I started building my mass heater in March'13 using Ianto Evans manual. It was so cold at the time I had to sleep in the heated room straight away. Finishing the mass bench would have made the room too damp. But, even without most of the mass room temperatures went from 3°C to over 20°C which felt nice!

You don't have to be a real builder to make yourself such a wounderfull stove!I was really happy to get it going without any major problems.  Working with mud was a very pleasing experience!!

Here are a few things I would do differtently next time...

- The depth of my ashpit is only 3cm. That's not enough! Ash builds up quickly, blocking the horizontal burntunnel after 4-5 hours of fire, which results in the fire going up in stead of being pulled in! Make it deeper and maybe a drawer or something simular could make emptying while the stove is HOT easier. Anyone some advise?

- The 9meter duct inside the bench (20cm diameter) does not have to flow perfectly horizontal or ever upwards (according to the manual I used). If for some practical reason (like in my case) the duct goes up at one or two places, make sure to make a control opning/ cleanout there.  Especially the first fires after construction but also the first ones of the season will produce a lot of steam. Making a cleanout there will make it possible for condensation to flow out of the pipes and prevent oxidation of the inner duct.

-Burning small wood goes really well but for some reason burning large logs doesn't. I am hoping it will go better when the lit on the fuel chamber and the fuel chamber itself are made more airtight. 

Suggestions are welcome...