[Cob] straw bale wall/rocket stove

[Shannon Dealy]

On Mon, 9 Feb 2009, Karen Mason wrote:

>
> Greetings from Kansas,
>
> We are getting ready to build the first phase of our cob home here in 
> south central Kansas. We are considering straw bale for the north wall. 
> We want to include a rocket stove and cob bench along this wall. Will 
> this pose a fire hazard?

It shouldn't, completely plastered  straw bale walls are fire proof, and a 
properly built rocket bench will have everything encased in cob (also fire 
proof :-)  except for the top of the barrel (which is only in contact with 
air).  Assuming the bench has been built properly, there should be several 
inches of cob (at least) between the exhaust pipe in the bench and your 
straw bale wall, and less between the pipe and the top surface of the 
bench.  If the cob contacting the bale wall is getting hot enough at it's 
outer edge to set fire to even bare exposed straw, then anyone who sits on 
the bench won't be staying warm, they will be getting cooked.

Shannon C. Dealy      |               DeaTech Research Inc.
dealy at deatech.com     |          - Custom Software Development -
Phone: (800) 467-5820 |          - Natural Building Instruction -
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