[Cob] wood stove

[Amanda Peck]

But the cob bench would be nice and warm to sit on!

I really really don't want to mess around with my compost pile enough to be 
able to heat water, although I do run a thermostat down into it 
occasionally, try to keep it working until that box is filled, then let it 
set for a year or so before I spread the compost and reuse that box.  Think 
adjusting carbon/nitrogen levels, keeping enough mass in the pile(s) so that 
they stay working all the time, turning frequently.  For one person it would 
probably mean importing material, possibly weekly.  I've seen solar water 
heaters that work just fine, thank you, require a twentieth of the effort.

The big masonry stoves have been around for centuries in Europe.  Literally 
the only thing I can remember from the Brothers Karamazov was that one of 
the brothers climbed up on the stove and went to sleep.  The ones one sees 
in the masonry stove web site are gorgeous and look like they were built by 
experienced masons.  Ditto the all store-boughten ones, which can run "up 
to" over 30k.  They start a lot lower, but are still a serious investment.

http://mha-net.org/

fireplaces from these guys are the ones that top out in the "up to" range:

http://www.tulikivi.com/www/homeeng.nsf/wwwframeset_lämmityslaitteet?OpenPage

The rocket stove/cob benches aren't that far off, show promise of being 
easier to build by oneself.  There is probably quite a bit of history behind 
those as well.
..................
Quinn wrote:
There has been so much talk about trying to make a stove do something it's 
not intended to do: heat a bench.  It doesn't sound like a safe, 
environmentally sound, efficient or useful idea.

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