Rocket heating system

[juca1234]

I came across rocket heating on youtube.....Has anyone tried it on a NB?

[MtB]

Well it seems unlikely given the enormous amount of space these diverse contraptions appear to need to take up.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_mass_heater

 

Or can you link to one less than the size of a small car?

 

MtB

[John Williamson 1955]

This:-

"A common problem with some designs is "smoke-back", where smoke from the fire is released back into the interior rather than outside. Smoke-back could indicate a serious risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. This issue could be a result of poor individual stove design, or inadequate preheating of the exhaust tube, resulting in inefficient draft to pull the smoke through."

 

In the Wikipedia article would worry me. They also seem to rely on a large thermal mass, which implies a large and heavy heat store.

 

Unless you're talking about the heaters that look and sound like a jet engine, and burn diesel, generating heat and water vapour in equal measure....

[bizzard]

There's a full size scale model of Rocket in the London science museum and another working version elsewhere. Yes its heating boiler is one of the first of the multi-tubular loco type, pretty efficient.

[MtB]

Unless you're talking about the heaters that look and sound like a jet engine, and burn diesel, generating heat and water vapour in equal measure....

 

Rocket 'engines' and jet engines are totally different animals....

 

MtB

[John Williamson 1955]

 

Rocket 'engines' and jet engines are totally different animals....

 

MtB

I know that, you know that....

 

But someone who didn't know what the heaters I describe are could, I suppose, call them "rocket" heaters, as they work by blowing a plume of hot gas out of the business end. It'd make as much sense as amps per hour....

[Sir Nibble]

I believe that the now old fashioned and clunky Apollo moonships were heated (and got their water supply) as by products of their hydrogen fuel cells. My boat is heated by a solid fuel stove, I am entertained by tending it, it's effective, economic, aesthetic and very much in character with a narrowboat. I cannot image why it should be desirable to add complexity to any design and it offends my engineer's soul.

[RLWP]

it offends my engineer's soul.

Is that the one you keep trapped in an old Brasso tin

 

Richard

[MtB]

Or glued to the underside of your shoe?

 

 

MtB

[George94]

I believe that the now old fashioned and clunky Apollo moonships were heated (and got their water supply) as by products of their hydrogen fuel cells. My boat is heated by a solid fuel stove, I am entertained by tending it, it's effective, economic, aesthetic and very much in character with a narrowboat. I cannot image why it should be desirable to add complexity to any design and it offends my engineer's soul.

 

How many souls do you have?

 

If the others aren't offended, I shouldn't worry.

[juca1234]

When I said "rocket" I was thinking about heating up rock/stones so that when the woodburner goes out in the middle of the night, the heated up stone releases heat and you dont have to get out of bed to re-light the stove.

[BlueStringPudding]

I've seen rocket stoves as long benches encased in stones, heating the seats and releasing the heat into the room. If you build one on a boat perhaps you could have the two business ends at opposite ends of the boat (even outside under the cratch) and the heat would pass through the boat without risk of exposure to CO.

[George94]

In Central Europe stoves used to be massive affairs, made of solid brick or stone with a small hole in the middle for burning the fuel. That works fine in a house where you have plenty of space, but you wouldn't be able to make one big enough on a narrowboat.