Small scale energy sources: Wood stove

Wood stove. Image credit quadrafire.com

• A wood stove is a heating appliance capable of burning wood fuel and wood-derived biomass fuel, such as wood pellets.
• Wood stove are usually made using a combination of metal(iron) and bricks
• Most stoves are connected or have some type of ventilation system
• Popular wood stoves include:
• Boilers, Chimenea, Pot-bellied stoves and fire places
• The traditional stove makes use of stones (mapfihwa) to elevate pots
• In the early nineties the ‘tsotso’ stove was introduced and became popular

Tsotso stove

• Tsotso are dry twigs of trees which are hanging onto live trees or have dropped to the ground surface.
• These are collected and burnt in a specially designed stove to give heat energy used for cooking or boiling water.
• The stove can be made from mud or clay or from scraps of metal to a structure that will act as a kiln or furnace.
• When the twigs are put into these stoves and are lit, the stoves are closed at the mouth and the heat is trapped inside.
• Smoke escapes through an opening to which a pipe acting as a chimney is attached.
• Dried cow dung can be used in place of the twigs in such stoves as is happening in India.

To access more topics go to the O Level Geography Notes page