Hi All!
I'd like to say hi here. I've become sort of obsessive with all these marvelous Rocket Stoves I'm seeing and It is time I build mine.
I live in northern México. It doesn't get too cold here. About 1500 meters above sea. Occasionally gets to -14c, maybe -18c once that I can remember in my lifetime, but this year it has not gone below -2c maybe. Still, my house is fairly big, all built of brick, concrete, and different kinds of rock, so it can get pretty chilly in the house and I don't like to use propane gas that much, if I can avoid it, because of how it is currently obtained.
I'm a big fan of alternative energy. I generate close to 100% of my electricity part of they year from 8 solar panels. Have a wind turbine in my garage (waiting to be installed
) and use solar power to heat the water for the shower. I've installed them all myself, and have a small house shop and I think I can build the stove too.
Solar is great but it's not efficient to convert it to electricity and back into heat. While I am also building a convection space heater to take advantage of the sun light, it is not always available when it is cold...
So the stove seems like the right way to go, I plan on using the old branches from all the trees I have around as a primary source (there are pines but also fruit trees and a lot of mesquite which is really powerful burner)...
Sorry for the long intro, but I get all excited with this stuff.
I'm about to go out to the recycling yard and pick up some metal to do some initial prototypes. But for the little I've read, mild steel is not going to last. I'm not sure I'll find stainless steel in these places for now... And though I've not read all there is (i will try), I'm left wondering if it is ok to use mild steel but cover it all inside with refractory brick/concrete (i think i should be able to find some since there are foundries in town). Is this idea viable?
I will ask the questions in the right forum categories of course, this was just my short (yea right) intro.
Thanks for the forum, for sharing your knowledge and being here!