Rocket stoves

Rocket Stoves: Building the Pocket Rocket
Instructors: Ernie Wisner & Erica Ritter
Fees: $350

Fees include lunch for participants on workshop days and camping accommodations.

Rocket Stove is a somewhat generic term describing a range of highly efficient wood burning stoves. Called “rocket” because of the loud noise they make and their intensity of burn, these stoves were developed by fire experts working in mostly third-world countries, mostly for women, who were concerned both with the scarcity of wood fuel and the health issues related to the smoke from cooking inside their homes.

Day one will have two components; a “minds-on” session, and a “hands-on” session. In the morning we will discusss the fundamental principles of rocket mass heaters and rocket stoves. Our theoretical discussion will then turn towards application of these principals. We will discuss many different possible configurations for cooking, storing heat in thermal mass, heated benches etc. Participants are encouraged to bring designs, plans and ideas of stoves they would like to build. For inspiration the recommended reading is the book, Rocket Mass Heaters: Superefficient Woodstoves YOU Can Build. These will form the basis of a design charrette (forum) where we will discuss the ideas in relation to the fundamental principals discussed in the morning.

The second part of day one will be hands-on. Using the same materials as a real stove, participants will build mock-ups of some different rocket mass heater configurations. You will learn how to make the combustion chamber made of firebricks and heat riser made of a 55 gallon steel drum and how to make a cob mixture of clay and straw with which to surround your stove and serve as a thermal battery.

On day two we will build the Pocket Rocket, an offshoot of the Rocket Stove. It is easy to make from inexpensive materials and can be used in the place of an outdoor wood burner or fire pit for increased fuel efficiency and decreased smoke pollution. A perfect urban back-yard heater.
Students will learn some of the principles of wood combustion, how to work with metal tools such as tin snips, and how to keep a fire going in a downdraft wood stove, which is different from any other wood burning device.

The book, Rocket Mass Heaters: Superefficient Woodstoves YOU Can Build, by Ianto Evans and Leslie Jackson will be available for purchase. We HIGHLY recommend that you read this book before coming to the workshop so that you can prepare your own plans to discuss with Leslie and the rest of the class during the design charrette.

Where:
Flesherton, Ontario

For more information and to register, visit www.naturalbuild.ca, email [email protected] or phone Ali Lam 416-938-9354