A Stove / Fireplace to Heat and Cook with

POST 2 A Stove / Fireplace to Heat and Cook with June 25th

I have been thinking about Finnish / Russian Stoves for quite some time. Then last week, http://cordwoodconstruction.wordpress.com/ posted this article on it's blog. It had a picture of a mass storage fire place that looked quite simple to decipher. I went looking about and found more information on them, and a picture of one in the process of being constructed. The Interior Parts were custom made and shipped to site from a factory, and the exterior parts were accessed on site, and gave the finished product it's local character, built by the home builder.
      It was the picture of the Interior Parts that got me really excited. While I had seen some diagrams of various stoves, I had not seen anything like this. Two, 18" flues 2" wide, on either side of a firing hole. They pointed upward of course and had their origin in the firing chamber. This was a pattern that I could understand.
      My brain immediately went into over drive, and I have been thinking of pretty much nothing else since. No drawings as yet, but I have come down to thinking a dome style interior, with flues on either side and up the back, with two cooking levels, one for large pots, and the other at the top, for pizza or cookie trays. and through the back, how about copper tubing with water running through, to a tank, recycling on a small pump.
    I'm still trying to think through the flues construction and whether to have them go straight up over, or to curve over before going up. The latter more complicated, but if done right, the smoke/air inside could be reheated and less smoke and soot go up the chimney. At least that is the idea.
   This is of course very preliminary thinking. So don't get too locked into any ideas yet ;D But the more I think about it the more interesting it becomes. One aspect of this is, that I am thinking more advanced ideas for a first shelter, in that I would build it with Stackwall, and a cob for mortar, with a smallish but effective Fireplace, using clay/non organic sub soil mud. Something our early Neo-Lithic Ancestors would create on the quick and cheap ;D

POST 1 Mini Stone / Clay Fire place-Stove June 17th

First, definitions; Fire place vs Stove

A Fire Place is any open source of fire, with or without a chimney.
A Stove is an enclosed Fire with a heat surface over top, enclosed or not, for cooking on/in.

I know that by the Neolithic people were heating water using pre made containers, by putting rocks from the fire into the water container. Thus heating the water. But I wonder when man or woman (let's not be sexist ;) discovered that by containing the fire, and letting the top rock heat and using it for cooking on?

My idea is to use rocks and clay to form a 3 sided container, with a flat rock on top, and another flat rock for covering the front of the fire... in this way the top rock would heat and serve as the cooking surface.
To move it further a bit, by enclosing the top rock, we get a primitive stove, for baking ;-) how this would be done, would require some experimentation, but I think a thicker base with walls built up over time to cover a wattle frame that would be left in for a period to support the roof of the stove... whether the dome would be capable of self support without the frame is the big question, or if left in, would the wood of the frame deteriorate with the heat being transmitted through the stone and clay...

The other question, is how "mini" would this be ;D I am sure our ancestors did this experimentation a few times in the past, on different continents... what I am proposing doing is nothing new...

    As I think this through, I'll add to this and bump it up... but it does seem a way forward to learning.

from the primitive to the modern survival tech

I came across an article in the Globe and Mail about a means to supply power to off grid back packers.

 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/gadgets-and-gear/gadgets/charge-your-device-off-the-grid-with-sherpa-solar-power-kit/article12513769/

with a little bit of luck I stumbled upon the home site of this little wonder, and a world of Solar Powered Energy Support, based in of all places, Brampton, Ontario, stones throw from here.

http://www.solarflash.ca/

Now, not all stuff is cheap, and Solar Energy, while it is getting better, is not for the small of pocket book, or bank account. But for someone who is willing to start small, and work up, like someone who wants to build by stages a Cordwood or Eco-Home, then this is the ticket.

I can see taking this little wizard,

http://www.solarflash.ca/goal-zero-portable-recreational-solar-products/complete-kits/scout-150-expedition-kit/scout-150-expedition-kit/

as a starting point, in a low tech method of keeping in touch, and perhaps having some light not dependent on a fire or candle. (maybe even a one cup coffee maker ;). This would do until a more permanent habitat were created, that might require even two or three such power supplies, when it would be probable that it would be cheaper to upgrade to a more powerful unit.

This unit is for RVs but it does not mean it can't be used on a stationary base. It is 125 Watt, and is capable of powering an RVs electrical system. This is Solar Flash's description, without price. At the bottom is a link to a pdf file from the maker.
  http://www.solarflash.ca/category/off-grid-battery-backup/off-grid-kits/rvboat-kits/

http://www.solarflash.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/HESRV-SolarFlash-spec1.pdf

for a description and price from a company in Manitoba, try this site.

http://www.evolvegreen.ca/catalog/item/6217815/8808063.htm

As can be seen from the brief links above, there is lots of options for power off grid, without going over board. But one thing is abundantly clear from what little I have learned, it is going to be necessary to bone up on some of this tech, so that I can do it myself. From the Solar Flash site, for a full installation for a cottage, (Stove, Fridge, Micro Wave, TV/Entertainment Unit, Pumps etc,) it is 10,000 for materials and half again of that, for installation of a low end 4.5 Kw Solar Power Source!!

http://www.solarflash.ca/category/diy-grid-connect-solar-kits/4-5kw-diy-solar-pv-kit/

No one said Solar Power was going to be cheap "IF YOU WANT THE CITY IN THE COUNTRY"

Survival

Just a late thought on the below blog: if it is not possible in the 2013/14 Winter time frame, perhaps it would work for a 2014/15 time frame, if I have been able to purchase some suitable land... and use this idea as a basis for an initial place to stay until more suitable quarters are built... Saving on Rent and Living Off Grid for the year or so, while the logs are cut, peeled and dried for an small cabin.... Add a little bit of Solar Electric for the few things that need it, like computers, charging cell phone, etc... have to think more on this over the summer ;D

Ok, not sure how to pitch this... but some thoughts on Homeless Camping:

it is going to be low tech to begin with... a normal "homeless" person in Toronto, or Southern Ontario, has only the bare necessities, and is dependent on the city infrastructure to survive. What I am thinking of is a lot less dependent on the City, and more to do with my own wits and ingenuity in a woodland setting... depending on grocery stores and hardware stores purchases, where absolutely necessary... NOT going completely back to the Paleo-Lithic ;D
   A book I read many years ago, on wilderness survival, that actually happened, during the WWII era, detailed a campsite that was a canvas tent, covered by a web of branches, covered by a tarp, and then turf/soil and more branches.... an igloo of branches and soil, with a tent inside... with a small fire for heat...
   This form of survival technology, kept the people alive and secret from the German Military, who were hunting them... this comes to mind now as a way forward... however I am not entirely convinced at this point in my life I can pull it completely off...
    The problem that I see, is that the people involved were armed, and had very little in the way of local wild life to deal with... and when they did, it was mostly for food... some things that I won't have the opportunity to work... so for me the wild life may be a more pressing problem than the need for shelter and food...
     Which leads to the next question, how far from civilization do I care to go... at present I have only a hazy idea of where I might end up come September / October... so if I have any thoughts of living off the land through winter, it will have to be determined by then...
      I don't see there being a problem with the isolation... there will be more than enough to keep me busy... and even more if I want to add extras that won't deal with the immediate point of survival... like doing experimental archeology in the form of say preparing arrows and a bow, or making implements out of wood or stone...
      One piece of experimental archeology that I would like, in this environment, is to determine the size of fire and perhaps a hearth or clay/stone stove that a hunter gather live style might use... these are rare on the records, because they don't survive, but it seems to me that they must have developed something of the sort later on, pre Neolithic... about 10,000 years ago...
      I know from experience that a few candles can keep a closed space 19 ft x 12 ft x 7 ft, relatively warm on a Winter's night... but what size fireplace / stove... Say, a fire chamber 2 ft. x2 ft. x2 ft., within a rock/clay casing, with a chimney pipe of clay rock through the roof... kind of like a mini-Russian / Finnish stove...

is it really 3 weeks

Eh!!! Well, I can claim to be busy... ok, that didn't work :)

The news... LED 40w bulbs are now 15 dollars at Home Depot, but the 75w bulbs are 45 dollars
WHAT is going on here??? We HOPE that there will be a readjustment in price soon...

on the personal front, damaged my right foot, lobbed some 2x4x32 inch wood onto it... big toe is still a bit stiff and sore, but the swelling has gone down... it was one of those accidents you want to forget as soon as possible, but YOUR BODY refuses to let you...

hair cut, and that led to a whole lot of teasing from my friend TG in South Africa... just so happens I got texted by a lady on a dating site, and made the mistake of telling TG!!! The Casanova jokes came out of the woodwork ;) ok, I can take a joke... most days... anyway, didn't last long... the lady and I are heading out on different paths... something that I learned long time ago... people can click, but because of circumstances or their interests long term, they are not going to make it as a couple... Eco-Living was not on this person's life line, summers in NY and winters in the Bahamas, were ;)

ok, back to business...
    have sorted down the material wealth that I have acquired over the years, and it now will fit 3ftx5ftx3ft, and I checked the local Storage Mart, and for a 5x5xY ft locker they charge 92 dollars w/tax included. Not too bad...

On June 10th, I went to Canadian Tire, and bought a WindRiver sleeping bag, good for -10, and spent 4 days at my brother's basement apartment trying it out... it works great, if your in -10 conditions... unfortunately we couldn't simulate that, in Ontario, in June... so it was HOT ;D which augers well for the future...
    but having come up close and personal with the sleeping bag, I came up with some improvements for the future... add a ground sheet cover to the outside via Velcro or sew it on... on the inside, a comforter as a liner would increase the sub zero capability... like perhaps a -20 ;D... thinking either zipper or Velcro attachment, or nothing if it works without....

What I also bought, but didn't try out yet, is a tent and a self inflating air mattress. The Tent is a dome, which they say will take 15 minutes to put up first time, but work down to 5 minutes... was cheap at 30 dollars, but came highly recommended.
 The air mattress has an electric pump inside and needs 4 D cell batteries... this is NOT your swimming hole air mattress...
    I'll be trying both these out the next time I go over to visit the bro.

The wood that landed on my foot was meant for building saw horses, 2, which I completed yesterday, and used them to take the mini-gym I finished last year and now have to ditch, apart. Next step is to build a bed, that I hope to add some gym / exercise capability to... how soon I don't know, as at present it appears that I am on a trajectory to be camping this summer some time.

In Which Case, Worst Case, I'll be doing these updates from my BlackBerry Playbook at McDonald's ;( or Best Case, I'll have a tethered link, and can be blogging from a cell phone, right in my tent!!! OH, JOY!!! Right in the middle of a thunderstorm that is ripping the tent apart ;D

well, it is Father's Day, so in tradition for Father's Day, going to head back to bed for a nap ;)