Saving Energy Costs with Rocket Stoves

Rocket Stoves

Firstly, please excuse me being AWOL recently folks. We are in the grips of a heatwave here at the moment and when this happens I cannot work in my office as it becomes an instant sauna heat wise.

Just 2 days ago we hit a high of 44.9^oC (113^oF roughly) in the shade under my patio and inside the house. This meant that it hit a whopping 67.9^oC (155^oF roughly) in the sun. It was literally hot enough to fry eggs on the driveway which a guy actually did on TV camera just to prove it.

He cooked two eggs in a frying pan just sitting on the ground on his driveway and then proceeded to make them into a sandwich. When asked what they were like he said that they were great, but they would have been better with a bit of butter on the bread. Typical of a Maori boy to do and say.

Thankfully the next few days will be a bit cooler but still needing to sit under the air con to keep cool. Heat stroke is not a nice thing to have and I do plan on avoiding that this summer.

So folks please just bear with me and I will be back on deck as they say just as soon as I can.

For those in the grips of this heat wave, just do what you can to keep cool and for those at the opposite side that are in the grips of a hard winter, please ensure that you keep warm and dry.

Now onto the topic I chose for this morning’s post for you all:

Rocket Stoves:

Basic Rocket Stove with Ovens

Photo Credit Jun Mura

Rocket Stoves have been an absolute fascination for me since I first learned of them several  years ago.

They are so efficient and so easy for anyone to install themselves, really.

They can range from the very simplest and smallest as here just made out of a couple of tin cans.

Photo Credit Davino

Right through to the far more elaborate indoor versions such as this one made by a London Permaculture group.

 Photo Credit London Permaculture

Or even as elaborate and ornate as this one which is still in the process of being built. They lend themselves wide open to personalising them in any way you like. This particular one is designed more for heating but can just as easily have a place incorporated for cooking as well.

I just love how they have made it look like tree roots are hugging the chamber, giving it a very earthy look and feel.

Photo Credit Joan

Here is a simple Rocket Stove that can easily be made out in the bush.

 

  Photo Credit Aliluyya

I have also seen ones built in a longer stay situation in the bush where mud was placed over the stones to keep in more of the heat and make them far more efficient. But for just a one night stop or maybe two then the one above would be ideal.

When using stones like this though please do be careful as some stones cannot handle the heat and can actually explode under extreme heat as in this sort of situation.

Again common sense MUST be used. If in doubt then DO NOT DO IT.

Rocket Stoves can even be built to allow for and incorporate under floor heating as in this nest photo.

 Photo Credit Fishermansdaughter

Rocket stoves would definitely make an excellent addition to any homestead.

Sadly where we are we cannot build one of these due to being almost constantly on fire bans all year round, but I plan to implement these just as soon as we hit the country once again for use during the winter months when fire bans are not in place then in the rural areas.

Rocket stoves emit very little smoke but as it is “fire”, they would not be permissible in a fire ban situation and after seeing the wildfires here in Australia and knowing the sheer devastation these cause it simply would not be worth the risk at all.

Here is a woman in Tanzania, Africa making the last finishing touches to a larger “Rocket Stove” that is part of the Kanga Project in Tanzania, Africa.

 Photo Credit Kanga Project

And here we have the finished stove, now being used for cooking.

 Photo Credit Kanga Project

I love the idea of having these under shelter outside for outdoors cooking as well as inside for both cooking and heating during the winter months. These would make energy costs through the winter for us here extremely cheap – free in fact and for those that do not have the restrictions that we have here this would mean far more savings on energy used for cooking and in the winter for heating also.

 An outdoor Rocket Stove

Photo Credit Tomas Remiarz

Another advantage of building a large Rocket Stove as those shown above means that you can tailor the height to suit you. If you like to cook sitting down then it will be built lower to the ground but if you prefer to stand then you just make it much higher to suit you.

In England and Wales these are built with bench seats or even a platform to place a mattress on and used as a bed in the winter to help keep warm and thus utilising every available bit of the heat that is produced.

A very dear friend of mine sent me this link to some plans to share with you all for which I am so thankful.

So for those that are genuinely interested in being Prudent, Frugal and making serious cuts in costs to their energy bills each month, please do sign up for this site and get the plans for yourself. There is so much extremely awesome information on this site that you could literally loos yourselves for weeks reading through it all.

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This is an excerpt from the "permies" group:

Don't forget to tell your friends that if they sign up for the dailyish email within the next few days, they can get free rocket mass heater plans.

And, of course, they'll get to read the profound musings of The Smiley One. Aka Me. Aka sometimes I think Paul's arrogance (self-proclaimed) rubs off on me. ;) They can sign up here:

http://www.richsoil.com/email.jsp

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If anyone has any experience in building and/or using Rocket Stoves of this size then please do share with us in the comments section below.

I know that there are a great number of people that would just love to lower their energy bills and that really want to learn more about these with dreams of implementing them in their own homes, on their farms and in their barns as a safe and effective way of keeping their stock warm during those cold winters in the Northern Hemisphere.

WARNING:

Providing they are built correctly and used correctly as well as being fences off from the stock they would work extremely well. BUT and I do emphasise the BUT here, you must be diligent and not have flammable material close to the stoves at all. Common sense is of the utmost and paramount importance here.

NEVER EVER get complacent when it comes to fire. Safety MUST come first. If you cannot do this with the utmost care and safety procedures in place then please DO NOT DO THIS.

© KB Barnes