Where to Find Kachelofen Plans

Discussion in 'Designing, building, making and powering your life' started by gmpm1, Jul 13, 2011.

  1. gmpm1

    gmpm1 Junior Member

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    I thought I'd try resurrect a thread that went dormant in 2005, in case someone now knows the answer:

    Does anyone know where to find plans for building a kachelofen? Bill M mentions them being available in a video from a 2005 PDC in Melbourne but then gets sidetracked onto something else, and I've been unable to find a reference to them anywhere online.

    To purchase a kachelofen is expensive, starting at about $10,000 US, but it should be possible to build one at a fraction of the cost; the materials themselves should not be that expensive. I hope someone knows where to find them. Thanks.
     
  2. purplepear

    purplepear Junior Member

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  3. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    Cool! What about a rocket style mass heater? You'll find plans and videos and stuff for those easily enough and it would serve the same purpose. Like this one from Paul Wheaton.
     
  4. Pakanohida

    Pakanohida Junior Member

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  5. barefootrim

    barefootrim Junior Member

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    Kachelofen, is the German spelling, if you search www.google.de heaps of hits will come up.

    These heaters have been around for centuries, all across Northern & Central Europe, Russia, Scandinavia, so if you adjust your search you should find plenty of info on them. -

    Scandinavia they tend to call them Finnish Oven, or Masonary Oven , Ruskies call them the Russian Oven laying claim to them,,, they have a cousin called the Kang -Bed oven of China from before BC ,,,, the native American Indians used the same principle when they went bush by lighting a fire on a large granite rock and sleeping on those rocks at night as they radiated heat.

    I find it funny to watch the latest vogue fad of the Rocket -style mass heater coming through the permaculture ranks now,,,, they are very good tools, but nothing more than an adapted Kachel oven, or a storm kettle (kelly kettle) used by the irish sea fisherman for couple hundred years.

    What came first the kelly kettle, the Kachel Offen or the Rocket style mass heater?,,, Ans- neither - they all the same thing.

    My new permaculture challenge is to rename the food forest, something groovy like ,the reaffoodation method (copyrighted) ,,,,culinary cultivar,,,or simply food avenues, and write a book about it , sell millions of copies . I'm not writing this to seem a smart alec, but just to point out the interesting social concept of someone changing the name of a kacheloffen to rocket mass stove,,,, for any one of many reasons, including post war german word alergy, kacheloffen not a saleable word, kachel offen word not hippy dippy new agey wordy enough----but wow rename it the rocket stove - that burns only a few sticks per 24 hours,,,and everyone is in to it.

    Seriously, there is plenty of kachel offen info on the net,,100 million european , scandinavian, russian houses once had them,,,,just use a few different search options

    Reaffoodation is in- food forest is out,,,,
     
  6. barefootrim

    barefootrim Junior Member

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  7. barefootrim

    barefootrim Junior Member

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  8. gmpm1

    gmpm1 Junior Member

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    You are right. The term "kachelofen" is what Bill Mollison used and taught about in his PDCs (which is why I used it in my original post), and he is well aware of the historical perspective, believe me. Any co-opting of the concept with a new label; e.g., "rocket stove," comes from people like Wheaton, a shameless self-promoter who knows just enough Permaculture to be dangerous. Bill mentioned in his PDC video that his plans came from a Dutch Permaculturist, Seitz Leeflang, who I cannot locate. Seitz apparently used to distribute his plans for a small kachelofen in hardcopy. I can find no reference for them on the Internet and was hoping someone could dig them out somewhere and publish them for the benefit of all.
     
  9. sweetpea

    sweetpea Junior Member

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    Hey, I want horns on my kachelofen!! :rofl:

    the ones with the long wall-seats built in look really appealing. Not sure how long you could really sit on one, but you could make yogurt on one!! Maybe even keep the beer mash warm! :)
     

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