The Rocket Mass Heater Builder’s Guide

Ernie Wisner is a jack of all trades – his rich and varied background includes fishing and maritime work, firefighting, botany, natural building, hydraulics, and plumbing maintenance. Extreme conditions and high-risk work focused Ernie’s attention on survival skills and emergency preparedness. After witnessing hard evidence of global climate change, Ernie’s search for sustainable solutions led him to Cob Cottage Company, where he built his first rocket mass heaters while serving on the research team for Ianto Evans and Leslie Jackson’s pioneering Rocket Mass Heaters . Together with his wife Erica, he has built over 700 super-efficient, clean-burning masonry stoves and led over 50 workshops across North America.

Erica Wisner is a skilled educator and project coordinator, with over 25 years’ experience building teamwork and facilitating hands-on learning. She loves making things from scratch – anything from blueberry scones to the oven they were baked in. Erica is the author of The Ultimate Girls’ Guide to Science and The Art of Fire and she has also created instructional materials and rocket mass heater resources for the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, The City Repair Project, Handprint Press and others. Together with her husband Ernie, she has built over 700 super-efficient, clean-burning masonry stoves and led over 50 workshops across North America.