starting a rocket mass heater

richsoil.com/heat Ernie Wisner is going to show you the proper way of starting a rocket mass heater. He explains what the process entails as he goes about the task. First he explains that the heat riser and chimney need to be warmed up by lighting some paper balls and some small dry kindling wood. He adds kindling to the wood feed and once it's well lit, he explains that these stoves work best when they are well fed and full of dry wood.
It takes about a minute and thirty seconds to get the stove lit, then Ernie talks for a bit about the bypass system that this particular stove has, which allows it to be exhausted out of the roof or through a chimney exiting through the wall. He then goes on to explain the signs of a good burn and what kinds of temperatures you can expect from a system like this one. Ernie is tinkering with the stove as it's still new and he makes some minor adjustments and explains how there's a breaking-in process for a new rocket mass heater.
Once the heater is all warmed up, Ernie takes a look outside at the chimney where there is no evidence of smoke, telling him that the rocket mass heater is performing the way it should be. It's burning clean!
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Thanks to Dan Ohmann of The Grass-fed Homestead channel for helping me with the editing:
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[@paulwheaton]

thanks to my patreon peeps for getting my youtube engine running again patreon.com/pwvids

[@paulwheaton]

those of you that have rocket mass heaters, what is your trick for starting one?

[@thewoodensailor8722]

I like to put a row of small pieces, that are leaned up against the back of the wood feed (nearest to the drum) , 3-5 pieces. Then I put the paper behind that, it makes the flames go thru the wood, and slows down the draft to help keep the flames on the paper, so the paper doesn't go out.

[@DaxxTerryGreen]

Great work friends!

[@TheRealMonnie]

You know... I think I like this sort of thing...

[@TheRealMonnie]

I'm on my way to get material to build one! I finally found a local source for fire brick, pea gravel, larger stones, and some ceramic wool blanket. Can't wait to build one and fire it up

[@my_permaculture]

Hi. What nice short and clear video. Thats how our daily RMH routine looks like: piece of cake to light it. Only difference is that we use one pine cone istead of paper and therefore also don't use the super small kindling, as the pine cone brings a lot of power with it.
I am interested in Ernies terminology. What exactly does he mean with equilibrium between the inside and the outside?

[@vonnewell2166]

does the valve by pass the bench for quicker lighting of rocket?

[@paulwheaton]

Gonna have a video out about that in the next few days.