BEST PRACTICE BUILD/REMODEL

Handmade masonry and ceramic heater The Masonry Heater's Association has an annual contest for best masonry heater design: Here is this years 1st place: Kiesling Construction: This masonry heater is an Austrian style Grundofen with a direct exterior air intake into the firebox. The air intake is controlled by a cast iron opening/closing damper. The fuel door is a glass door with a black cast iron frame. The overall approximate size of this heater is 7' long x 3' wide x 6' height with a total heating surface of approximately 77 square ft. The bench is heated indirectly by heat tranfer through masonry and ceramic material. The exterior finish is a combination of white hand-washed stucco and artistic Rakcu ceramic.

Masonry heaters use MUCH less wood than even the most efficient wood stove. Comparing our Vermont Castings "Defiant", the most efficient woodstove we know of, there is no contest. Masonry heaters heat to kiln temp inside, burning almost all the particulate and gas. The thermal mass keeps it warm for many hours....its an 18th century technology that beats our modern tech hands down.

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Radiant masonry heaters use less wood and heat evenly, moistly and safely. Soapstone appears to be the best material for its physical and aesthetic qualities: holds the heat in well, can be carved easily, made of talc so feels soft to the touch.

A Finnish soapstone masonry heater.

In the Fin style CONTRAFLOW (designed in the 18th century) air is directed, superheated beyond what a metal stove can support safely, and finally exhausted at a low heat, having transferred most of the energy to the stone. This particular heat kit can be ordered from: http://www.firecrest-fireplaces.com/Products-Finnish_Contraflow%20Kit.htm
Lets make one!
Excellent info on masonry heaters, explains much of why they are better in conserving wood, cleaner air, healthier heat. http://www.tempcast.com/planninguide/plan01.html The Association of Masonry Heaters: http://www.mha-net.org/
A brief history of masonry heaters: In Sweden the landscape is a lot like Minnesota. They have had many more generations of forestry, so their forests are not as diverse as ours. They have had critical shortages more than once, for example, they coked wood for melting iron ore at the same time that they were exporting a lot of timber. In the 1780's the king commisioned an engineer and a military captain to redesign their domestic heating systems. In nine months they had drawn wood fired heaters to do everything in the house more efficiently (cooking, baking, heating water, and space). Of their fifteen different models, one became a standard that is still built the same way today. That Swedish tile stove is called a "kakelugn" About one ton, it is composed of raw clay, sand, water, and glazed structural tiles. Practically every apartment in Stockholm had one. Wealthy families had fancy ones in every room.
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The cupboard itself is a fully insulated space within the home with the same magnetic seal on the doors that refrigerators have. Cool air is drawn in to the bottom of the cupboard through a pipe running under the house with the pipe itself 4 to 6 feet (1.2 to approx. 2 metres) underground and with an opening to the surface outside. A drain should be installed in the pipe to allow for condensation forming in the pipe. A second pipe at the top of the cupboard vents to the outside of the house. The external portion of this vent should have access to full sun and be painted black. This will cause the air inside it to heat and rise, which in turn causes cool air to be sucked in through the bottom pipe.

FOR A HOT, DRY SUMMER OR FALL: To the surprise of many, the world’s cheapest refrigerator/cooler costs less than $2 dollars to make, uses minimal resources to produce and runs completely without electricity. It’s called a zeer pot developed by Mohammed Bah Abba, who realized that he could put the second law of thermodynamics and transpiration to work for him. The zeer pot is two unglazed earthenware pots, one pot smaller INSIDE the larger pot. The space in-between them is filled with sand, which is wetted with water (twice a day) and a wet towel is put on top of the two pots to keep warm air from entering the interior. As water in the sand evaporates through the surface of the outer pot, it carries heat, drawing it away from the inner core, thus cooling the inside of the inner pot which can be filled with soft-drinks, water, fresh fruit, vegetables or even meat. A damp cloth placed on top keeps the inside pot away from hot air. In this way, fresh produce can be kept for long periods of time without the need for electricity. Tomatoes and peppers will last for up to three weeks, and African spinach, or rocket, which normally would spoil after just a day in the intense African heat, can and will remain edible for up to twelve days. Eggplants will keep for up to 27 days instead of three. It can even be used for storing sorghum and millets for a long time since it protects from humidity, thus preventing fungi from developing. The zeer will keeps beverages at about 15 degrees Celsius (maybe acceptable for Guinness), and even meat can be kept fresh for long periods. At the MARKET fresh produce is kept inside, with just a couple fresh items displayed on the damp towel resting on top. In this way, most of the produce is kept hidden away from both warm air and insects. In the past, all produce was displayed in the open air, attracting flies resulting in stomach disease such as dysentery. Now food can be kept fresh for longer and kept away from flies...even miles away from electricity or ice. The key however, is a certain degree of aridness, for at a certain amount of humidity, the benefit of evaporative cooling tends to disappear.

STORING FOOD WISELY: Cold storage of vegetables such as cabbage, beets, carrots, potatoes, squash, and turnips can give you the best tasting and healthiest food and you can eat every one of these garden-fresh even 4 to 6 months after they’ve been harvested! However it requires some careful preparation, so let’s discuss how best to prepare for and store your fall harvest. If your garden is very small and you don’t have much to store, you may be able to use an old refrigerator, or a barrel buried in the back yard. However, for those who are serious about providing fresh food for your families: a ROOT CELLAR, either under the house or buried outside. You can set it into the side of a hill or dig a hole 4’ to 5’ deep in a corner of the yard, build the cellar, and cover it with the excess dirt. This will help insulate it and maintain the low, but not freezing temperatures you need. Provide yourself a small door and insulate it well. Harvest your crops at peak maturity and store only those which are free of disease or damage. Don’t harvest for storage until late fall, since more starches are converted to sugars by the cool weather. Root crops should be picked fresh and stored immediately. Potatoes and squash, on the other hand, first need to be CURED at 60-75 degrees for 7 to 14 days. Most produce should be stored at just above freezing temperatures, except winter squash, which does better at or above 50 degrees. Your root crops will stay fresh and sweet for months if you harvest them with roots intact and pack them in wet sawdust. Cabbage and other brassicas also need their roots. Remove outer leaves, then pack the roots in wet sawdust, leaving the cabbage exposed. Provide separation between crops to avoid mixing flavors, and to keep squash dry. Potatoes should not be as wet as the root crops. They will do well in temperatures below 40 degrees, but pack them in moist, rather than wet sawdust. Peatmoss and sand, or combinations of all three, can be substituted for straight sawdust, but are not as ideal. Work with your neighbors to find a sawmill and obtain a truckload. Onions and garlic also store well. they can handle cold temperatures but, like winter squash, they do better with humidity only 60 to 70 percent. Therefore these should be up off the damp floor, on shelves or hung from the ceiling. A cold basement can also work, but remember to provide separation from living areas to avoid their strong smell. Remember, cold temperatures are essential for good long-term storage of produce, but do not let them freeze! Insulate your root cellar well. Good healthy eating to you!
A rootcellar room outside of your house. A Root Cellar at Walden. "I dug my cellar in the side of a hill sloping to the south, where a woodchuck had formerly dug his burrow, down through sumach and blackberry roots, and the lowest stain of vegetation, six feet square by seven deep, to a fine sand where potatoes would not freeze in any winter. The sides were left shelving, and not stoned; but the sun having never shone on them, the sand still keeps its place. It was but two hours' work. I took particular pleasure in this breaking of ground, for in almost all latitudes men dig into the earth for an equable temperature. Under the most splendid house in the city is still to be found the cellar where they store their roots as of old, and long after the superstructure has disappeared posterity remark its dent in the earth. The house is still but a sort of porch at the entrance of a burrow." Henry David Thoreau, Walden An easy, cheap outside rootcellar using a galvanized garbage can keeps potatoes, carrots, beets, turnips, and apples through the winter. Bury the can upright with 4 in. or so of the top protruding above ground level. Place the garbage can on a well-drained site, and make a ditch so surface water will be diverted and not run into the container. Make sure the can has a good lid, and cover the lid with straw. Over the straw put a waterproof cover of canvas or plastic. Put veggies and fruits in perforated polyethylene bags. Root crops like beets, carrots, and turnips should not be put into storage until late fall. Don't store carrots near apples because the apples give off gases that make the carrots bitter. Avoid bruising veggies to prevent rot. Sweet potatos MAY not be appropriate for this level of damp.

Making a Cobbed, Strawbale Root Cellar: http://chroniclesofafarmgirl.blogspot.com/2007_08_01_archive.html

The walls and ceiling are plastered, floor is brick. The plaster-lined trough along the edge of the room kept water from seeping out; WATER played an important part in keeping this room COOLER than any of the other cellar rooms. The functions of the channels or indentations on the north and south walls of the room are unknown. With its lower temperature this room would have been used for the storage of BEER, CIDER AND DAIRY products. The room was cooled by evaporation; there was standing water in a trough around three sides of the room and a drain in the northwest corner. Containers were often placed directly in this trough to keep them cooler. The water was supplied from the well in the kitchen via a hole in the wall that ran into the corner of the cold cellar. This hole would probably have had a wood pipe or a wooden funnel lined with metal to fill the trough. Cooling by evaporation requires ventilation. The two small windows may originally have been screened openings; ventilation on the opposite side of the room was provided by the slatted double doors. There is evidence of the use of hanging shelves in this room, used to keep rodents from eating the food not otherwise protected. The plaster ceiling would have helped to contain the humidity.

http://www.ushistory.org/hope/house/cellar3.htm

BASEMENT ROOT CELLAR: The floor is a clay dirt. The masonry structure held up the fireplace above, originally had shelves inside. Root vegetables (like potatoes, carrots, turnips, beets or onions) and certain fruits (like apples) were stored here. The original windows probably had grilles with five wooden vertical bars on the outside and wooden shutters on the inside. The shutters would have been opened only enough for proper ventilation, still keeping the room dark. 18th century requirements for a properly functioning root cellar: included correct amount of moist dryness provided by the earth access to floor, ventilation, even and low temperatures, nearness to the place where the food is consumed, and freedom from frost.

The 18th century floor is brick with a soapstone threshold. The wood threshold may have been used to contain odors. The relieving arch is a structural support for the fireplace above it and was fitted with shelves, perhaps doors. This room, bristling with more than two dozen iron hooks on the ceiling,hung cured meats and cheeses. The plaster ceiling in this room is an original feature and would have served both to keep the room cooler and to keep any odors from rising to the parlor above. Cattle and pigs were the primary domestic livestock. Their meat salted best, and pork and beef were roasted, boiled and baked. Fowl, such as turkey, chicken, goose and duck were available, as were fish and shellfish. Butchering usually took place in colder weather, resulting in meats which needed to be preserved, tallow which could be used for candlemaking, and lard which could be used for making soap. Meats were preserved in four ways: pickling, potting, salting, and smoking.

http://web1.msue.msu.edu/msue/imp/modp1/morefile/E0104.pdf

For the more technically brilliant among us: check out this completely passive ice box that uses winter chill to keep ice all year long.
http://www.fourmileisland.com/IceBox.htm

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