better wood heat

more heat with less wood

heat-pump-or-natural-gas-heat-vs-rocket-mass-heaters

Wood Heat

How does it work?

Transform old school wood heat into a technique that is easier, cleaner and warms you more with a tenth of the wood.

One, small, efficient fire per day heats a couch-sized mass. Which warms you for days afterward.

No more bleeding 600 degrees (F) out of the chimney.
No more running a 75% efficient stove at 3% efficiency.

For greatest luxury, set a heat pump to 65 degrees (F) and run your rocket mass heater as much or as little as you like!

Take control of your own heating and cooking solutions with two instructional movie collections, each containing 4 movies filmed during construction of different styles of rocket mass heaters.

You'll learn how to build your own rocket mass heater and also how a rocket mass heater can double as a cooker, smoker, water heater and more!

Sustainable – stealthy – economical – low tech – effective – healthy – quick to build – clean

Simply, BETTER WOOD HEAT!

BUY THE MOVIES NOW

A Rocket Mass Heater is...

Cheap to run: with about a tenth the cost of natural gas, electric or conventional wood heat. If you use sticks from your own yard, it could even be 'free heat'.
Clean: they emit about a hundredth of the smoke of a conventional wood stove.
Good for the environment: less than 2% of CO2 emissions of natural gas or electric heat. Can reduce your carbon footprint as much as parking 7 cars.
Sustainable: it uses a renewable fuel which is easy to find and store.
Cheap to build: about $200 to $600.
Quick to build: often built in a weekend!
Luxuriant: like the comfort of a heated floor but without all that standing.

Better Wood Heat Collection

MOVIE 1: COB STYLE

Movie 1: Build A Cob Style RMH

If a person was going to get just one movie, this would be the one. A cob style rocket mass heater is "the old reliable". We have two projects to demonstrate this wood heating technique. One in a log home and one in a tipi. We put one in a tipi as part of an experiment to test how warm a person can be with a rocket mass heater and zero insulation. We interview the couple that stayed in the tipi for the first winter, with a strong focus on how comfortable they were when it was 26 degrees below zero.

(2hr21min)

MOVIE 2: PEBBLE STYLE

Movie 2: Build A Pebble Style RMH

You will watch and learn about the construction of three pebble style rocket mass heaters. The difference with these is that the mass is usually a wood bench filled with pebbles and rocks. A different wood heating aesthetic.

These designs are easy to move (relative to cob style) and modify. They also tend to be lighter, thus, better for installing in places that have a wood floor.

(2hr16min)

MOVIE 3: SHIPPABLE CORE

Movie 3: Build A Shippable Core

The kickstarter from two years ago showed an early prototype. We were certain that by the time the movie came out, people could buy a shippable core and plug it in. In the time that has passed, that didn't happen. We ended up releasing a variety of information on how to make your own - and now, in this movie, we supply the "how to" video for a variety of techniques.

This movie shows an early prototype, and some how-tos for a variety of techniques for building your own shippable core.

(2hr9min)

MOVIE 4: INNOVATORS EVENT

Movie 4: Innovators' Event

We put on an event where Ernie and Erica invited several rocket mass heater innovators that they thought were the best in the world. Each innovator was provided with the materials to create whatever wood heating contraption they wanted.

The results were: "the ring of fire" - a rocket mass heater shaped in a circle with glass to show the burn; an outdoor rocket mass heater/cooker/smoker; a "batch box style" rocket mass heater with measured output cleaner than anything we have ever encountered; an indoor rocket stove, griddle and water heater. Learn about them all in this fascinating final film.

(2hr28min)

Wood Burning 2.0 Collection

MOVIE 1: FIRE SCIENCE

This is where Ernie and Erica set stuff on fire in all sorts of wacky ways. This is the foundation for understanding how rocket stoves and rocket mass heaters work the way they do.

(1hr37min)

MOVIE 2: SNEAKY HEAT

The wood burning stove built in this movie is the result of a collection of experiments that led to a rocket mass heater an order of magnitude better than any previous rocket mass heater. For the first time ever we have a shippable core. Somebody else could build this and ship it to somebody that is looking for something easier. Plus, this particular core makes for a fire that is about a thousand degrees hotter than any previous rocket mass heater. This makes for a stronger draw - which leads to more push later in the system. For this project we use the core in a portable design. Something that can be taken apart in under an hour, loaded onto a truck, moved and rebuilt in under an hour.

(2hr11min).

MOVIE 3: BOOM SQUISH

Named after a series of podcasts where we discuss the dangers and strategies of alternative hot water. Caleb Larson and Ernie work together to talk about how to do this right. Caleb is a professional alternative hot water installer and is very familiar with the explosive properties of steam, flash point and vapor lock.

(1hr37min)

MOVIE 4: HOT ROCKET

We set out to prove that a few twigs can outperform a huge propane turkey cooker. Mission accomplished. This is with a J-tube style rocket stoves. Other rocket stoves feature an L-tube style the requires constant manual feeding. The J-tube style is self feeding. This movie will also have information on some tiny home made cookstoves, and several different pocket rocket designs.

We've never built or used an rmh so the in depth discussion and examples were wonderful to see.

Judith B.

This is a great set of movies to get going with RMH tech! From intro to how to build your own these vids have it all. Highly recommend getting them if you have any interest in running down the rabbit hole that can be rocket mass heaters.....let them be your guide. I give this set of movies 10 out of 10 acorns! Best resource on RMH that I know of, check them out folks!!!!

Dave Dahlsrud

Wonderful information presented in an entertaining way.

Paul C.

Meet your instructors:

Paul Wheaton, is an author, producer, and certified advanced master gardener. He has created hundreds of youtube videos, hundreds of podcasts, multiple movies, and written dozens of articles and books. As the lead mad scientist at Wheaton Labs, he's conducted experiments resulting in rocket mass heaters and ovens, massive earthworks, solar dehydrators and much more.

Erica and Ernie Wisner are hands-on teachers of creative, ecological, and practical skills. They are innovators, teachers, and builders of rocket mass heaters, natural building, fire science and much more.

Tim Barker has come a long way since his days as a diesel fitter mechanic, and now spends his time between Australia and New Zealand (and sometimes the US) as a semi professional pyromaniac and mad scientist, teaching people how to burn stuff and make really cool machines and devices for low carbon living. He currently teaches Appropriate Technology for the Koanga Institute in New Zealand and Very Edible Gardens (VEG) in Melbourne, to name a few.

Peter Van Den Berg is one of the top rocket mass heater innovators in the world.

He started out as a cabinet maker, then was a composite specialist and mold maker at Fokker Aircraft, and also was a master of boats for Delft University among others.