UPDATE: Unfortunately, this rocket stove design has proven to be a failure, and I have since deconstructed the stove. I cannot recommend that someone follow these plans. You can read my original post below for what not to do, though.
The rocket stove and cob bed and bench are essentially finished. The rocket stove (which I will detail more in yet another post) has 25 feet of horizontal run that wraps through the bed, into the bench, and out the southern wall of the house.
I am pretty psyched right now because it appears that my rocket stove, complete with nearly 25 feet of horizontal run (including two 180 degree turns) and no vertical stack, is successfully drawing.
More on that later.
A few days ago, I finally began building my rocket stove. A rocket stove is a high efficiency, low cost type of homemade mass heater. The advantage with rocket stoves is being able to run the stove pipe through cob furniture such as benches or beds. Instead of sending the stove pipe straight through the roof (along with the heat) as is typical in conventional wood stoves, most of the heat can be captured in the cob thermal mass. Rocket stoves typically burn way less wood than typical wood stoves, and you can make them out of recycled and salvaged materials that are pretty widely available.
There are a few natural buildings that stand out in my mind as some of the most beautiful examples. One of them is Meka’s cob cottage. Meka Bunch of Wolf Creek, Oregon built this stunning cob house over a four year period. Complete with hand-sculpted furniture, shelves and nooks built directly into the walls, arched windows, and a killer custom staircase, his cob building is a divine artistic achievement.
Check out the photos of Meka’s cob cottage for yourself.
Today I heard a funny story from Ashley, a guy who passed through Dancing Rabbit last September on the Superheroes bike ride.
He told me that while he was here, he and his then-girlfriend were looking for a peaceful, quiet location to have a challening conversation. They decided my house would be a good choice if it was empty, and it was, so they had their talk there to discuss ending their relationship.
We joked about how my house could serve as the go-to place where couples could break up thanks to its soothing atmosphere.
I was amused.
At the top of this page, you may have noticed a Cob Resources link. I update this page regularly with new articles, so it’s worth checking out if you’re interested in reading more about cob and other natural building techniques elsewhere on the web, or if you’d like to check out some of the natural building videos I’ve made for Dancing Rabbit TV.
Thanks for reading!
My friend Jeff is currently building his own earth-sheltered home and he’s looking for help to complete his house this year at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage. The cozy earthbag dome he is building will feature an earth floor and interior clay plaster, and a living roof.
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A few days ago, Tamar suggested that perhaps I’d want to do a mosaic on the outside of my house. I’d been doing the exterior earthen plaster and was nearly complete, and I had only a small portion of wall remaining near the entryway. I took her up on the offer.
I recently bought some flue pipe for the construction of my rocket stove and heated cob bed. I purchased it from a local hardware store, and I was very happy to learn that there is 60″ lengths of flue pipe for sale for roughly $11 each. Compared to the more common 24″ lengths, which are something like $6 a piece, the 60″ pipe is a bargain.
Since I will need over twenty feet of pipe in my cob bed, the longer pieces make much more sense to use. If you are planning to build a heated bench or bed, make sure to find some 60″ length flue pipe.
In the next week, I hope to get some firebricks from our neighbors at Sandhill Farm so that I can begin to build the actual stove.
Even though load-bearing cob houses may not feature a lot of lumber in their construction, you will still need some wood and other materials for your building project. Windows, doors, bricks, and lumber can often be acquired for free from old homes if you are willing to carefully deconstruct them.
Check out this post I wrote about building with reclaimed lumber and recycled materials. Much of the work in getting free building supplies is talking to the right people.
Hi there, I’m Ziggy. In 2008, I launched The Year of Mud while building my first natural home. This blog is a collection of personal stories and experiences building with clay, straw, and wood over the past 15+ years. A few of the things that get me fired up are natural plasters, timber framing, & Japanese architecture. Since 2012, we’ve been hosting Natural Building Workshops so you can learn essential skills to build your own natural home.
