Post by hinotama on Dec 9, 2011 11:37:32 GMT -8
I live in Japan in an area affected by the quake, the tsunami, and radiation panic. It has been a difficult year to say the least.
I first thought about rocket stoves when people in our community were without electricity for days and without fuel for weeks. People were burning wood very inefficiently, so I went scouring the internet to try to shape things up for people who were willing to listen. For different reasons, very little became of that. I helped my community in other ways, but the idea stuck with me.
I have a woodburner that has not really performed up to my expectations, and after sawing and chopping my own wood kind of got a little old, I decided to look at some other ideas.
The background here is that electricity is about 45cents per kWh on peak and about 15 cents off peak. Although we have central heating with kerosene, that seems to be inefficient with our open plan home, which is a little largish. Fuel costs are at least twice what they are in the US. And I have my big wood stove kind of situated in a corner of the house, where it is very attractive, but not efficient. Weather here is such that it gets below freezing for about a week each winter, but dark and gloomy weather just goes on and on.
So here goes. I will do some testing of a rocket stove for outdoor use at amateur sports events just to heat a kettle. I will test some clay and ash mixtures and get a feel for casting and portability, lighting, etc.
And by this time next winter, I hope to have a greenhouse situated at the other end of my house from my current woodburner. The configuration is a little odd, but it touches on different points and caveats that have arisen. I will explain that in a separate post.
I admire all of you. It has been great to read of your work, careful thought, and accomplishments. Really awesome stuff. My own ideas are a little bizarre and result from my personality, I hope I can spark some imagination among others.
I first thought about rocket stoves when people in our community were without electricity for days and without fuel for weeks. People were burning wood very inefficiently, so I went scouring the internet to try to shape things up for people who were willing to listen. For different reasons, very little became of that. I helped my community in other ways, but the idea stuck with me.
I have a woodburner that has not really performed up to my expectations, and after sawing and chopping my own wood kind of got a little old, I decided to look at some other ideas.
The background here is that electricity is about 45cents per kWh on peak and about 15 cents off peak. Although we have central heating with kerosene, that seems to be inefficient with our open plan home, which is a little largish. Fuel costs are at least twice what they are in the US. And I have my big wood stove kind of situated in a corner of the house, where it is very attractive, but not efficient. Weather here is such that it gets below freezing for about a week each winter, but dark and gloomy weather just goes on and on.
So here goes. I will do some testing of a rocket stove for outdoor use at amateur sports events just to heat a kettle. I will test some clay and ash mixtures and get a feel for casting and portability, lighting, etc.
And by this time next winter, I hope to have a greenhouse situated at the other end of my house from my current woodburner. The configuration is a little odd, but it touches on different points and caveats that have arisen. I will explain that in a separate post.
I admire all of you. It has been great to read of your work, careful thought, and accomplishments. Really awesome stuff. My own ideas are a little bizarre and result from my personality, I hope I can spark some imagination among others.
