design of heater

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design of heater

Postby wfwarner » Tue Dec 02, 2014 2:34 am

I am building a lodge the has only 650 sq. ft. plus a loft and will have limited floor space. my question is can a rocket heater be down sized to fit in my lodge. I have radiant floor heating pex in the floor but would like to use a rocket to heat with.
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Re: design of heater

Postby Oddmar » Tue Dec 02, 2014 4:23 am

There are guys who have built 4" systems, but i myself haven't gotten anything smaller than 6" to work well.

The thermal mass is what really eats up space. But the mass is absolutely necessary. With a small area to heat you'd just run it half as much.

The loft will be HOT. :oops:
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Re: design of heater

Postby matt walker » Tue Dec 02, 2014 5:34 am

Hmmm, I can think of a few ways I might do this for myself. One would be to cover and insulate the barrel to allow close clearances, and build the whole thing as seating along one side of the room. Another would be to put the burn chamber in the space, then go through the wall with the works and have a reservoir outdoors, so an outdoor boiler of sorts, with the wood feed and maybe a window for ambiance inside. Just some thoughts, I wouldn't recommend trying to downsize the burn chamber below 6" as Oddmar says.
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Re: design of heater

Postby ByronC » Tue Dec 02, 2014 11:32 am

To squeeze a RMH in a tight space, if it were me, I'd probably go with a rocket mass heated staircase leading up to the loft. There's a photo of one in the works (lacking it's finish coat of plaster?) a few pictures down from the top of this page:

http://www.permies.com/t/40573/rocket-s ... ss-heaters

But like Matt suggested, I too wouldn't care for having the boiler inside the living space. For floor heating, maybe go with some kind of solar solution to keep it separate from a standalone RMH. Two heating systems so you've always got one for a backup.
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Re: design of heater

Postby mannytheseacow » Tue Dec 02, 2014 8:36 pm

I was thinking the same thing. I would think a 6" would be perfect for that space, and if you're already well insulated you're halfway there. If there's no room for a bench you could build your mass vertically; maybe some chambered barrel/bell arrangement covered in cob?

Personally, I would never locate the heating outside. It's just a waste of energy. Fire it as you need to. You could easily tie a water boiler into it for the floor and use solar for your domestic hot water.
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