An interesting idea for off grid heat

[RJuelfs]

Interesting idea for off grid heat.

Masonry Heater Construction

M y wife and I have lived in this 100+ year old, wood-framed, farm house for more than 5 years. Our primary heater was an forced air oil furnace in the basement. It was noisy and the cost of...

apsleycountrybakery.weebly.com

https://www.mha-net.org/docs/portfolio/Assembly-22fo-wildacres.pdf

Do some research on “Masonry heater.”

 

[rhino]

If someone is looking for a simpler option I've been using a Kitchen Queen wood stove for over 10 years now for 100% of my heat (and cooking in winter) in a poorly insulated farm house.

 

[RJuelfs]

Wood stoves are awesome for quick heat. I too used one for years in a stone walled farm house. These are meant to be fired hot and hard (1200*F) twice a day. The thermal mass soaks up the heat and releases it back into the house for 12-18 hours. It is a much smoother heat.
They are also much more efficient than a traditional stove, using roughly 1/3 the fuel. They also require their own foundation. Nor for everyone, but definitely interesting.

 

[eXodus]

Interesting idea for off grid heat.

Masonry Heater Construction

M y wife and I have lived in this 100+ year old, wood-framed, farm house for more than 5 years. Our primary heater was an forced air oil furnace in the basement. It was noisy and the cost of...

apsleycountrybakery.weebly.com

https://www.mha-net.org/docs/portfolio/Assembly-22fo-wildacres.pdf

Do some research on “Masonry heater.”

Good old European Stove concept. Very popular in the Alpine regions for few hundred years now

Mass and more Mass. Google "kachelofen"

The Chimney pipe in Europe is usually also made out of Masonry, and not covered in the 2nd floor and protrudes in 3-4 rooms - so both floors are heated with one oven heater. The heater is in the middle of the house. Never at an exterior wall.

 

[Don B. Cilly]

I use the little trick in my signature on top of the wood stove. Simple, inexpensive and effective.
Just an old pressure cooker, some copper tubes (easy to solder) and a radiator.
You can have multiple radiators, obviously.
.

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

These are used in Northern Europe and Russia to this day to effectively heat a house. This is a modern version currently keeping my off-grid place nice and warm while it's -16C outside:



It stores 60kWh of energy and is made from soapstone. Total mass about 2100kg.

 

[eXodus]

These are used in Northern Europe and Russia to this day to effectively heat a house. This is a modern version currently keeping my off-grid place nice and warm while it's -16C outside:

View attachment 76480

It stores 60kWh of energy and is made from soapstone. Total mass about 2100kg.

Nice ! with all the Lithium battery hype going on it's great to see people using thermal batteries - which don't degrade. Even after many thousand cycles and hundreds of years

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

Nice ! with all the Lithium battery hype going on it's great to see people using thermal batteries - which don't degrade. Even after many thousand cycles and hundreds of years

Add to that the underfloor hydronic: a 3000L hot water tank 'battery' coupled to a concrete floor 'battery'. Thermal mass rules

 

[Browneye]

Awesome.
We may be moving back to the PNW. Which is freezing to us having been in So-Cal for the past 28 years. We're gonna need a stove (or two). So pellet or wood, big or small - this first post here oven stove thing is amazing. What a project!

 

[labeeman]

I wish I could store cold as I have been using Aircondition more days here than heat.

 

[RJuelfs]

Many of them have a bake oven built into them

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

Many of them have a bake oven built into them

That's what the upper part on mine is! It's great for stews, etc. as well.

 

[Don B. Cilly]

Actually, that little stove there is... the best ever made :·)
They don't make them any more, I wanted to get one for a friend, impossible. All you can find nowadays are silly, expensive ones that require a lot of watching and handling. That one is funnel-shaped inside, you just throw the stuff in there and it adjusts itself.

You can cook on it... or have a pressure cooker on top like that to pump hot water to the radiators :·)
See ↓ for details.

 

[rhino]

View attachment 76562

Actually, that little stove there is... the best ever made :·)
They don't make them any more, I wanted to get one for a friend, impossible. All you can find nowadays are silly, expensive ones that require a lot of watching and handling. That one is funnel-shaped inside, you just throw the stuff in there and it adjusts itself.

You can cook on it... or have a pressure cooker on top like that to pump hot water to the radiators :·)
See ↓ for details.

What happens if the pump fails?

 

[Don B. Cilly]

It stops pumping. The water boils. The steam goes through the tubes - the other way round - and condenses back.
In the very unlikely case that the stove is loaded to the point of lasting many hours, nobody is in the house, and the water runs out... you lose the gasket, I guess.

Actually, if you leave the house and leave it on, you usually put it in "slow burn" mode - by closing the bottom hatch.
Even if you don't, if left unattended, it sort of does that automatically, the bottom grill gets clogged with ash.
But anyway, it's a closed circuit, I don't think it could possibly lose enough steam to even melt the gasket.
If Murphy really gets to do its worst... a gasket is cheap enough to replace.

Also, those pumps are quite reliable. I only use it at the lowest (of three) speeds. Some 40W.

 

[eXodus]

I wish I could store cold as I have been using Aircondition more days here than heat.

you can store cold, at my work we used to have a chiller plant. Freezing Water to Ice during the night and using it during daytime to cool the buildings.

The phase change of water from liquid to solid stores incredible amounts of energy in a small volume.

Also, those pumps are quite reliable. I only use it at the lowest (of three) speeds. Some 40W.

you can get a new Grundfos Alpha circulation pump which pumps more water at 8W.

What happens if the pump fails?

A Grundfos Pump like that has a design life of 30 years. The new Pumps have design life of well above 100 years (Magnetic levitation bearings)

If you don't shoot the electronics

 

[Don B. Cilly]

you can get a new Grundfos Alpha circulation pump which pumps more water at 8W.

Good to know. Thanks.
.