Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

That's great Mattyr! I'm loving the videos. Do you have any plans to include the water heating into the greenhouse? Seems like some pretty effective heat transfer. Not sure what happens when all the water boils though!

Yeah, I regards to boiling water this method. you need to be sure that you are not building up pressure. so insuring you system is open to atmosphere the water will boil at 100 degrees . I guess what I'm trying to say is that you can not control the heat with a rmh, thus can not turn it off. e. g. if your plan to store hot water say in an old hot water service you run the risk of building pressure because your wood is still burning while you go and play with you AP system. This may cause something catastrophic happening like a steam explosion.
If anyone does not fully understand the principles of placing pressure on water and heating it, need to be warned that this combination can be deadly.

sorry to freak anybody out, but I thought it was worth while to make sure that anybody reading this post shoud be aware of this.

regards

matt

I have done quite a bit of research into RMH's and 2 things always come up:
1. If you plan to put in a GH then make sure that combustion air comes from outside the GH or you will just draft cold air into the GH.
2. Be care how you duct the exhaust gases, a straight run is preferable so you can clean the duct.

Outside the greenhouse.. or inside???

Thanks for the heads up. .
I've tried to think ways to avoid to sucking cold air into the GH, but I just figured that is only going to draw air into the space while its drafting. this should be only be for a 1-3 hour time period some time between 4-6 PM. I plan to have a sealing devise that can be manually closed down to stop any draft back after the burn has taken place.
In regards to bends, I'm really not quite sure what is going to fit my space yet. In regards to clean outs, I'm hoping that the standard clean out at the bottom of the barrel shoud give me the access required. I'm also going to have an access point just after the exit of the GH.

regards

matt

Matt,

Were there any books or online plans that you found particularly helpful when building this?

Perhaps the ibc of aquaponics, but for rocket mass heaters

Many thanks,

B.I.F.

BIF,
Yes there are plenty on the net.
Permies.com was a good site but after all the goodness that it promises it pretty much asks you to get your wallet out.

Rocket Mass Heaters
Superefficient woodstove you can build.
By Ianto Evens & Leslie Jackson.

This is considered the best book by far, and I tend to agree.
Pretty sure I found a free copy offered on the net.


Regards

Matt

Update time.
well I really had not done anything since my last post, this week end I thought that if I did not get my act into gear that I would miss the window to see how effective the RMH was going to be.

So I laid a foundation in the hot house and got to it

First i purchased some fire bricks and refractory cement and built the feed tube and burn tunnel.



Then I re pointed the heat riser and placed it in to position



Built up the sides to accommodate the clean out and duct work. Then placed the heat exchange on top.







Ran out of time to test run it but over the next couple of day I should be able to give it a crack!!!


Lets just say that I would rather wash rock for my AP system any day of the week than mixed about 150 litres of clay mixed with hay.

regards

Matt

Where is the exhaust vent pipe going to be located?

you need to burn all the paint off the drum before you hook it up otherwise smell gets bad and possible toxic in room
cheers Byron
turn it over and light a hot fire took 4hrs for me

Some great work there Matty, have you had a chance to fire it up yet in it's finished form?

Looks fantastic!

Well update time.

Its seems that my RMH has taken a different look to how I first imagined it. the mass is now going to be tool boxes full of....Mass!
I've had to re set the barrel another 2 time since my last post as the cob seemed to crack alot from the barrel expanding. This was for 2 reasons, 1st the cob mix consisted of cane mulch instead of straw, this weakened the strength of the cob as the mulch was only 80mm - 100mm in length, straw was 400mm and offered more surface area and that provides more strength. The straw acts like reo in concrete.
2nd, The cob mix needed more sand (builders sand)
My ratio of clay/sand mix ended being at 50/50

so far I have built the clean out chamber and ran the flue pipe in side a tool box that will be filled with mass soon.

here is some pics and some video

In regards to the paint on the barrel, since its in my hot house, i guess I just didn't care, but in saying that if i was to build it in my house, then yes I would take the paint off. In regards to any smell, I have not noticed any at all.

(PS my trout are already 400mm,chillytank done its job )



[youtube]*stop that*[/youtube]

regards

matt

hmmmm... might have to try later for the video???

ooohhh it has not finished downloading, will have to wait....

matt

So it really is as messy as they say. Not your work, mind you, the clay/sand mix itself.

Cool idea to use a toolbox. Outer parts keep the inner parts intact.

for some reason my video does not seem to be working

I will try to down load it again

regards

Matt