I had an homemade rocket stove has my only source of heat for years, I have taken it out because I need it on another job, but my Dunsley Yorkshire stove works similar to a rocket stove. I love downburn stoves, they are just so much more efficient. It is nice to see you have these Liberator stoves in the USA.
i have the Liberator 2 generation. The top can get 550F to 600F at the center by using wood. I use ponderosa pine, soft wood, burns fast and hot. I split regular wood logs into 1 1/2" x 16"ish. Putting three sticks in the hopper is about the right amount to get a good hot clean burn and lasts about 40 min, if i use hardwood i make sure softwood is used to help the hardwood burn cleaner as hardwood causes more creosote if not properly hot. I modified my rocket stove to extract more heat before it goes up the 4" exhaust piping. Some of the modifications (I don't recommend as is void warranty, but I do it for research) is insulated the bottom of the burn tube and about 12" of the riser tube with mineral wool insulation, this prevents super hot air from the riser tube at the bottom from going straight out the exhaust and up the chimney = wasted heat; 2) reduced the 6" exhaust port to 4" with a metal lib cover, a 6"x4" reducer connects my 4" double wall pellet stove pipe, 16" high with a vacu-stack pipe cap; 3) made 3 levels inside the big cylinder so the heated air moves horizontally in a circular motion instead of straight down. At the top of the big cylinder is about 450F and at the exhaust port exiting up the exhaust pipe 170F. As always keep in mind the principles of rocket stoves: quick high temps, short burn times, and an always open oxygen source which produces a hot clean burn: no smoke only condensation from the chimney cap. This is why a good air flow is crucial to produce a clean burn as the brisk air flow causes super-hot embers to burn off the gases and smoke particles to reduce creosote - the heart of a rocket stove
I have been interested in gravity fed stoves for a while. I live in Woodland Park Colorado and it is 8500 feet in altitude. It gets down to zero to often. And my gas force air can’t keep up when it’s cold. I like the liberator. So make more videos I definitely will watch. Thank you.
Yes actually, the door gets bound up for me too. I may grind it down a bit to see if that helps. Normally if it’s sticky I just tap with a wrench, seems to center itself and fall into place.
I have a question. Since there is no "mass" for the flue to heat up why couldn't you install one of those magic heat reclaimers into the flue and get back all that heat as well? How long will this burn on wood? NOT STIX....Wood? How large a piece of wood will fit and what is the burn time on hardwood? I don't really see any videos on this yet...seems everyone wants to use the pellets. Thanks for your reply in advance!
I am not aware of a heat reclaimer, what is it? This device is not ment to burn cord wood. Not to say I haven't put a few of my old cord wood in there and let it burn down, but most of the time the fire just goes out and I need to restart it. The reason you use sticks and branches is to allow for air flow. Filling up the input with a huge piece of wood won't allow for the air flow this system requires. The branches and wood burn quick and hot, so it needs to be feed another branch every 45 minutes or at least checked on every hour. That's why most people just go with pellets. On a super cold day you light it up and forget it when it's on pellets. For most people I think lighting it in the morning with sticks while getting ready for work, and then letting it go out. Then re lighting it when you get home and just checking it every hour or so is the best way to go.
Hey Hecker, I’m about to have my Liberator installed. A couple of questions. When lighting pellets for the first time, did the pellets stick to the inside of the hopper tube and stuff the fire out? Also, once you got the everything fine tuned with lighting pellets, have you noticed the pellet hopper getting extremely hot and causing an issue with the pellets?
Every once in a while the pellets will get stuck and stop falling. I just knock them loose with a twig and relight and it's good to go. Surprisingly the hopper doesn't get hot. While I've seen the heat drum get over 500 F, the pellet hopper stays safe to touch.
Hey I just watched a video on your issue, the hopper was getting so hot (from radiation from the rocket heater) it was actually pulling a draft BACK UP the hopper and smoking into the house. The guy put a double panel (?) cookie sheet in between the hopper and the heater, issue resolved. "tinbender998" is his youtube channel name ua-cam.com/video/73aITJQCU1k/v-deo.html he only has a couple videos so be sure to watch both.
I have not. If you take out the pellet hopper you can use twigs. I do not have any machine that would chop twigs, but I imagine that cut twigs would get stuck in the pellet hopper. A 40lb bag of pellets is currently about 5 dollars and lasts at least 2 days (if opened fully up and left on all day). I prefer burning sticks and twigs, whereas my wife prefers the pellet hopper.
My door would jam up too. Way too tight. Took it out to the bench grinder and shaved about 3or4 frog hairs off each end. I also rounded off the corners and ALL edges. Nothing major but now it doesn't bind & drops in easy. Painted it with black stove paint that I bought for the two intake caps I use while stove is off. I cap my intakes in summer & when not in use.
That's exactly what it is. Eventually I will move this unit into the living room and build a mass for it. But for now, it's doing great right where it is.
We put a box fan to the side of it to push the heat from the kitchen to the living room. I have tried cooking on it. Using sticks it gets into the high 200s F, and isnt great for cooking. Meanwhile, with pellets it gets 450s-550s, which is a bit much for cooking. Its also why a bag of pellets lasts so long, it will quickly heat up the downstairs and I will slow down or stop the flow for a few hours.
I don't know if anyone told you about this or not, but providing the floor is supported enough to withstand the weight? You could add a big steel barrel full of sand sitting on top of the stove sucking up heat for later.
We removed a HUGE thousand pound cast iron stove from this spot. So I guess it could support the weight. Would the sand 'store' the heat more efficently? Im not familure with the concept. Could you tell me more?
@@Heckerfamilyhomestead Sand can hold heat for many hours. MONTHS if its insulated. They are using it for district heating services in Norway. Look up Sand Battery. The only thing i'd be worried about is the legs on the stove. but a couple concrete blocks would prevent any issues. Unlike water, Sand can be heated to 800 f without issues.
I put a 40lb bag in there and I have had it go in a day if i keep it full blast. However, that was really just a test to see how fast I could go through it. Honestly doing that just made the house to warm. Most of the time a 40lb bag lasts me 3-5 days. But now I primarly use wood (branches twigs), and I put a handful of pellets in just to get it started in the morning quickly. So this winter going that route a bag of pellets should last a long time.
It does, and I love that it doesn't need electricity. Once or twice it just stopped and went out. That's an easy fix though, just lift the panel with a pot holder, and re-light it, and back to toasty toasty.
About 2 weeks just using it in the morning and evening for a little bit. We are all off this week, and I started a new bag this morning, so I will soon see how long it lasts with constant usage.
I haven't run it non stop yet. Mostly just turn it on and let it go off when it gets too warm. I believe I read someone else said just under 24 hours on a 40 pound bag.
Only problem I see is your pulling the warm air out of the room for supply air and installing outside air piping doesn't look practical with the location of the fresh air intakes. Thanks for the video.
I bought caps for the air intakes. Painted black & perfect fit. I leave one in all winter & cap other when not burning. The heater gets HOT. It will heat a 1200 sq ft home easy.
That's a bit bigger then our downstairs, but I would imagine with the pellet hopper it should be pretty effective. Especially if you add a cob mass element.
@@Heckerfamilyhomestead thanks for the reply. I spend lots of time down there so im sure itll be better than the fireplace. At least take load off our heater. Prices on fuel not going to get less anytime soon. We have abundance of wood here
@@rdkndr1 It depends, plus or minus an hour or so. It’s not been super cold out yet, lowest has been maybe 20 F. I’m hopeful it will still be around the same burn time. But right now I’m heating basement, first and second floor with just this stove. Without basement house is approx 1400 sq ft.
We will see how it goes when it's actually freezing here. As for now, I just turn it on in the morning, and shut it off when it's warm enough. I can't imagine how hot it would be in here if it was open full throttle and not stopped. Thanks for watching and commenting.
I have an original Liberator. I could never get the pellets to flow through the tube for any length of time. They would clog in the tube or jam at the bottom of the hopper and not flow. I did try several brands of hard wood pellets with the same results. After emails, phone calls and a new tube, I finally had to design a feed and basket system so that it would actually work and generate additional usable heat. Has anyone else experienced similar problems?
That's awful, I would have been so angry. I found that as long as I light them well, in the grate, they fall through just fine. Everyonce in a while they will just go out. But then I just relight them.
@@Heckerfamilyhomestead I never had a problem lighting the pellets. The problem would come about a couple hours after it was in use. The pellets would clog half way down the tube and have to be forced through. Or... They would not feed through the opening at the bottom of the hopper. They would need a little bump to get them to flow again. The tube clogging was the real issue. I would have to empty the hopper and ram a rod down the feed tube to unclog it. It made no difference what brand of hard wood pellets I used. The results were the same. Plus... Smoke would back up into the house, frequently. One more things. When it was working, the top of the stove would get up to around ~365~. After an hour > hour and a half, it would drop down to the mid to low 200's, and lower. I now have it generating fantastic heat. I'm now trying to lower the pellets consumption a bit and work through a minor ash issue. Just a little fine tuning.
Carl Maenza that sounds horrible. I am using some pellets right now that were outside and soaked in a little moisture, so they seem harder to light, but nothing like what you're describing. I really hope to avoid that situation completely.
I’m fascinated with these stoves, I love the idea of pellets without electricity! Awesome
I had an homemade rocket stove has my only source of heat for years, I have taken it out because I need it on another job, but my Dunsley Yorkshire stove works similar to a rocket stove. I love downburn stoves, they are just so much more efficient. It is nice to see you have these Liberator stoves in the USA.
That is great, I love to get the word out on them.
i have the Liberator 2 generation. The top can get 550F to 600F at the center by using wood. I use ponderosa pine, soft wood, burns fast and hot. I split regular wood logs into 1 1/2" x 16"ish. Putting three sticks in the hopper is about the right amount to get a good hot clean burn and lasts about 40 min, if i use hardwood i make sure softwood is used to help the hardwood burn cleaner as hardwood causes more creosote if not properly hot. I modified my rocket stove to extract more heat before it goes up the 4" exhaust piping. Some of the modifications (I don't recommend as is void warranty, but I do it for research) is insulated the bottom of the burn tube and about 12" of the riser tube with mineral wool insulation, this prevents super hot air from the riser tube at the bottom from going straight out the exhaust and up the chimney = wasted heat; 2) reduced the 6" exhaust port to 4" with a metal lib cover, a 6"x4" reducer connects my 4" double wall pellet stove pipe, 16" high with a vacu-stack pipe cap; 3) made 3 levels inside the big cylinder so the heated air moves horizontally in a circular motion instead of straight down. At the top of the big cylinder is about 450F and at the exhaust port exiting up the exhaust pipe 170F. As always keep in mind the principles of rocket stoves: quick high temps, short burn times, and an always open oxygen source which produces a hot clean burn: no smoke only condensation from the chimney cap. This is why a good air flow is crucial to produce a clean burn as the brisk air flow causes super-hot embers to burn off the gases and smoke particles to reduce creosote - the heart of a rocket stove
I have been interested in gravity fed stoves for a while. I live in Woodland Park Colorado and it is 8500 feet in altitude. It gets down to zero to often. And my gas force air can’t keep up when it’s cold. I like the liberator. So make more videos
I definitely will watch. Thank you.
Thanks for watching. I appreciate your support
thanks, looking at getting one. off grid tiny cabin in Maine
great
Yes actually, the door gets bound up for me too. I may grind it down a bit to see if that helps. Normally if it’s sticky I just tap with a wrench, seems to center itself and fall into place.
Good to know I'm not the only one.
Thank you so much for the feedback.
Good idea on the fix, I'll try it on mine
I have a question. Since there is no "mass" for the flue to heat up why couldn't you install one of those magic heat reclaimers into the flue and get back all that heat as well? How long will this burn on wood? NOT STIX....Wood? How large a piece of wood will fit and what is the burn time on hardwood? I don't really see any videos on this yet...seems everyone wants to use the pellets. Thanks for your reply in advance!
I am not aware of a heat reclaimer, what is it?
This device is not ment to burn cord wood. Not to say I haven't put a few of my old cord wood in there and let it burn down, but most of the time the fire just goes out and I need to restart it.
The reason you use sticks and branches is to allow for air flow. Filling up the input with a huge piece of wood won't allow for the air flow this system requires.
The branches and wood burn quick and hot, so it needs to be feed another branch every 45 minutes or at least checked on every hour.
That's why most people just go with pellets. On a super cold day you light it up and forget it when it's on pellets.
For most people I think lighting it in the morning with sticks while getting ready for work, and then letting it go out. Then re lighting it when you get home and just checking it every hour or so is the best way to go.
Hey Hecker, I’m about to have my Liberator installed. A couple of questions. When lighting pellets for the first time, did the pellets stick to the inside of the hopper tube and stuff the fire out? Also, once you got the everything fine tuned with lighting pellets, have you noticed the pellet hopper getting extremely hot and causing an issue with the pellets?
Every once in a while the pellets will get stuck and stop falling. I just knock them loose with a twig and relight and it's good to go.
Surprisingly the hopper doesn't get hot. While I've seen the heat drum get over 500 F, the pellet hopper stays safe to touch.
Hey I just watched a video on your issue, the hopper was getting so hot (from radiation from the rocket heater) it was actually pulling a draft BACK UP the hopper and smoking into the house. The guy put a double panel (?) cookie sheet in between the hopper and the heater, issue resolved. "tinbender998" is his youtube channel name
ua-cam.com/video/73aITJQCU1k/v-deo.html
he only has a couple videos so be sure to watch both.
@@anesthesiadreamin good looking out!
Never had a problem. The tube on the hopper needs to be adjusted up or down depending on your draft.
Get a piece of clear ceramic glass and you can watch the burn all the time, melting point of ceramic glass is around 2000 degrees.
I have seen others do that. I like that idea. 👌
have you used choped twigs as a feed in the pellet hopper ?
I have not. If you take out the pellet hopper you can use twigs. I do not have any machine that would chop twigs, but I imagine that cut twigs would get stuck in the pellet hopper. A 40lb bag of pellets is currently about 5 dollars and lasts at least 2 days (if opened fully up and left on all day). I prefer burning sticks and twigs, whereas my wife prefers the pellet hopper.
My door would jam up too. Way too tight. Took it out to the bench grinder and shaved about 3or4 frog hairs off each end. I also rounded off the corners and ALL edges. Nothing major but now it doesn't bind & drops in easy.
Painted it with black stove paint that I bought for the two intake caps I use while stove is off. I cap my intakes in summer & when not in use.
Rocket mass heater without mass - congratulations.
That's exactly what it is. Eventually I will move this unit into the living room and build a mass for it. But for now, it's doing great right where it is.
I bet you could place a large 20 gal kettle of water on top of that cylinder for mass and humidity?
We put a box fan to the side of it to push the heat from the kitchen to the living room. I have tried cooking on it. Using sticks it gets into the high 200s F, and isnt great for cooking. Meanwhile, with pellets it gets 450s-550s, which is a bit much for cooking. Its also why a bag of pellets lasts so long, it will quickly heat up the downstairs and I will slow down or stop the flow for a few hours.
What kind and size flue liner is in the chimney?
If liner is larger than 6" does it draw sufficiently?
Great question! It is 6 inches, and draws quiet well.
I don't know if anyone told you about this or not, but providing the floor is supported enough to withstand the weight? You could add a big steel barrel full of sand sitting on top of the stove sucking up heat for later.
We removed a HUGE thousand pound cast iron stove from this spot. So I guess it could support the weight. Would the sand 'store' the heat more efficently? Im not familure with the concept. Could you tell me more?
@@Heckerfamilyhomestead Sand can hold heat for many hours. MONTHS if its insulated. They are using it for district heating services in Norway. Look up Sand Battery. The only thing i'd be worried about is the legs on the stove. but a couple concrete blocks would prevent any issues. Unlike water, Sand can be heated to 800 f without issues.
@@davefroman4700 thats awesome.
So how well does it work burning 24/7? How many bags of pellets does it consume? Thanks
I put a 40lb bag in there and I have had it go in a day if i keep it full blast. However, that was really just a test to see how fast I could go through it. Honestly doing that just made the house to warm. Most of the time a 40lb bag lasts me 3-5 days. But now I primarly use wood (branches twigs), and I put a handful of pellets in just to get it started in the morning quickly. So this winter going that route a bag of pellets should last a long time.
does the hopper work without issues?
It does, and I love that it doesn't need electricity.
Once or twice it just stopped and went out. That's an easy fix though, just lift the panel with a pot holder, and re-light it, and back to toasty toasty.
Could you please let us know how long your 40# bag of pellets lasted thank you
About 2 weeks just using it in the morning and evening for a little bit.
We are all off this week, and I started a new bag this morning, so I will soon see how long it lasts with constant usage.
Personally I go through about 1 bag per day, but it runs nonstop until empty, damper fully open it will go about 12 hours.
@nghermit4922 wow 40lbs a day is crazy! We had some freezing Temps and I still managed to keep it going for about a week.
How many hours will it run on a bag
I haven't run it non stop yet. Mostly just turn it on and let it go off when it gets too warm. I believe I read someone else said just under 24 hours on a 40 pound bag.
Only problem I see is your pulling the warm air out of the room for supply air and installing outside air piping doesn't look practical with the location of the fresh air intakes. Thanks for the video.
I bought caps for the air intakes. Painted black & perfect fit. I leave one in all winter & cap other when not burning. The heater gets HOT. It will heat a 1200 sq ft home easy.
Just bought one. You think itll heat a 1200 sq ft houses basement?
That's a bit bigger then our downstairs, but I would imagine with the pellet hopper it should be pretty effective. Especially if you add a cob mass element.
@@Heckerfamilyhomestead thanks for the reply. I spend lots of time down there so im sure itll be better than the fireplace. At least take load off our heater. Prices on fuel not going to get less anytime soon. We have abundance of wood here
I’ve got mine in the basement, and right now it’s heating the entire house, total space roughly 1600 sq ft. Hopefully you will be good.
@@nghermit4922 thanks. On pellets? Does a back last 12 hrs?
@@rdkndr1 It depends, plus or minus an hour or so. It’s not been super cold out yet, lowest has been maybe 20 F. I’m hopeful it will still be around the same burn time. But right now I’m heating basement, first and second floor with just this stove. Without basement house is approx 1400 sq ft.
So you used half a 40lb bag from sunday to Thursday? Yea right!
We will see how it goes when it's actually freezing here. As for now, I just turn it on in the morning, and shut it off when it's warm enough. I can't imagine how hot it would be in here if it was open full throttle and not stopped. Thanks for watching and commenting.
I have an original Liberator. I could never get the pellets to flow through the tube for any length of time. They would clog in the tube or jam at the bottom of the hopper and not flow. I did try several brands of hard wood pellets with the same results. After emails, phone calls and a new tube, I finally had to design a feed and basket system so that it would actually work and generate additional usable heat. Has anyone else experienced similar problems?
That's awful, I would have been so angry. I found that as long as I light them well, in the grate, they fall through just fine. Everyonce in a while they will just go out. But then I just relight them.
@@Heckerfamilyhomestead
I never had a problem lighting the pellets. The problem would come about a couple hours after it was in use. The pellets would clog half way down the tube and have to be forced through. Or... They would not feed through the opening at the bottom of the hopper. They would need a little bump to get them to flow again. The tube clogging was the real issue. I would have to empty the hopper and ram a rod down the feed tube to unclog it. It made no difference what brand of hard wood pellets I used. The results were the same. Plus... Smoke would back up into the house, frequently. One more things. When it was working, the top of the stove would get up to around ~365~. After an hour > hour and a half, it would drop down to the mid to low 200's, and lower. I now have it generating fantastic heat. I'm now trying to lower the pellets consumption a bit and work through a minor ash issue. Just a little fine tuning.
Carl Maenza that sounds horrible.
I am using some pellets right now that were outside and soaked in a little moisture, so they seem harder to light, but nothing like what you're describing.
I really hope to avoid that situation completely.
Hecker, I love you, but you still look like a broke-down Trent Reznor
Good. Trent Reznor is dope.