Cheap & Simple RMH

[lesswoodgood]

Hello,
Can someone point us to RMH designs that are simple enough to heat a 1000sqft home that dont require extensive skills or tools?

We have very limited construction skills but we were able to install a wood stove/flue/chimney in our 1012 square ft rambler 3 years ago. We need to replace or supplement it with a RMH as we primarily need to reduce the amount of wood we collect and burn. We've read Ianto's book and threads on permies, permsteading, donkey32, reddit, aquaponisnation, others, & tons of youtubes to try to figure this out ourselves.

Can someone help identify the RHM we can/should build for our situation & our skills. We need it to be as inexpensive as possible. Some looked promising like the sheet metal one at http://velacreations.com/energy/heat/40 ... eater.html but we need one that wouldn't require expensive tool purchases or advanced skills like welding.

We keep checking our local Habitat for Humanity RE-store to find parts (ie 55 gal barrell, firebricks, ducting) but they haven't carried what we need & hiked their prices so it looks like we'll have to buy materials from the the big box stores.

Our home has a crawlspace so if we built the cob couch we'd have to install a beam in that area to support the 2-5 tons . If we were to build something simpler/similar to the velacreations model or something that required use of our existing flue/chimney, we'd have to remove the wood stove & might need to add another beam in that area depending on the total weight of the rmh design vs. the amount of support 1 beam would give.

Thank for your guidance & recommendations.

[matt walker]

Hi, welcome. I still think that book has the best guidance if low cost is a major deciding factor. A basic firebrick core, or cast core if that is easier for you to work with, 55 gallon drum, run into a cob mass with flue pipes embedded. With a little lucky salvaging you should be able to cobble together a heater for way less than $500. With enough time to salvage that cost could drop to just about zero, depending on how resourceful you are.

[mannytheseacow]

[lesswoodgood]

[lesswoodgood]

[pa_friendly_guy]

Hi less and welcome to the group. I am normally pretty quiet on the RMH threads because I have never built a heating unit for my home, and there are people who are much more knowledgeable on this thread than I am. However finding things that you can recycle, re-purpose, re-use for a new purpose or find on the cheap is right up my alley. I got 4 barrels from a local auto mechanic for free when I built my Rocket Oven. I would try expanding my search from just Jiffy Lubes to any body who works on cars or changes oil. Look at people who own Large equipment like Coal Strippers, Road Work excavators, people with Back Hoes, D-9's, Drag Lines etc. They often buy their oil in bulk to save money. Large Trucking firms are another option to check for people who buy oil or grease in bulk. Look on Freecycle or Craigs List and put up a wanted add. Check with Junk Yards or Salvage Yards, they often use barrels to store small metal pieces to be recycled, they may not give you one, but I am betting it would be a lot closer to $10 than $120. Off the top of my head that's about all I can think of, I am sure there are more options, I just can't think of them right now.

[matt walker]

Yep, Guy nailed it. Calling won't get you anywhere, you just gotta get out there in a pickup truck and look for drums behind auto shops and big truck refueling stations and oil change places and on and on. Then act like you are one of the boys and go ask the greasy dudes if you can grab one of those empty drums for some fabricating you are working on. If it worked in Brooklyn, I know it can work in the South Sound. I wish I knew someone down there, but I can't think of anyone to refer you to.

[mannytheseacow]

[4seasons]

Lots of good ideas on finding barrels here. Any place that has a mechanic on duty is a good place to look for barrels/drums. Small to midsize companies are more likely to give you one for free. They are also more likely to give them to a customer or employee than some guy off the street. I have score free drums from a small engine shop that I worked at. I also got a couple from a mechanic friend who works at a small trucking company. Try asking your friends that work at these kind of places to help you find a barrel. Managers at big companies are likely to tell you that they recycle them, have a contract with someone who hauls them off, or cite EPA regulations as to why you can't have them.