Solving the Kang Bed stove-heater design secret of the "brick plates" The kang: Chinese: 炕; pinyin: kàng; Manchu: nahan, Kazakh: кән

In an elevated kang, an reinforced concrete slab in one piece (soleplate)

is built on several columns to a height of about 20 cm,

on which short pillars stand at regular internals, rising to

a total of up to 60 cm in height; a flat surface (faceplate),

as a bed plate, is then made by laying brick plates on the

top of the pillars.

In order to regulate the thermal performance of an

elevated kang, a fume stopper is built at the end of the

This vid demonstrates the building secret of the Kang Bed stove-heater

It's an ingenious design that has been around for probably thousands of years. Too bad the West does not know this secret yet. You don't find any of the "permaculture" folks sharing this vid. haha.

 OK glad to see Rome did this also.

While it might take several hours of heating to reach the desired surface temperature, a properly designed bed raised to sufficient temperature should remain warm throughout the night without the need to maintain a fire.

 

The picture shows a Kang 炕 Bed Stove in the midst of construction, in one of several refugee camps run by either the missionaries, or relief organizations active in China at the time. The idea of a heated sleeping surface dates back to the neolithic period and archaeologists have found remains of a kang dated to the first century. The method is simple but rather elegant in its simplicity; heat from daily cooking is channeled beneath a platform that retains it, providing warmth through cold winter nights.

In the picture above, one can see that bricks or flat stones are placed at evenly spaced intervals, and then laid atop one another to rise to an even height above the floor, forming small flat topped columns. Bamboo rods or thick dried reeds are then laid across the top and held in place with damp clay or earth mixed with chopped hay. Once this dries, another layer of smaller rods or reeds are then laid crosswise on top, with more clay or damp earth hay mixture covering it. The process is repeated a few more times until the thickness of the rod and earth platform is at least a foot or so. An adjustable exiting flue is then fitted to the end opposite the stove, allowing heat to travel under the bed, heating and drying the earthen material until it becomes, over time, almost as hard as concrete. This earthen platform is able to generally retain heat for many hours overnight. Functionally, it is nothing more than a chimney laid flat down of the floor, but ingeniously put to good survivalist use. Looking closely, one can also see that besides the Kang, the simple dwelling itself was constructed of wood, reeds, and wet earth mixed with hay. Obviously this is nothing elaborate, but it provided critical shelter with the use of basic natural supplies commonly found.

SWEET!! http://www.popularasians.com/forums/threads/random-pics-of-old-china.45946/page-3

THE ORIGINAL KANG BED STOVE DESIGN!!!  Hardly any bricks - nothing fancy!!!

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This method of heating held several advantages. Namely, one didn't have to attend to a nightly fire or worry about suffocation from carbon monoxide poisoning. As there was no longer a fire burning through the night, there was no longer any need to open a vent for smoke (or precious heat) to escape. Secondly, the heated platform retained the heat from the fuel that was consumed with cooking during the day, thus requiring no additional wood at night. The platform is generally covered with a heat dissipating material (like straw) and then a quilt or blanket. Those on top would feel warmth without ever getting too hot. Typically, entire families slept together atop the Kang.

***Sidebar*** During the Great Leap Forward, the period when Mao channeled rural life into communes, all cooking was strictly mandated to be performed only in collective kitchens. In order to prevent private hoarding of food, firewood was confiscated to stop villagers from secretly cooking. But what happened as a catastrophic byproduct of this short sighted party edict was that millions literally froze to death when they weren't allowed their daily kitchen fires to warm their kangs.