The good people over at AIDG have once again come up with an amazing (low cost, appropriate, and sustainable) invention to help the people of the developing world. Introducing the Rocket Box.
The Rocket Box stove is a lightweight portable stove, recently developed by AIDG’s R&D interns as a lower-cost, pre-fabricated alternative to common masonry stove models.
The Rocket Box uses 50-60% less firewood than traditional cookstoves and fires. This provides a huge costs savings for families that buy fuel wood. For instance, women we interviewed at San Alfonso, a cooperative in Guatemala, reported spending 28-56% of their monthly income on wood.
This stove design shows similar fuel efficiency to masonry stoves, but is up to 50% cheaper. Being portable, it is particularly useful in communities where residents are living in temporary housing and/or want more flexibility in where the stove is placed in their home. Like most good ‘improved’ stoves, it comes equipped with a chimney that vents smoke out of the home and thus cuts exposure to the ‘killer in the kitchen’.
Obviously if you can get the same amount of heating and cooking done for less wood it’s great. What I really liked about how they built this device is that they didn’t just get a bunch of scientists in a lab and figure out the mathematically perfect way to make this stove. They took into account the actual day to day and culture values that a stove has to have in order for it to be used.
No one is going to use the stove if it doesn’t cook the food the right way. Would you use a device if it made french fries turn to mush, or turned hamburgers into charred black balls?
They also built it out of things that the locals can get their hands on, making it a sustainable and local business model. Find pictures specs and much more here.
How can it “uses 50-60% less firewood than traditional cookstoves and fires”
Yet
“This stove design shows similar fuel efficiency to masonry stoves, but is up to 50% cheaper.”
I don’t see how that equates to being able to use less firewood, unless an improvement of 50% is similar…
I understand them being cheaper to produce, but I don’t get the efficiency bit.
PS
Great blog!
they are talking about three things.
one: it uses less wood
two: of the wood you do put into it, it has about the same efficiency as a masonry stove
three: it is cheaper
hope that helps, and thanks!
Hi Mpeas,
Aah, you might have pointed out a spot where I need to be clearly in my writing on AIDG’s site. Traditional cookstoves and fires include a straight wood fire, a three stone fire, etc. etc. Masonry stoves and the rock stoves are higher efficiency stoves (aka ‘improved’ stoves). The rocket box performs way better than a traditional fire, as well as a masonry stove but for a lot cheaper.
The Naib’s explanation, as per usual, is spot on.
-Cat
This is great! Unfortunately, when you take the “killer out of the kitchen” (smoke), you let in another killer, mosquitoes. Many people suffer from malaria after getting improved stoves.
I would say that you should tackle both, at least there are pills for malaria, not so much for cancer. I wouldn’t let perfect be the enemy of good.
We’re a bit lucky where we work in the Western highlands in Guatemala. It’s rather cool so no mosquitoes. V. good point, though.
If you have an older wood-burning appliance, consider upgrading to one of the newerappliances
Regards/-
Jason Webb