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Feb 03
Love0

I proclaim the rocket stove “not working”

By Rocket Stove, Winter

I have officially proclaimed the rocket stove “not working”. The stove simply does not draw on days without the right wind direction/intensity. It is unreliable. Even when the wind is right, the stove takes too long to heat up (even the barrel itself!) At times, it smokes into the house, which is added frustration.

Something is not right, unfortunately. The stove just does not keep the house warm. When April was home alone in December, she struggled to keep the indoor temperature in the 40s! That is not really livable.

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Jan 28
Love0

An update! (A brief one for now)

By Rocket Stove, Winter

After a week of travel in early January, I returned home to Dancing Rabbit… to cloudy, gray, cold Missouri. After days of thick clouds, the Common House’s power system was depleted and we went powerless (for the first time on this solar system) for five full days! Whoa.

Anyway, I have a fair amount of news to write about, but I have an inbox full of email to get to… It’s piled up after not being checked for two weeks…

But once I have a cool minute, there is some news regarding the rocket stove, winter conditions in the cob house, and future plans for home heat. Stay tuned! It’s been an interesting past couple of weeks…

Jan 01
Love0

Making This Soccer Ball Required More Technology Than Building My House

By Uncategorized

This post might seem a little random, but I stumbled across this video and was floored by how complicated the manufacturing process for this simple soccer ball (sorry, football for the rest of the world) is. The amount of technology, machinery, computers, and undoubtedly, energy going on here is HUGE.

Remember that this is a mere football. A ball. Filled with air.

Then imagine how complex the manufacturing process is for other seemingly everyday objects.

I watched this and had to think about my house, made mostly out of sand and clay, which was built almost entirely by hand. The level of technology in my whole house seems to pale in comparison! (Ok, so there are some materials in the house [windows, the EPDM] that are probably quite complex to manufacture, but still…)

Oh industry…

Dec 23
Love0

The Year of Mud: The Book?

By Resources

Ever since I started building my house, I’ve thought about writing a book about the process of building. Now that my house is actually complete, I’m thinking more seriously about the prospect. The possibilities seem numerous, and the prospect is exciting. I’ve kept up this website and an actual written journal very obsessively so that I have clear documentation, and I also have plenty of photos of the entire construction, as well.

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Dec 21
Love0

OT: My new blogging job

By Resources

Just a random and slightly off-topic post here to say that I am now blogging at sustainablog, an environmental news blog that’s been around for a number of years now. I have been freelance blogging for the past three years for a number of websites, but hopefully this will work out to be a longer term gig than the rest! My first post is about the excellent book, Goat Song, and small-scale food production.

Expect a fair bit of natural building entries there as well!

(p.s. Happy winter solstice, by the way – if I were home, I’d like to measure how far the sun penetrates into my house through the south window on this day…!)

Dec 09
Love0

The lowdown on my rocket stove performance

By Cob Bed and Bench, Rocket Stove

The past few weeks have been the first real test for my rocket stove with outdoor temperatures dipping below freezing at nights, and daytime temperatures in the 30s-40s. (This week has below freezing daytimes, with wind chills in the negatives – but I am with family in NJ and April is at home tending the stove, so I keep hoping that it works well for her…) I have been firing the stove fairly regularly, and I’ve learned a good deal about its performance – or unfortunate lack of, at crucial times!

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