# Rocket Stove Inside a Cabin



## sgtrunningfool

I am planning out a hunting cabin I plan to build in the fall. I like the idea of using a rocket stove because there is no shortage of mesquite twigs at the location. 

Is a rocket stove safe for indoor use? Anyone suggest a plan for an indoor rocket stove? Thank you.


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## TheAnt

Sorry I cant help you but I do like the idea and would be interested in hearing how you fare if/when you put something together. I am seriously considering building one outside just to test the concept but if it works I would like to put on in a house/cabin some day.


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## OldCootHillbilly

Ain't never built one indoors fore, I'd thin yer gonna wan't a good vented hood over the top a it an make sure ya got good ventilation.

I'd maybe build one them amo box stoves ifin yer gonna have a small cabin that way ya can pipe it out.


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## Indiana_Jones

Yeah it's done all the time. Just search "rocket mass heater" on you-tube and you will find plenty.


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## labotomi

Indiana_Jones said:


> Yeah it's done all the time. Just search "rocket mass heater" on you-tube and you will find plenty.


I agree with this. It's not as efficient as a rocket stove for cooking because their is no exposed flame, but because of that it's also much safer to use indoors.

If you look at the design, there is a spot high on the exhaust that the heat is redirected and thus is a good spot for a cooking surface. I'd try to find a corrosion and abrasion resistant surface that's also good a heat conduction to put in this location. I don't think you'd have much control over the temperature unless you had a way to bypass the path to the cooking surface which is doable, but you'd need to take into consideration during construction.


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## jsriley5

The one I was looking at from a link posted here at the site was designed FOR indoor heating use let me see if I saved the link I"m sure I did if I can just find it again.

Look around here this is where I was looking at several ideas and the place is full of great ideas including a bunch of inexpensive and efficient indoor rocket mass heaters.

http://www.permies.com/forums/f-55/wood-burning-stoves


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## labotomi




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## cnsper

I believe that we are discussing 2 entirely different things.

Rocket Mass Heater is designed to heat and can be used for cooking.

Rocket Stove is designed strictly for heat.

Now with that all said, think about the past when people had fire pits in the center of the dwelling. Indians had fires inside all the time.

Now if you think about it, you will be burning for shorter periods of time so you will not be in as much danger as you would from a heating fire. I would think that opening windows and doors would be enough to cook your meals.

Now if it were me, I would build an outdoor kitchen for this. You can have some screens that can drop down to cut down the wind on windy days. I like the idea of cooking outside. You can make a lean-to roof over it so you are in the shade on those hot summer days.

Hell I have snow on the ground and still will cook outside. Things just taste better that way... LOL


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## camo2460

Labotmi, why would the rocket stove be better than just using a 55 gal. stove kit or a wood burning store bought stove?? I ask because while I have heard of rocket stoves I'm not very familiar with them. camo2460


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## act5860

camo2460 said:


> Labotmi, why would the rocket stove be better than just using a 55 gal. stove kit or a wood burning store bought stove?? I ask because while I have heard of rocket stoves I'm not very familiar with them. camo2460


My understanding is that the thermal mass of the rocket stove holds heat, thus requireing much less fuel to keep an area warm.


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## LincTex

camo2460 said:


> I ask because while I have heard of rocket stoves I'm not very familiar with them.


You can get quite a bit of heat from quite a small amount of wood; "crap" wood like little sticks and twigs.

They are really popular to provide folks in third-world countries a way to cook meals with the little bit of twigs they gather.


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## labotomi

camo2460 said:


> Labotmi, why would the rocket stove be better than just using a 55 gal. stove kit or a wood burning store bought stove?? I ask because while I have heard of rocket stoves I'm not very familiar with them. camo2460


It would be easier for you to look at an explanation of how a rocket stove works than for me to try and explain it. I'm certainly not an expert. I believe though in short a rocket stove burns hotter, thus making more efficient use of the wood. The hotter temperature would allow for shorter cooking times.

Since it burns hotter, in a heater application the area temperature changes need to be tempered somehow. That's where the mass helps. It absorbs the heat and releases it slowly and evenly over time. You can make a fire for cooking that burns hot and use the heat from that to warm the house for he rest of the day.


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## Tirediron

the reason for the RMH s efficiency is it burns hotter, as the temperature rises the amount of btus release increases drasticely. any heating device operates best at maximun safe temperatures, the RMH is also excellent at heat recovery, the flue gasses are cool, because the heat has almost all been absorbed by the mass. The illustration a few posts back is somewhat missleading, the "Optional" cooking surface and exposed barrel are a nessecity for the system to work.


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## jsriley5

Yup less waste at the exhaust wind traditional stoves and fire places send a great deal of the produced heat out the chimney with the smoke as I understand it there is even very little smoke or heat exhausted once the stove is running. They talk about some folks even running them stealthily in towns zoned not to allow wood heat. Nobody even knows they are doing it anyway. That to me speaks of amazing efficiency. Never have seen a solid discussion on how much maintenance is needed and how much of a pain it is. I keep envisioning ash collecting in the flue and the way I have seen them constructed that portion is not readily accesible without dismantling.


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## Tirediron

there is very little ash with a RMH , because the fire burns very hard and hot most have a couple of clean out in stratigic locations to take care of the little bit of ash they do create.


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