stove that had fine control of the heat so it could entirely replace a household stove. Gasifier stoves may be a better option:

http://wildstoves.co.uk/wood-cooking-stoves/wood-gas-camping-stoves/wild-wood-gas-stove/ said:
Wood-gas stoves create conditions where 'primary air' partially combusts wood gas, then injectSlice_flames pre-heated 'secondary air' into the top of the combustion chamber to mix with the remaining smoke, resulting in a very hot, clean burn and quick and easy lighting. They produce less carbon monoxide and particulates than open fires, and even rocket stoves. The images show the hot wood gases meeting the pre-heated air, appearing as jets of yellow flame.
Click to expand...

The stove example given at the beginning of this thread contains an insulated burning chamber inside the barrel that allows the fire to get hot enough to burn the smoke particles. Perhaps a gasifier stove would be a less permanent, more portable and flexible version of that idea. Here's a stylish gasifier cookstove:

http://www.stackstoves.com/collection/cookinstack/
 
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