[Cob] Rocket vs. Rumford for Patio Heating

[Bernhard Masterson]

Hi Michael,
    I would agree with Ocean that a Rumford is superior to a Rocket stove and heated bench when outside.  A rocket stove does have some appeal since it is so different from ordinary wood stoves.  But don't let this cloud your thinking.  It will take as much as an hour to begin to heat up a cob bench with regular tending of the rocket stove.  The bench won't likely get really comfy for a couple of hours.  You could change this by placing the ducts close to the surface of the bench but then you have the risk of getting the bench dangerously hot if you want to fire the stove for more than an hour or so and the heat will not be evenly disbursed through the bench but concentrated in a hot band above the duct so that one point will burn you and another chill you.  Further the amount of fuel used to heat the bench will likely offset any benefit of the ever so slightly cleaner burning rocket stove over that of a Rumford.  
    Remember the Rumford in my patio?  With a good size fire we can make most spots in the patio too hot for comfort.  The heat is immediate, no waiting for bench to warm up.  A well built fire in a Rumford is fed from the sides exposing the hottest coals, and best radiant heat source, at the base of the fire.   Sitting around a crackling fire draws people together in a way that sitting around a rocket stove does not.   The chimney for the Rumford does not need to be more than a few feet tall.  If you are worried about neighboring trees etc, put a screen spark arrestor on the top of the chimney.  You should think carefully about airflow from breezes in the patio because when not taken carefully in to consideration they can swirl smoke out of the fireplace and into the patio.  A Rumford can be easily built with brick and cob at a very low cost.  I used free chimney bricks and will get quite a few years out of them before they fail from the heat.  Fire brick for the floor of the fireplace and the first 4-5 courses of the fire back will greatly increase the longevity.

- Bernhard 


____________________________________bernhard_masterson at hotmail.com

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