[Stoves] Request for help choosing the right wood stove

[Crispin Pemberton-Pigott]

Dear Michael

>We have no clay or metals here. Coral rock and
>sands from clacarious algae and foraminifera
>are the basis of our soils.

I think we discussed once the possibility of making clay from 'things' which 
I understand is possible. It is not something I have done but people do it 
to make clay with a particular property.

Clay is a lot cheaper than metal so the possibility remains that you could 
import a barge load of clay from somewhere else and work with that, perhaps 
being preferable to importing metal for a very long distance away.  A pile 
of clay makes a lot of stoves...

Let's say clay costs $0.50 a kilo landed.  That is less than any metal and 
far less than stainless steel.  Then suppose you make a stove out of it 
which is several times thicker than the metal would have been, and that the 
difference in density is 4 to 1. This means you might end up with a clay 
stove that weighs perhaps 3 times as much as a metal stove.  That brings the 
comparative cost to perhaps $1.50 a kilogram.

This thumb-suck number shows that in principle you are ahead on a cost basis 
to go with clay rather than metal.  That says nothing about portability or 
even durability, but it is a direction in which to head.

A Vesto is going to cost $25 because it weighs 5 kg and is mostly made of 
stainless steel.  Shipping it halfway round the world is going to add to 
that cost.  The only alternative I have seen is to make a clay body (which 
could be cement like a STOvs cooker) and put Vesto components inside that. 
There is one product on the market in Maputo made that way.  It is extremely 
efficient fuelled with charcoal (+50% PHU) though it burns wood very well 
too.

Two of the three elements of a highly fuel efficient cooking regime are 
available to you: solar cooking and retained heat cookers.  Even if you had 
to use driftwood and local brush, you could use far less by using solar 
supplement and retained heat to finish. This may not match your local 
cooking requirements (stir fry etc) but it remains a possibility.

Thanks for being open and to a certain extent, demanding a product!  You are 
quite correct: there is nearly nothing on offer and that is a situation that 
has to be addressed more comprehensively over the coming years.

Best regards
Crispin