Comments on: When good stove projects go bad! http://www.charcoalproject.org/2010/01/when-good-stove-projects-go-bad/ Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:24:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Crispin http://www.charcoalproject.org/2010/01/when-good-stove-projects-go-bad/comment-page-1/#comment-94 Crispin Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:59:44 +0000 http://www.charcoalproject.org/?p=973#comment-94 The need for a visible flame is common. One solution is to have an enclosed fire that receives its air, or part of its air, through holes in the stove that are aligned in such a way that the flames can be seen. In Namibia the San people need to see the flame. We made our stove so that a 35mm hole was open (on several sides) and the flame was visible, without impacting the stove performance. They were happy with that. One of the problems faced by improved cooking stoves is that they are not all that 'improved' so slight deviations from the original design renders it no better (or worse) than the traditional devices. Something to consider is that it is often cheaper and more productive to train many more people to use a traditional device more efficiently than to replace a few of them with something new. Regards Crispin The need for a visible flame is common. One solution is to have an enclosed fire that receives its air, or part of its air, through holes in the stove that are aligned in such a way that the flames can be seen.

In Namibia the San people need to see the flame. We made our stove so that a 35mm hole was open (on several sides) and the flame was visible, without impacting the stove performance. They were happy with that.

One of the problems faced by improved cooking stoves is that they are not all that ‘improved’ so slight deviations from the original design renders it no better (or worse) than the traditional devices.

Something to consider is that it is often cheaper and more productive to train many more people to use a traditional device more efficiently than to replace a few of them with something new.

Regards
Crispin

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