If you’re looking for a way to heat your home without using electricity or gas, one of the best alternatives would be a rocket stove. Rocket stoves are a type of wood-burning stove that is extremely efficient, even more so than standard wood stoves. This is because it burns at a higher temperature and with very little smoke. Rocket stoves are also simple to make and can be built out of almost anything! We will go through the steps necessary in order to build your own rocket stove made from bricks.
What is a rocket stove?
A rocket stove is a type of stove that uses very little fuel to cook food and heat water. The name comes from its use of “rocket science” (the science behind rockets) to burn the fuel efficiently and produce high heat.
A rocket stove can be made from bricks or clay, which makes it an affordable option for many people in developing countries. A rocket stove is built with a chimney or pipe extending up from the center of the structure so smoke and heat are directed away from users before being released into the atmosphere.
How to build a rocket stove with bricks
A rocket stove is a cooking device that utilizes the heat from burning wood or biomass to cook food. The fire is contained by bricks, which absorb heat and the smoke rises up through chimney-like pipes.
The first step to building a rocket stove with bricks is to decide where it will be placed in your home. A good location should have plenty of ventilation, but not too much (to avoid being blown over), as well as enough space for you to work near it so that you don’t get burned by sparks while cooking on top.
Next, gather all of your supplies: brick molds, trowels or other small tools made out of metal (not plastic), mortar mix (or clay if you’re making one out of clay), saws or chisels if needed for cutting small pieces off larger ones; water source such as nearby creek bed; shovel if necessary in areas where water sources aren’t easy access via digging into earthy ground instead
Step 1 – Build Your Base
The first step to building your rocket stove is to create a base for it. You will use bricks to build this base, which you can find at any hardware store.
To start, lay out the bricks in a rectangular shape that is slightly larger than the dimensions of your finished rocket stove. Use a spirit level to make sure the first brick is level, then place subsequent bricks on top so that they are parallel with one another and perpendicular to the ground (this means they all point straight up and down).
Step 2 – Create A Cylinder
You will need to create a cylinder. You can use a steel pipe for this, or you can use a piece of wood or cardboard, or even paper. You could even use cloth if it is long enough and wide enough to fit over the front opening of your rocket stove’s chimney.
The best piece of material that I found was an old cotton shirt that I no longer wanted to wear in public (this was after my trip to Iceland when I wore nothing but thermal underwear). The cotton shirt was just right because it was strong enough so that it did not tear easily when pulled tightly over the front opening of the chimney, yet thin enough so as not block much heat from escaping through combustion gases during burning operations.
Step 3 – Lay Your Stove Pipe
- Lay your stove pipe on the bricks.
- Make sure there is a gap between the pipe and the bricks.
- Use a ruler to measure the gap between the stove pipe and the bricks.
- Use a hammer to pound in one end of your stove pipe until it reaches halfway into the ground, securing it in place with concrete (if you’re using mortar).
Step 4 – Add The Chimney Topper
Now you’re ready to add the chimney topper. This is the top part of your stove, where smoke exits. Made from fire brick, this piece should be as tall as your entire rocket stove.
When you pour concrete over it, make sure not to let any water seep into the smaller holes and crack them.
Step 5 – Connect The Flue To The Stove Top
The next step is to connect the flue to your stove top. The flue is a pipe that runs through your chimney, feeding air into the firebox and out of the top of your stove. It should be at least 6″ long and have an inside diameter of 2″.
If you are building a round or octagonal rocket stove, don’t worry about connecting this pipe until later on in this article. For now, let’s focus on how to build a rocket stove with bricks—so we can get started.
Step 6 – Insert The Heat Riser
Insert the heat riser into the stove pipe. Make sure that the heat riser is level, centered and not too close to or too far from the stove pipe.
Step 7 – Add The Heat Exchanger, Bricks & Fire Bricks
Add a heat exchanger to your rocket stove. This can be made of bricks or simply a length of metal pipe.
Add fire bricks to the inside of your rocket stove. You can get these at any home improvement store, but make sure they’re rated for outdoor use and not just indoor use! They typically come in sheets that you’ll have to cut yourself, so keep that in mind when you plan out where you want them placed on your rocket stove’s inside walls.
Add bricks on top of the firebricks (if you’re using them). The way I did this was by starting with one row of two bricks each and then adding two rows above each other until we reached our desired height (about 5 feet).
Building your own rocket stove can be a fun project to do and you will have something amazing for your backyard!
Building a rocket stove is an interesting project. It has many benefits, including being able to cook with it and heat your home. You will also have a fun project to do, as well as an amazing addition to your backyard! If you want to build one yourself, then be sure to check out this guide on how to start building it today.
Final words
If you want to be able to safely cook your food in the outdoors while reducing fuel usage, then building your own rocket stove is something you should consider doing.
