[Stoves] Envirofit Stoves

[Crispin Pemberton-Pigott]

Dear Charlie

 

> I'll be trying Crispin's heterogeneous protocol, since I already
periodically record the change in water temperature during tests, to see if
my target firepower is consistently maintained.  It is definitely tempting
to use a pot lid, after being laughed at too many times by cooks in the
field when I insist that they do without one for my clumsy tests in their
homes. 

 

Tom has agreed to create a SeTAR Centre section on the website and there
will be many papers, workshops and documents there so you will be able to
get the necessary protocols. 

 

The SeTAR HTP method is to take a snapshot of the system performance after a
certain time. That time could be per second, per 10 seconds, per minute of
per 5 minutes. It only one snapshot is taken, of the whole test, you have a
WBT, sort of.

 

The continuous assessment of all the performance metrics very quickly shows
when the stove is working well. At that point, you get a stack of outputs
related to why it is so good. The challenge is then to expand the zone of
perfection forwards and backwards until it covers nearly all the burn time.

 

Regarding the lid off the pot......why on earth are we still hearing about
this stupid, stupid, stupid issue ?!? Baldwin got that part wrong!! Accept
it!! Get used to it! Swallow it! It is good for you. Use a lid! Good grief.

 

For heaven's sake scratch out the portion of any test protocol that requires
the lid to be off the pot and glue a blank piece of paper and write on it:

 

"Always use lids on pots unless you are certain that the target community
you are testing for is known not to use them. If they do not, as part of
your programme, always include training on the use of pot lids and their
importance for stove performance and monitor the uptake of this important
fuel saving measure." 

 

A normal stove that works really well is penalised if it is forced to a)
boil an amount of water that is inappropriate for the stove (may are tuned
to the community) and b) it the lid is off and normally it is not. Tests of
stoves designed for 3.5 litres in a pot + lid tested with 5 litres and no
lid are meaningless and directly cause invalid conclusions about
performance.

 

There is no such thing as a 'standard 5 litres' or 2.5 litres. That is
completely arbitrary, sucked out of someone's thumb and is not based on any
proper engineering assessment method. If you want to know how a stove is
going perform, test it with the fuel, pots and if possible, method of use
that will be used in the field. If you need to train people to use a new
method, test with both. There is no reason at all for all stoves to be able
to bring a pot with no lid containing 5 litres of water to a boil. Literally
billions of people do not do that, ever, in their meal preparation. The test
protocol has to reflect that reality it the tests are to have any meaning.

 

Thanks Charlie for your product review. Will it burn ordinary wood?

 

Regards

Crispin

 

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