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Post by swizzlenutz on Nov 3, 2009 15:17:01 GMT -8
I read some where's about a man and woman who heated their house or office or something like that for a full year on nothing but junk mail. I thought I read that here. Does anyone know more about that and what type of stove setup they used? At one time I wanted to set up a pocket rocket type just for a little extra heat and use a piece of sheet metal in a window to put the exhaust pipe outside. I always wondered if something like the rocket stove could be done on a smaller scale like a small coffee can or maybe a little bigger for a drafty room or even a small shed. It would be a semi-perment fixture. Take it down in spring and put it back up in late fall. Any thoughts? Am I asking too many questions yet? Swizzle
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Post by swizzlenutz on Nov 3, 2009 19:08:33 GMT -8
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Post by swizzlenutz on Nov 4, 2009 5:26:37 GMT -8
Ok, I've been checking out the pocket rocket design and it's simple enough. I'm just wondering if these can be anywhere's near the same efficiency of a rocket mass heater. It seems to be a flawed design to me. A large down feeder mouth into a big empty void and then a smaller pipe out. I see how it works but it doesn't seem like it would create the rocket sound or match its heat. With the rocket stove all of the parts should be close to the same design from the mouth to the exhaust for maximum efficiency but with this deign you have usually a 6" pipe, a metal 5 gallon bucket and a 4" pipe. In the link above it mentions that they heated their home/office for a year with junk mail. I'm wondering with the mouth that wide open what is the chance that the place smelled of smoke all the time and not the nice smell of burning pine or something of that nature. My main concern on this type is the fact that my youngest gets croup easy so humidifiers are a must to keep moisture in the air and what are the chances of getting smoke in your house with this design? I'm also wondering if its possible to add another can down into the chamber that I could dump water into so that it acts as a humidifer. Swizzle
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Post by woodman on Nov 4, 2009 5:54:19 GMT -8
It would be interesting to run coils inside the fire box then thermosyphon into an open container that would put steam into the air.
I have been racking my brain on how to make a heater for my fiberglass hot tub. The feeds need to be 1 1/2 '' dia. to really move some water.
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Post by Donkey on Nov 4, 2009 8:29:42 GMT -8
Pocket rockets burn HOT!! They do the "rocket sound" and then some. Usually, the barrel turns cherry red on the bottom and fire comes out of the chimney pipe!
Though, just like a potbelly or any other kind of stove that relies on the chimney (entirely) for draw, it sucks most of the heat produced by the fire out the chimney.
Also, pocket rockets aren't true rocket stoves, though they share some features in common.
Remember, anytime you take heat from the fire directly before everything is thoroughly burned, you cool that fire and reduce the chanced of an efficient burn. Use the heat AFTER all the fuel is burned, insulate the fire and let it get TRULY hot so ALL the fuel gets used.
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Post by swizzlenutz on Nov 4, 2009 9:00:03 GMT -8
I was actually thinking about lining the 5 gallon bucket or a small barrel with fire brick. I have some curved ones from a 15 gallon barrel stove I can use and some flat ones that I can knock the edges off of to line the bottom. I was also thinking about running it straight up to within 2 feet of the ceiling and having an extra box or metal bucket to catch some extra heat before trying to melt the snow off of my roof. It would go straight up about 5' then into the thermal trap (bucket or metal box) and then a 90 degree turn sideways towards the window and another 90 degrees right out the window. Would JB weld hold on something that hot? I really want to add some sort of a small water heater to help release some extra moisture into the air. I plan on making it as safe as posible. Cement block under it and around the back of it covering maybe 2/3rds of the bucket or barrel. Swizzle
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Post by josephcrawley on Nov 6, 2009 8:54:13 GMT -8
Me and and a buddy messed with these a few winters ago. They did put out an incredible amount of radiant heat really fast, due ti the lack of mass of the 5 galloin can. The problem we kept having was the fire creeping uo the feed tube until it reverse drafted.
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Post by swizzlenutz on Nov 6, 2009 10:04:22 GMT -8
So in this case shorter fuel would be better? I'm thinking about using any scrap boards I can find and cut them up with a circular saw. I think I could get quite a stack of 12" x 1" or 2" sticks. there's always someone getting rid of lumber. I'd really like to try cardboard. That seems to be the easiest and most abundant fuel to obtain. I was thinking about making some rings out of coat hangers about 3 to 4 inches and rolling up cardboard strips as tight as possible and slide them into the rings to make imitation logs. When the fire dies and the stove cools down just pull out the rings and use them again. Swizzle
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dave
New Member
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Post by dave on Nov 10, 2009 10:56:36 GMT -8
How about making a small-ish rocket stove with vertical gravity feed magazine that is rectangular in shape, that could be filled with junk mail? To avoid variations in air flow around the volume of junk mail in the magazine, you could cap off the top of the magazine after loading, and have a horizontal air intake that is adjustable. Not sure how well thick glossy magazines would burn, but that would be ideal if they worked well. Plenty of them around.
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Post by Donkey on Nov 10, 2009 11:31:30 GMT -8
A capped top with horizontal feed arrangement tends to accumulate smoke up in the cap, when you open the cap again to feed, a little puff of smoke pops out. It's the open volume of the feed, it created a low pressure area where smoke goes to and swirls around before entering the burn area.
I'd do either a pure horizontal feed or (IMHO) better yet, vertical feed with a reducer cap. Seems to me that an air reducer of some sort (cap with hole) would be a good idea.
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dave
New Member
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Post by dave on Nov 10, 2009 11:43:59 GMT -8
I was thinking that one would just have to reduce the horizontal intake while slowly opening the feed cap. I like your idea, just enough of a vent in the feed cap to keep the smoke out, and adjust your horizontal air inlet accordingly.
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Post by swizzlenutz on Nov 10, 2009 16:17:59 GMT -8
I was thinking about an extra air intake as well. I don't really like the idea of an open pipe with fire in the bottom. (My toddler is getting faster and loves to put lego's every where). Capping the feed seems to me to be a great idea. How big should I start with drilling a vent hole? I'm thinking the size of a dime or smaller should be about right just to keep smoke from accumulating. For the horizontal air intake, where should I put it? I was thinking right in front of and towards the very bottom of the feed tube. What size pipe should I use and would a regular water pipe with a ball valve work? I plan on using a 5 gallon bucket with a 6" feed tube and 3 or 4 inch exhaust. I just can't seem to locate a meal 5 gallon bucket any where's right now. When I do it's time to fire up the dremel and get to work on it. Swizzle
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Post by Donkey on Nov 10, 2009 16:54:40 GMT -8
I was thinking that one would just have to reduce the horizontal intake while slowly opening the feed cap. I like your idea, just enough of a vent in the feed cap to keep the smoke out, and adjust your horizontal air inlet accordingly. No, no.. Not what I had in mind. It might work, but not what I was thinking. The vertical feed/air from another (outside, or whichever) source thing is one of those problems that seems to defy the first look.. On second glance, there are a couple (or several) simple solutions. |
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