When I was 27, I moved back to my hometown in northern Minnesota to start a small organic vegetable farm. I sold produce to the wife of a stone mason, and he was looking for help in the winters. I told him I didn't know anything. "Don't worry," he calmly replied, "I'll train you." I learned, of course, that hauling an endless supply of block and stone from one place to another doesn't take much training. But he also handed me a copy of David Lyle's history of masonry heaters. Three years later I was working for Albie Barden, building heaters for Maine Wood Heat Company, and dreaming of small . . .
Recent Research on Rocket Mass Heaters (and Bell Design)
There appears to be a huge amount of traffic and discussion through different internet forums about rocket mass heaters and reports from the authors on sales of the book on the subject confirm this incredible surge in interest. I am quite certain that this excitement stems from the tangible possibility that the rocket mass heater concept offers to individuals and families to build their own affordable efficient wood-fired heating system. I thought it would be interesting and useful to offer the following synthesis of recent research I have been directly involved in and links to information . . .
Increase wood-stove efficiency with bricks and mud: Construction Details & Videos
Increase woodstove efficiency with bricks and mud This is a pretty simple do-it-yourself option for anyone interested in increasing the efficiency of an old (or new!) woodstove. That said, a heater in the home poses serious risks — greater than an outdoor oven, and potentially greater than the old stove itself. But it's not rocket science; masonry heaters were developed and designed by people who worked for love, not money (the whole story is in David Lyle's Book of Masonry Stoves: Rediscovering an Old Way of Warming). The videos below show (roughly) how it goes together. In . . .