[Stoves] Cooking bands - Testing with wood - 42% more efficient than three stone

[Kevin McLean]

Our testing shows that cooking bands boil water with 42% less wood than a
three stone cookstove with a rock bed.  Remember that rock beds make three
stone cookstoves a third more efficient and reduce smoke by more than
half.  Here is that article
<https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0973082620302775>.

THREE STONE W ROCK BED

5 litres of water

Time at which water boiled: 23 minutes.

Fuel used: 1.2kg.


BAND

5 litres of water.

Time at which water boiled: 15 minutes.

Fuel used: 700g.

Much less smoky than three stone with rock bed


Cooking bands are also faster and less smoky.  They do not require
tending.  Elephant grass stalks, maize stalks, bamboo and cassava stems can
be used in bands.  Biochar can be made.  A pair of bands (20 cm) costs
around 1 USD.  Bands with a 25 cm diameter work well in school kitchens.

I hope that others can test further.  I worry that my guys may bring bias
into their testing.  And they have no training on testing.  (Thanks to Norm
Baker who intends to test bands with maize stalks.)

Kevin McLean
Sun24.org
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