In October 2020 Konstfrämjandet in Västerbotten and KF Huset invited artist and researcher Erik Sjödin to KF Huset in Klöse, Nordmalings, to cook fire soup, experiment with stoves and fireplaces, and talk about humans long and complex relationship to fire.

On the second day of the two day workshop a rocket stove was improvised from scrap material such as old metal buckets and ventilation-pipe. The idea with the improvised rocket stove was to explore the concept of integrating a wood fired stove for cooking next to the existing fire place. A wood fired stove can provide for additional outdoor cooking possibilities (such as boiling food), be fun to use, and useful in the event of a power outage. Eventually KF Huset might build a more permanent and thought through fireplace and outdoor kitchen at the site and the improvised rocket stove works as a pre-study that provides experiences useful in that process.

The stove was built as close as possible to dimensions recommended in the “Rocket Stove Design Guide” by Approvecho Research Center. The space between the stove pipe and the bucket was filled with gravel rather than insulating material such as perlite, which is not optimal in terms of efficiency, but the stove works and is very sturdy.

[Rocket Stove at KF Huset in Klöse.]