Tag Archives: Rocket Stove

What Is a Rocket Stove?

What is a rocket wood burning stove?  This type of stove refers to an appliance utilizing wood or other burnable bio-mass to produce heat. The rocket stove is powered by its combustion chamber with insulated chimney. This kind of stove is utilized for cooking, water heating and central heating systems.
A rocket stove appliance attains fuel efficient combustion at a high temperature. This is done by ensuring the following:

  • Good flow of air
  • The fuel use is controlled
  • Combustion of volatiles is complete
  • Efficient utilization of resultant heat via a heat exchanger

The Components
In order to achieve complete fuel combustion, the stove is made up of parts such as a fuel magazine, the combustion chamber, chimney and the heat exchanger. The fuel magazine is where the fuel is put and the location where the fuel flows to the combustion chamber. The chimney located above the chamber provides an updraft to sustain the fire, while the heat exchanger transfers the fire (heat) to a conductor (i.e. pot).

How It Works
Its components help in creating heat for various purposes.  Other than the fuel magazine that feeds fuel in a controlled manner, the combustion chamber ensures that smoke will be drawn up into the chimney.  The insulated chimney optimizes the heat and enhances the combustion process. From there, the heat passes through the heat exchanger to generate a suitable temperature.  Moreover, the stove’s design helps in the efficient use of fuel compared to other types.  Each of the parts plays a significant role in making it a safer and more effective heating and cooking appliance.

The History
In 1980, Dr. Larry Winiarski described the basic principles behind what would later be called the ‘rocket stove’.  Two years later, the principles of the stove were translated into a working model.  The appliance was inspired by the idea of developing sustainability with exceptional fuel efficiency and less polluting device which would provide for a variety life needs.  Dr. Winiarski was inspired by the Roman hypocaust heating and cooking systems.

The rocket stove allowed TWP, a Colorado-based environmental organization, and AHDESA, a Honduran NGO working to assist the poor, to win the 2005 Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy.  Their work ‘Justa Stove’ under the ‘Health and Welfare’ category was inspired by the rocket stove idea.

Dr. Winiarski is currently the Technical Director of Aprovecho Research Center a not-for-profit organization located near Cottage Grove, Oregon, USA.

The Types
The kinds of rocket stoves available in the market are categorized according to their uses. There are cooking stoves, space heating stoves, and water heating stoves.

  • Cooking stoves: These are mostly found in countries where there are large amounts of wood fuels. Some of them are portable with interior insulation, are double-walled, and have a gasification chamber. A rocket stove allows its users to use least expensive burnable bio-mass, such as weeds, hard grasses and scrap wood.
  • Water heating stoves: These rocket stoves are for heating water through their built-in heat exchangers. Mostly, these are attached to water systems or connected to boilers.
  • Area heating stoves: These are stoves primarily used to create heat during winter or cold days.  The system is designed to transfer heat created by the stove to a living space or entire house.

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