Rocket Stoves are a very non conventional style of burning wood. It goes against many principles of wood burning. But many people love it, they love the heat it gives out, the small amount of wood they use and how clean the stove burns. The basic idea is to take all the heat out of the stove and exhaust possible. The thinking behind this style of stove is to burn a very hot fire, leaving you with a very clean exhaust. Run the chimney horizontally through the home, encased in a masonry material that will absorb the heat an slowly dissipate the heat for hours afterwards.
The thermal mass of the masonry that is heated will slowly radiate heat for many hours after the fire goes out of the rocket stove. So if you go to bed, fire goes out, you will still have a warm home in the morning, due to the large thermal mass
Because these rocket stoves do not follow safety codes, we are not recommending the use of them. We just thought the concept was very interesting of the Rocket Stoves.
Read more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_stove
http://www.iwilltry.org/b/build-a-rocket-stove-for-home-heating/