Tecnik workshop stoves = anyone tried them?

[Bm101]

Fair play Graham, I have no affiliation with them, but that doesn't surprise me. Unfortunately I think some of those types of people exist everywhere. Think we've all encountered the same thing over the years in many situations where people think they have the moral high ground and feel like part of the privileged few whether it's intellectual snobbery or whatever.
The video is actually made by this organisation. http://www.aprovecho.org/lab/index.php who seem (froma brief glance at their website) to do good work bringing technological advancements to a lot of places in the world that need it.
Cheers
Chris

 

[Graham Orm]

Fair play Graham, I have no affiliation with them, but that doesn't surprise me. Unfortunately I think some of those types of people exist everywhere. Think we've all encountered the same thing over the years in many situations where people think they have the moral high ground and feel like part of the privileged few whether it's intellectual snobbery or whatever.
The video is actually made by this organisation. http://www.aprovecho.org/lab/index.php who seem (froma brief glance at their website) to do good work bringing technological advancements to a lot of places in the world that need it.
Cheers
Chris

Yes I would imagine there are lots of these outfits now. Although the rocket stove is very old technology the permaculture crowd seemed to think they invented and owned it.

 

[diversteve]

Hi all I've just purchased one of these stoves the 12kw version for my newly built workshop fired it up tonight for the 1st time and I'm very impressed with it.
Looked at all the other options gas,electric, log burner and when you look at the running cost I'm basically getting free heat in the workshop I myself with my line of work produce shavings and sawdust from various machines in the workshop but I also asked my local timber yard for a bag of mixed shavings from there dust extractor and I was told help myself to as much as I could possibly want free of charge as mixed dust extraction is no use for pet bedding etc so they are actually happy to give it away free of charge meaning free heat
The stove is very well built and lights up very easy and very surprising how long 3 buckets full of a mix of sawdust and shavings lasted got to be 2 plus hours
Found Nick at tecnik very helpfull just please remember the flue cost it actually cost me more than the stove it's self but I did go full twin wall in stainless

 

[Togalosh]

Evening Gents,

I would highly recommend having both CO & CO2 alarms.. I don't like only CO alarms as the conditions are already dangerous by the time it goes off. I'd rather know before this that the air quality is far from ideal for decent combustion (& the ability to concentrate when using machinery). It takes as little as 2 minutes to be overcome by CO & die (admittedly in extreme conditions). However most alarms are for domestic use only ( I haven't found a CO alarm that is for non domestic use).. but something is better than nothing. How they cope in a dusty environment I don't know but guess it's not great.

Ventilation is key (obviously) but this is almost counter intuitive as it brings in cold draughts which is why you have a heater.
The mm2 of ventilation required (directly to the outside) per kW is surprising. Both high & low level vent grilles are good.

http://www.hetas.co.uk/wp-content/media ... ators2.pdf
&
http://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/learn/ ... oning.aspx

seem useful.

& remember that smouldering fires (BBQ's) are still giving off a lot of CO... oh & if you know anyone with a paraffin greenhouse heater pls tell them about this too.

Sleep tight
Togs

 

[MIGNAL]

Just be careful with homebuilt rocket stoves. Sounds like a perfect get out clause for your insurance company. Might not be so risky for a brick built outbuilding that's distant from your main house.
Having said that I am interested in the 'technology' or rather the efficiency of these things. I'm still at a loss as to why no commercial domestic version is available, given a clean burn and their efficiency. There must be some reason, perhaps they directly contravene some of the building regs?

 

[Jacob]

Just be careful with homebuilt rocket stoves. Sounds like a perfect get out clause for your insurance company. Might not be so risky for a brick built outbuilding that's distant from your main house.
Having said that I am interested in the 'technology' or rather the efficiency of these things. I'm still at a loss as to why no commercial domestic version is available, given a clean burn and their efficiency. There must be some reason, perhaps they directly contravene some of the building regs?

Commercial versions (for heating) are well established - generally known as "batch" or "gasification" burners. The idea is you pack it with a batch of fuel at a time, which you then burn as fast and hot as possible (like a rocket stove) for efficient heat production. For continuity the heat then requires storage in large volume of water.

At the other end of the scale - the idea is as old as fire itself and there are many types of clay cooking stoves which use it in principle. We tend not to know about it in the 1st world as we have had vast amounts of cheap fuel which we can waste in open ranges or Rayburn type cookers.

 

[Graham Orm]

Just be careful with homebuilt rocket stoves. Sounds like a perfect get out clause for your insurance company. Might not be so risky for a brick built outbuilding that's distant from your main house.
Having said that I am interested in the 'technology' or rather the efficiency of these things. I'm still at a loss as to why no commercial domestic version is available, given a clean burn and their efficiency. There must be some reason, perhaps they directly contravene some of the building regs?

I think it's to do with fuel supply. In order to keep a house warm at the guaranteed temperatures we are used to and heat water as well a pellet version would be required with a large hopper feeder and room to store the stuff. Then there's the manual loading of it, and all the initial outlay. Unless you're a dyed in the wool tree hugger and not planning to move in the next 20 years I doubt if it would be practical.
There is a You Tube guy in Southport that I used to communicate with who worked hard at developing one to fire his central heating but I think he gave up on it. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvqnmw ... nZ4R-qlUdg

 

[Benchwayze]

First thing I'd have to do is check with the Council with regard to 'smokeless' zones, and exactly what is their definition of a smokeless zone. I know a few people in my area who have wood-burners so maybe smokeless really means 'coal-fired' stoves are a no-no! Although, I have a suspicion that some jobsworth would give an automatic NO, just to be on the safe-side! :roll:

 

[Jacob]

..... There must be some reason, perhaps they directly contravene some of the building regs?

I think it's to do with fuel supply. In order to keep a house warm at the guaranteed temperatures we are used to and heat water as well a pellet version would be required with a large hopper feeder and room to store the stuff. Then there's the manual loading of it, and all the initial outlay. ....

See previous post. The commercial versions work really well. The problem is in continuity, solved by large heat store in the form if insulated water tanks, bigger than the normal domestic sort of sizes e.g. 1 to 2 meter cube i.e. 1 or 2 tonnes of water. More practical than the alternative; continual controlled fuel feed.

 

[sustad]

I've had one for a few years. Much easier to load and control than my previous diy gas bottle stove. Weigh the lid down with a fire brick. Occasionally get a blow back strong enough to lift the lid.

 

[Jacob]

Just an idle thought on the rocket stove idea: you can replicate it in any stove by burning small amounts of small dry stuff, with the dampers open so it burns fast and hot.
Large amounts of small dry stuff and you risk setting fire to the chimney, damaging baffles (cast iron the worst) or wrecking fire bricks.
I do it with ours if I want a blast of heat when the place has cooled down a lot - bits of mdf, ply, softwood offcuts, etc, burn very hot, a. because they are dry and b. because they are small so the air can get at a bigger surface area.

 

[AJB Temple]

Interesting point Jacob.

 

[Graham Orm]

The point of the rocket is that beyond the normal burn area that you can see, a second burn occurs inside the rocket tube. This generates the incredible heat with a small amount of fuel.

I was going to put fins on mine to help it radiate the heat faster, but it just doesn't need it. My shop (about the size of a 2 car garage), goes from 2 deg to 13 in about 20 minutes. I quite often have to open the door if I over feed it. Good insulation means that I can then usually just let it tick over or even go out for an hour. The problem with tick-over is that it functions as a normal wood burner and smokes.