Liberator Rocket Heater

[putttn]

...it says in large print in the FAQ that you get your choice between A) 30-90 minute burn times and B) pellets.

Even if you're willing to use pellets to get 12-14 hour burns, recognize that this is not a pellet stove. The pellets are gravity-fed; the only air setting is wide open. The owner's manual specifically tells you not to devise ways to control the intake air.

Do you want to heat your house with a wood stove that burns for 30-90 minutes? How about a pellet stove that only has a "HIGH" setting? Them's the options.

That said, I'm sure it's a capable heater if someone is always in the room with it, but it lacks the amenities of a basic wood stove or a basic pellet stove.

Could be a good stove for an area that's only heated when it's occupied, like a shop. Nice way to get rid of your brush and branchwood.

Sounds like it’s somewhat similar to the Wiseway Stove. What is appealing to me is that it does not need electricity to function during a power outage.

 

[electrathon]

The only thing I have to add is that UL is a private company that tests and lists to their own standards, However ISO and a myriad of other testing labs do the same thing. We had our stove tested by Guardian Fire Testing Labs Inc. another Private company thats certified by ISO to conduct virtually any fire related testing.
(broken link removed)

Our stove is tested to the standards outlines in UL-1482 and the Canadian standard ULC-S627-00 and we have both met and exceeded the standards outlined within those documents.

All building and insurance company's require is that it be listed by a NRTL, Nationally Recognized Testing Lab, as having met safety standards that meet or exceed the CPSC standards. UL-1482 and ULC-S627-00 are both way beyond what the CPSC requires and as such there is no local code enforces or insurance companys you will have a problem with.

This is from a conversation the owner had concerning insurance requirements and testing requirements.

It amazes me how many people (most should know better) falsely believe that UL tests the stuff we use. UL actually only does a small percentage. Most items are tested to UL standards. Look at the stuff in your house, most is not tested by UL. I doubt that there is an insurance company that requires testing to be done by UL, it would not be legal and almost every electrical/mechanical item you own would have to be replaced.

This is a cool stove. I see a lot of people opposed to it because you need to feed it often. Heck, my hearthstone has to be fed all the time. If you could lower your wood use by a lot, tinkering with the stove may not the bad.

That said, the stove is not an attractive stove, it leans more to the real ugly side. I think it would be hard to put it in most people living rooms, better suited as a shop heater. Possibly the manufacture can work on that. It would not be that hard to tweak it to a better appearance.

 

[bholler]

It amazes me how many people (most should know better) falsely believe that UL tests the stuff we use. UL actually only does a small percentage. Most items are tested to UL standards. Look at the stuff in your house, most is not tested by UL. I doubt that there is an insurance company that requires testing to be done by UL, it would not be legal and almost every electrical/mechanical item you own would have to be replaced.

This is a cool stove. I see a lot of people opposed to it because you need to feed it often. Heck, my hearthstone has to be fed all the time. If you could lower your wood use by a lot, tinkering with the stove may not the bad.

That said, the stove is not an attractive stove, it leans more to the real ugly side. I think it would be hard to put it in most people living rooms, better suited as a shop heater. Possibly the manufacture can work on that. It would not be that hard to tweak it to a better appearance.

Yes you are right most testing is not done by ul labs. But much of it is done by ul accredited labs and they can use the ul seal. No insurance companies do not require it be tested by ul. I never said that but there are many that require the ul seal. That is just a fact. And this stove does not have that.

And yes it is a cool stove but 30 mins burn time really? And I really have to question their claims of huge efficiency gains. But I am positive you would save allot of wood. And that is because eventually you are going to have to go to sleep. You will probably have to go to work. And most of us don't want to spend our entire lives loading our stoves.

And it would be horrible as a shop heater as well because when you go into a shop you generally go there to do work not spend half your time getting or loading wood.

 

[putttn]

That is one reason I’m interested in the pellet hopper. Plus the fact that it does not need electricity to feed. For my purpose it is ideal because I have had numerous power outages and a pellet stove normally needs electricity to feed.
The fact that it needs less wood to operate and I don’t need to be fooling with a chainsaw or wood splitter makes it even more attractive to me. I have time to work in my shop because I’m not out buying wood or chainsawing it and splitting wood and then stacking it and hauling it into the house to burn. I don’t have to clean up all the chips and ash that come with a woodstove. Additionally, the woodstove I had was a pain to start and to operate. The creosote was dangerous and the smoke in the house during startup was always a problem. My brother in law heats with a woodstove and by the time he either cuts his wood or travels to buy wood he’s racked up some expensive bills just getting his wood ready to burn. Their house stinks from burning the wood but that’s the price he pays.
There’s always two sides to every story.

 

[bholler]

That is one reason I’m interested in the pellet hopper. Plus the fact that it does not need electricity to feed. For my purpose it is ideal because I have had numerous power outages and a pellet stove normally needs electricity to feed.
The fact that it needs less wood to operate and I don’t need to be fooling with a chainsaw or wood splitter makes it even more attractive to me. I have time to work in my shop because I’m not out buying wood or chainsawing it and splitting wood and then stacking it and hauling it into the house to burn. I don’t have to clean up all the chips and ash that come with a woodstove. Additionally, the woodstove I had was a pain to start and to operate. The creosote was dangerous and the smoke in the house during startup was always a problem. My brother in law heats with a woodstove and by the time he either cuts his wood or travels to buy wood he’s racked up some expensive bills just getting his wood ready to burn. Their house stinks from burning the wood but that’s the price he pays.
There’s always two sides to every story.

When done right many of the negatives you point out about burning wood don't need to be there.

 

[ewang]

Yes you are right most testing is not done by ul labs. But much of it is done by ul accredited labs and they can use the ul seal. No insurance companies do not require it be tested by ul. I never said that but there are many that require the ul seal. That is just a fact. And this stove does not have that.

And yes it is a cool stove but 30 mins burn time really? And I really have to question their claims of huge efficiency gains. But I am positive you would save allot of wood. And that is because eventually you are going to have to go to sleep. You will probably have to go to work. And most of us don't want to spend our entire lives loading our stoves.

And it would be horrible as a shop heater as well because when you go into a shop you generally go there to do work not spend half your time getting or loading wood.

False - Third party testing agencies like ETL Intertek do not use the "UL seal", nor can they. UL often creates testings standards, which UL and other agencies like ETL and others can test products to the UL standard.

If you see a UL seal, it was tested by UL. Likewise, an ETL label was tested by ET:L.

My source is that I have personally been involved with having UL and/or ETL list commercial product to UL standards.

 

[velvetfoot]

And a mouse nest knocked you out of the pellet stove game?

 

[putttn]

And a mouse nest knocked you out of the pellet stove game?

And a mouse nest knocked you out of the pellet stove game?

Yep. And I have to run it on electricity which negates it’s usefullness as a backup.

 

[jetsam]

And a mouse nest knocked you out of the pellet stove game?

I know a guy who claims to have sold a house and moved because he kept seeing mice in and near the house.

I can't decide if it's weirder that he claims to have sold a house over mice, or that he tells this story to other people without being forced to.

This same guy once reported to me that he had just been "attacked" by "a big aggressive duck" in the parking lot. I raised my eyebrows and went outside to do battle with the attacking duck horde. There was a bored-looking canadian goose about halfway across the parking lot. (It DID honk at me when I walked past it to shut the gate, so I guess that qualifies it as more aggressive than average...)

 

[putttn]

Lol. Been in our house which we built 34 Years ago.

 

[electrathon]

False - Third party testing agencies like ETL Intertek do not use the "UL seal", nor can they. UL often creates testings standards, which UL and other agencies like ETL and others can test products to the UL standard.

If you see a UL seal, it was tested by UL. Likewise, an ETL label was tested by ET:L.

My source is that I have personally been involved with having UL and/or ETL list commercial product to UL standards.

The first item I picked up is not UL tested, see pic I learned all about this a few years back when the fire marshal falsely believed that UL was the required tester. UL explained it all to me. The state fire marshal understood it. The local fire marshal had no clue. She was furious when I explained it to her and offered to forward the written explanation from UL about it. Anyone who believes UL labeling is a requirement does not understand UL. They generally are the place that does write the standard, that is why most things you own say conforms to UL standards.

 

[electrathon]

Yep. And I have to run it on electricity which negates it’s usefullness as a backup.

An inverter and a battery would keep it running for quite a while. How long depends on the battery you buy. A lot less money than a new stove though.

 

[bholler]

False - Third party testing agencies like ETL Intertek do not use the "UL seal", nor can they. UL often creates testings standards, which UL and other agencies like ETL and others can test products to the UL standard.

If you see a UL seal, it was tested by UL. Likewise, an ETL label was tested by ET:L.

My source is that I have personally been involved with having UL and/or ETL list commercial product to UL standards.

Ok apparently I am wrong I swear that I have seen a ul seal with tested to ul standards by next to it. But I a m apparently mistaken I am sorry.

 

[Manly]

I know a guy who claims to have sold a house and moved because he kept seeing mice in and near the house.

I can't decide if it's weirder that he claims to have sold a house over mice, or that he tells this story to other people without being forced to.

This same guy once reported to me that he had just been "attacked" by "a big aggressive duck" in the parking lot. I raised my eyebrows and went outside to do battle with the attacking duck horde. There was a bored-looking canadian goose about halfway across the parking lot. (It DID honk at me when I walked past it to shut the gate, so I guess that qualifies it as more aggressive than average...)

This is quite a story. This guy needs to strap on a set a be a man.

 

[putttn]

How we got to “being a man” from talking about the benefits of the Liberator Rocket Stove is really beyond me. Oh yeah, I forgot. It’s because I sold a pellet stove that was mice infested and wouldn’t run without electricity!! And, i’m using it for a backup.
Why not just admit that this stove has features and benefits that could be beneficial to all of us. It can run on wood scraps, it can run on pellets, it doesn’t require electricity, it runs on much less wood than a woodstove, it produces very little creosote, it produces very little smoke, it doesn’t require cutting stacking and storing cords of wood, it is not expensive and it’s made and assembled in th US.
Maybe it’s not for you at this time but just maybe it will become a new way to burn wood without the problems and Inefficiencies a woodstove creates.
I think these folks are on the right track and I support their efforts.

 

[velvetfoot]

Looking at one of those pictures, and the fact that it runs on wood scraps, does any wood fed into it have to be very small in cross section?

 

[putttn]

Looking at one of those pictures, and the fact that it runs on wood scraps, does any wood fed into it have to be very small in cross section?

"sticks, branches, scrap blocks, split 2x4's, and staves less than 2" inches in diameter."
There are a number of videos online of it in operation.

 

[velvetfoot]

"less than 2" in diameter" would mean a lot of splitting if you ran out of sticks

 

[putttn]

"less than 2" in diameter" would mean a lot of splitting if you ran out of sticks

Thats one reason to use the Pellet attachment. I'm also a wood worker so I seem to always have plenty of scraps. Additionally we live in a area that has trees everywhere. Instead of hauling the limbs, sticks, pinecones etc etc to a burn pile I'll burn them in the stove.
I saw one video of a lady who simply picked up waste in her yard and deposited it in two large garbage cans and used these to fire her stove.

 

[electrathon]

"sticks, branches, scrap blocks, split 2x4's, and staves less than 2" inches in diameter."
There are a number of videos online of it in operation.

I really like the concept of these stoves. My biggest concern with the feeding of the stove is that the wool needs to be very straight. Knots or twists will stop the wood from dropping properly into the burn area. I had a friend that built one for camping and his main issue with the stove was that it was hard to find enough straight branches to feed it.

 

[putttn]

I’ve started a “stick garbage can” and I’m using a small hatchet to limit the length to about 10”. We have a lot of fur and pine trees and so far everything has been fairly straight. Plenty of pine cones but I will try and limit their use. The lady in the video had a couple of cans completely full and most of her wood was fairly straight and she also must have had. Husband who was a wood worker because she had a lot of scraps.

 

[bholler]

How we got to “being a man” from talking about the benefits of the Liberator Rocket Stove is really beyond me. Oh yeah, I forgot. It’s because I sold a pellet stove that was mice infested and wouldn’t run without electricity!! And, i’m using it for a backup.
Why not just admit that this stove has features and benefits that could be beneficial to all of us. It can run on wood scraps, it can run on pellets, it doesn’t require ele ctricity, it runs on much less wood than a woodstove, it produces very little creosote, it produces very little smoke, it doesn’t require cutting stacking and storing cords of wood, it is not expensive and it’s made and assembled in th US.
Maybe it’s not for you at this time but just maybe it will become a new way to burn wood without the problems and Inefficiencies a woodstove creates.
I think these folks are on the right track and I support their efforts.

I am all for looking into new tech and I hope these guys keep going with it and get it EPA certified so they can really sell them. But I think if they do that their claims of drastic efficiency gains will be found to be false.
And to be clear most of us here already have many of the benifits you are claiming. I burn all of my wood scraps in my traditional wood stove just fine. If I bought a pellet basket (which I have no interest in doing) I could burn pellets in it. Mine required no electricity. Yes it runs on much less wood but also for much less time. Again without any numbers their claims are hard to believe. Modern wood stove when run correctly produce very little creosote or smoke at all. And no you don't have to split wood but if you want to heat for any period of time with it you are going to need to gather a massive amount of scraps.

I really hope it works out for you but I think they have a long way to go before they have a product with any mass appeal.

 

[jetsam]

I made a cinder block rocket stove to boil the vinegar for my stove's cat cleaning this summer. It definitely did the work on less sticks than an open fire would have used.

I am looking at turning an existing concrete bench into a rocket stove thermal mass butt warmer one of these years, too. I think it was black smoke signals who put up a photo of a real pretty one that he put together this year.

 

[bholler]

I made a cinder block rocket stove to boil the vinegar for my stove's cat cleaning this summer. It definitely did the work on less sticks than an open fire would have used.

I am looking at turning an existing concrete bench into a rocket stove thermal mass butt warmer one of these years, too. I think it was black smoke signals who put up a photo of a real pretty one that he put together this year.

I have built a few through the years also just for fun a couple real primitive ones with a combination of digging and rocks when backpacking to cook on. But I have never considered it a real heating option.

 

[jetsam]

Here's his post with the photo. He says it stays warm all day after a burn. It looks really nice, too.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/cat-bath.162849/#post-2193921