[Stoves] cost of stoves

[Kevin Chisholm]

Dear Tom
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Thomas Reed" <tombreed at comcast.net>

...del...
>  but wasted 12 years trying to get good woodgas combustion with natural 
> convection.  In 1997 I added forced air which gave an order of magnitude 
> improvement in the efficiency, power and emissions of the stove.  The 
> stove we demonstrated then was in principle the stove that we sell at our 
> website, that Dean Still tested as having very low emissions, and the 
> Phillips is now selling with a thermoelectric power source instead of 
> batteries.

Is it perhaps a case that some stove systems are better with natural draft, 
and others are better with forced draft?

> There has recently been an explosion here in the US of imported garden 
> lights with solar chargers that operate the light - or could be stoves - 
> up to 12 hours on one day's charge.  I believe this will remove the stigma 
> of buying batteries for our stoves.  We are also developing a stove with 
> variable  Gasification/Combustion air and total air which will burn a much 
> wider range of fuels with even lower emissions.

It is indeed good to see someone designing a combustion system that 
recognizes the differences in fuel.

> I hope you can tell me more about the Phillips stove.  My impression is 
> that their thermoelectric power source will never compete with our solar 
> charged batteries either in price or performance, but you have actually 
> seen and demonstrated the stove, so I would appreciate your opinion on 
> this.

There is no such thing as a "Universal Stove" that will meet all needs and 
serve all markets. Is it perhaps a case that you each have a good stove but 
for different target markets?

> I am puzzled by how long it has taken for people to realize the major 
> advantages of forced convection in cooking with biomass fuels, and would 
> appreciate your opinion.

There is no question that forced draft offers advantages and that it is 
appropriate in some circumstances. Is it not equaly true that natural draft 
stoves are more appropriate in other circumstances?

------------------------------------------------------------------------
> I know that you and many others have fought for lowest price over any 
> other consideration in the development of stoves.  This may be necessary 
> for the rural poor who tolerate the smoke and have "free" fuels like dung. 
> However, the urban poor are spending more and more on dwindling fossil 
> fuels for cleaner cooking in the cities where smoky fires would make 
> living impossible in high population density areas.  I fear that as
propane and kerosene costs rise there will be a "triage" of billions of 
people unless we can get biomass stoves to the urban poor.

The concept of "a $5 stove" is helpful in jolting people into realizing that 
there is a market for stoves costing less than $500. It is not very helpful 
to a Stove Designer. Anyone can build a $2 stove (a candle, a tin can, and a 
piece of coat hangar wire for support), but the end product might not be 
able to work with the fuel available, it might not perform the desired 
cooking task adequately, it may be culturally unacceptable, etc.  Meaningful 
stove specifications should be associated with a price specification. There 
are many different kinds of "biomass stoves", with different attributes. How 
would you describe the features and capabilities of your Woodgas Stove?

Best wishes,

Kevin Chisholm