Type of Stoves

Development - Design - Types

During the early ages, cooking was done over an open fire with fuel being arranged in a pyramid configuration. This form of cooking was primarily used for roasting meat. A major force for the evolution of stoves was the development of different cooking methods (boiling, frying, etc.) which in its turn required some form of cooking pots and utensils. This resulted in the modification of open fire cooking to that of the use of a "stove". The simplest form of the stove, still widely used in many countries is a three stone/brick arrangement at approximately 120° to one another on level ground. The three stone fire or stove suffers from the following drawbacks:

1. Limited control on the fuel burning rate except by adding or removing fuel;
2. Fire hazards from sparks; and
3. Health hazards from smoke and unhygienic conditions in the kitchen.

Subsequently the three stone stove was changed to a U-shaped mud enclosure with an opening in the front for the fuel and entry of air. A later improvement was the addition of three small mounts of mud which were placed at the top end of the U-shaped enclosure at approximately 120° to one another for balancing the cooking pot and improving combustion. In some areas a second pot hole was added which helped to conserve heat from the hot flue gases and reduce the time for cooking. Such innovations in the cook stove design were made by the users in light of their own experiences. These innovations did increase the efficiency of the stoves to some extent, but did not eliminate other hazards, such as, CO, particulates, etc.

Scientific and systematic approaches in the traditional cookstove design were introduced for the first time in the fifties by Raju (1953) in India. This marked the beginning of the first phase of technological development in cookstove design. Extensive research and development studies were undertaken and a sound technical base was laid as a result of detailed thermodynamic, heat transfer, and aerodynamic studies. Testing and design procedures were gradually established. The major thrust was on conservation of time, fuel and indoor environment while sociological and cultural aspects were pushed to the background. This resulted in that efforts made to introduce improved stoves only was possible with external support and, once such support was withdrawn, the activities slowed down or came to a stand still as the stoves did not meet users expectations. Started in the late 1980's, the design focus shifted to the needs of the user. It was found that factors such as cleanliness, removal of smoke, convenience and safety were perceived by users to be as important as efficiency.

Stove design consideration

From its very beginning, RWEDP has supported or initiated activities in the field of improved cookstoves development, with particular emphasis on information sharing and transfer of knowledge. Many stove images and design information have been collected by RWEDP over the last 15 years. Two stove compendiums have been published focusing on India and China respectively. A stove development manual was published and various workshops concerning stove issues were organised.

At this web site, some selected images from two categories, e. g. household stoves and institutional stoves, are presented along with some relevant information. Under the two categories, the images are classified according to the type of the stove:

	Domestic Stoves
	Open and three-stone fireplaces
	Solid stoves with or without chimney
	Portable ceramic or pottery stoves
	Portable metal stoves
	Portable ceramic/metal stoves
	Institutional Stoves
	Open and three-stone fireplaces
	Solid and metal stoves with or without chimney
	Metal woodstoves with insulation liner and chimney
	Metal gas stove

Further reading:

	Improved Solid Biomass Burning Cookstoves: A Development Manual, Field Document 44
	Indian Improved Cookstove: A Compendium, Field Document 41
	Chinese Fuel Saving Stoves: A Compendium, Field Document 40
	Report of the Regional Workshop on Stoves Used for Space Heating and Cooking at Different Altitudes and/by Ethnic Groups, RM 28
	Improved Cook Stoves Programmes: Some Lessons from Asia, Paper
	Wood Energy, Climate and Health, Woon Energy News 14.3
	Stove Images - a documentation of improved and traditional stoves in Africa, Asia and Latin America, By Beatrix Westhoff and Dorsi Germann, Sozietat fur Entwicklungsplanung GmbH (SfE), Germany

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