Any Stove Will Smoke if You Don't Use it Correctly

by Hilda von Krosigk, Technical Adviser

In the cold mountain areas of Pakistan where stoves are needed for heating as well as cooking, smoke is an even greater problem than fuel shortages. FECT is developing and testing several designs of stoves for cooking and house heating with chimneys to remove the smoke from the kitchen. The designs vary to suit the two main climatic zones of the upper areas with temperatures down to 5°C for three to four months and the lower Swat valley where temperatures rarely fall below. zero. 2500 stoves have been marketed and are said to salve 20 to 30 per cent of firewood and to be almost smokeless . The stoves have a baffle to reduce draft and a vertically sliding fuel door which rests on the fuel sticks and gradually falls down as the fuel burns away, thus closing the opening as less air is needed for combustion. The project demonstrates to the women the following ways in which they can save fuel and reduce smoke:

o by using a well-designed stove;

o by using small pieces of wood and not overloading the firebox; o by using dry wood or other fuel; o by putting a lid on any pot-seat without a pot;

o by keeping all charcoal or charred wood in the stove;

o by regular cleaning of stove passages and the chimney - particularly bends and joints where soot will build up. Soot will reduce the draft, causing poor burning, and can easily start a fire in the chimney;

o use a good cap on the top of the chimney.

Because of the smoke. many women leave doors or windows open when cooking, but this also lets the heat out of the house. Behaviour patterns change slowly and so training meetings and demonstrations will be held in the winter for the women and influential people in the villages.

Pakistan, FECT, Fuel Saving Technology Project/G7Z