Seattle Area Rocket Stove Mass Heater Workshop - Aug 21-23!
Jocelyn Campbell
registration discount for the Rocket Stove Mass Heater Workshop in
Snohomish/Maltby, Friday evening - Sunday afternoon, August 21-23! See
the attached flier, the press release below my signature or
www.jocelynsevents.com/rocketstove for more information.
Enjoy!
Jocelyn
--
Eco Events | QuickBooks | Accounting | 206.779.3707
www.jocelynsevents.com | www.jocelyncampbell.com
~~please think twice before printing this or any e-mail~~
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, July 28, 2009
Media contact: Jocelyn Campbell, 206.779.3707, jo...@jocelynsevents.com
Getting Hot in a Good Way (Staying Cool, Too!) – Rocket Mass Heaters
SNOHOMISH – In this heat, can you remember the record snow and cold of
last winter? Researchers are developing heating systems that not only
provide super-efficient winter heat, but can also help cool a home in
the summer. One unusual example is called a ‘rocket mass heater.’ It’s
a system similar to a masonry heater that folks can learn to build
themselves. There’s a rare Washington State Rocket Mass Heater
Workshop later this August in Maltby/Snohomish,
www.jocelynsevents.com/rocketstove.
In a rocket stove, the fire burns sideways, so hot and so fast that it
sounds like a rocket. The smoke drafts up through a vertical
combustion chamber where it is re-burned into CO2 and steam. This
near-smokeless exhaust vents through a cob (earthen masonry) bench.
The exhaust could be mistaken for a dryer vent: white, wispy clouds
with an occasional faint scent. The bench’s thermal mass captures,
stores, and slowly releases the heat over time. The efficient burn and
thermal mass provide all-night warmth from one brief fire, saving fuel
and avoiding creosote and smog problems.
According to rocket stove owner and instructor, Erica Wisner, “the
neat thing is that the mass serves as a heat-sink to cool the house in
summer, too. Like adobe.” She continued, “there's a 20+ degree
difference between outside and inside in our house today [with outside
temperatures in the high 90’s].”
Erica Wisner, a science teacher and writer, and her husband, Ernie
Wisner, a builder, forest-fire fighter and rocket stove researcher,
live in Portland, OR. They teach workshops in the US and Canada. Ernie
Wisner worked with Cob Cottage Company in Coquille, Oregon,
contributing to the research for the book Rocket Mass Heaters,
Superefficient Wood Stoves You Can Build (and Snuggle Up To), by Ianto
Evans and Leslie Jackson. For more info, see www.rocketstoves.com.
Rocket mass heaters can be made from recycled, renewable, or
re-purposed materials. Their builders tend to be both environmentally
and frugally minded. The cob benches can be simple and utilitarian; or
they can be elegant, colorful sculptures adorned with cushions, tiles
and intricate art. Any masonry mass can serve as a heat-exchanger;
some folks build the vents into a heated floor, bed platform, or
greenhouse planting bed.
The Rocket Stove Mass Heater Workshop, taught by the Wisners, takes
place Friday evening through Sunday afternoon, August 21-23, at Wise
Earth Ecological Landtrust in Maltby/Snohomish. This hands-on fire
science and building experience is $225 per person, or $195 per person
if registering prior to August 2.
For more information or to register for the workshop, contact Jocelyn
Campbell, jo...@jocelynsevents.com, or visit
www.jocelynsevents.com/rocketstove.
About Ernie and Erica Wisner
Ernie Wisner is a builder, mariner, forest-fire fighter, and veteran
instructor with Cob Cottage Company, TrackersNW, and Portland's
Village Building Convergence. Erica Wisner is a freelance writer,
artist, and science educator who has worked with OMSI, Cascadia Wild,
and The City Repair Project. Based out of Portland, Oregon, the
Wisners teach primarily on the US West Coast and in Canada.
www.ErnieAndErica.info.
About Wise Earth Ecological Landtrust
Wise Earth Ecological Landtrust (WEEL) is a permaculture community in
Maltby/Snohomish, Washington. Permaculture, a portmanteau of permanent
culture as well as permanent agriculture, is an approach to designing
human settlements to be as self-sustaining and low impact as possible
and to mimic relationships found in natural ecologies. WEEL was
founded by Albert Postema, certified permaculture designer and
instructor and local business owner of Earthwise Excavation,
fromthegrounddown.com.
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