Contact protection on barrel

[alex52e]

I've been thinking about a RMH for our front porch. It is screened off and I put up plastic sheeting to cut down on the wind. It usually stays 10 degrees warmer than the outside air but when temps drop to below freezing it doesn't cut it. We don't smoke indoors so the porch is our smoking area. Anyway, the problem I have with a RMH is the exposed barrel. We have kids ranging from 1 year to 16. I know the younger ones, 1, 5 and 6 won't pay attention and will get burned. Obviously, I can't put anything above the barrel but as long as I can get something around it they should be OK. I am thinking of a wood frame with chicken wire to support a cob enclosure. Any thoughts on this? Would the sides of the barrel radiate enough heat to burn off the wood? Obviously, I would have a standoff built in of a few inches to prevent direct exposure of the frame to the barrel but would that be sufficient?

Thanks,
Jeff

[pa_friendly_guy]

I have heard this discussion on other sites. The idea that I personally liked the best was to wrap decorative hard ware cloth around the barrel with some sort of spacer to hold it away from the barrel. I am talking about the thin metal filigree that is stamped out and sold at Hardware Stores or Lowes or Home Depot. It would get hot, but because it is spaced out from the barrel an 1" or 2" it is not nearly as hot as the barrel itself. It adds a decorative appearance, and gives you some level of safety from touching the supper hot barrel while still leaving the top of the barrel open for cooking or rapid heat when needed. The stuff comes in many patterns and various colors, so it can be individualized for your home décor and color scheme . Here is one example, there are many to pick from.

http://www.twpinc.com/wire-mesh/TWPCAT_ ... PRODUCTS=Y

After looking I see that this one is a bad example, to costly, but basic metal ones are about $10 for a piece several feet long, you might have to bolt 2 together to get the size you need.

[matt walker]

Hi Jeff, welcome! It's pretty easy to protect smaller children from the hot spots on an RMH. The barrel is rarely hot enough to instantly burn skin down on the lower third. You definitely don't want a wood framed enclosure very close to it though, at least, not near the upper two thirds.

I would probably cover the lower barrel with cob up to nearly the halfway point. That alone should keep it out of reach of the smallest ones. It will eventually get pretty hot, but not like a wood stove instantly burnt hot. Even a small child will be able to tell it's too hot to touch before it does any real damage. Combine that with a "fence" around the unit, down low and out a few feet that the little ones can't cross without climbing over. If you are comfortable with cob you could incorporate the two concepts, pack cob around the whole thing down low and build it out a couple feet and up to the mid point on the barrel, so it forms a large cob cube with the barrel protruding at the top. It would all be nice and warm eventually, but never hot enough to burn someone. Anyone tall enough to reach over and across to touch the barrel is big enough to know it's hot.

[alex52e]

Pa and Matt, thanks for the replies. I like the idea of the decorative surround but I'm trying to keep things as inexpensive as possible. Using the cob would be a pretty cheap alternative and I was thinking that the cob would have the added benefit of storing and radiating the heat from the barrel just as it does with the bench. Maybe I could find someone to weld me together a small metal frame instead of wood for the cob surround. If I cobbed in the barrel, would I even need any standoff distance? Again, I wouldn't cover the top, just the sides and only far enough up to keep the kids from touching it - about 2/3 maybe.

"Fencing" the area would also not work very well because of the limited space. The porch is very long (about 15') but narrow (just over 6'). The heater itself will take up about half of the 6' so fencing it off wouldn't allow for room to get in and out. If someone can tell me how to insert pictures, I will throw up a couple of the porch so you can see what I'm working with.

I have a while to think about it since I am leaving in a couple of weeks for 9 months in Antarctica and won't be able to really do anything until I return.

[alex52e]

Thinking about it, the side of the porch that is against the house has vinyl siding. I'm guessing the bench part would be ok to have basically against the siding but how far away does the barrel need to be? No idea how much heat radiates out and how far. I could always put up some kind of backer board behind the barrel to insulate the siding but would prefer not to, if I can get away with it, since it would look kind of tacky and would be added expense.

[alex52e]

[pa_friendly_guy]

If I could ask Alex, How much do you smoke? And how often? Is the plan to sort of make this a place to spend a lot of time? A man cave of sorts? Will you incorporate the space into living area? Do you plan of using the heat in the house as well as the porch? A lot of questions I know. Because of the smoke I am guessing that you will not be using the heat in the house because you don't want the smoke smell to come in with it. The Rocket Stove maybe enough to cook you out of that small space, but because of no insulation and air leaks I think you will be fine in there. The bench should keep you warm long enough to enjoy a smoke for the several minutes it takes to get that done. In most cases I recommend that Larger is better, but with the small area that you are heating a 6" unit should be plenty. I would keep the barrel back from the door opening as much as you can to avoid accidentally hitting it as you exit the house. A smaller 30 gal barrel should be sufficient, the hollow bell design that Matt used for his outdoor unit seems to work well for him, it heats up quicker, but does not radiate the heat for as long. The bench will feel really nice when you are out there having a smoke, I sat in the garage for years in front of a small electric space heater for the same reason.

[matt walker]

I think your proposed layout looks good. You can just cob right up the barrel, no stand off needed. You might need to put up some backer board or something to protect those posts where you propose to put the barrel, but that should be easy and self evident once you get to that point.

[alex52e]

[alex52e]