In order to provide a preliminary assessment of the suitability of several mass-produced improved wood stoves for refugee and Internally Displaced Person (IDP) environments and disaster relief situations, USAID funded Berkeley Air to conduct a series of Controlled Cooking Tests as well as a qualitative assessment of the acceptability and usability of the stoves in the Dadaab refugee camps in northeastern Kenya. All stoves tested had performed well in laboratory tests, were centrally manufactured, required no assembly in the field, could be easily transported, and were designed to burn wood. In addition, a “three-stone fire” or (“open fire”) was tested as the comparison baseline.
The Berkeley Air field team spent five days in each of the three settlements of the Dadaab complex testing stoves. For each stove fuel efficiency (specific consumption), cooking time, acceptability of stove to end users and ease of use was reported.
The five manufactured stoves tested were:
- Envirofit G3300 Stove
- StoveTec Wood Stove (26 cm)
- Philips Natural Draft Stove
- Save80 Stove
- Vesto – The Variable Energy Stove