woodgas camp stove demo

[SunnyMoon2010]

Once the fire get going, the stove will be too hot to touch, am I right ?

[mikepepler]

@SunnyMoon2010 Yes, but it does come with a handle you can use to pick it up and move it while lit, and also empty it out when you're done. The sides cool down fast once you empty it, if you leave the fan running for a few minutes.

[MrElectricstorm]

I like it but let me see ya hump that thing all the way up the trail. But I like it for bace camp at the bottom

[mikepepler]

@MrElectricstorm It's not very heavy, but the problem is bulk - though I guess you could pack stuff inside it. But I agree, there are lighter stoves to carry backpacking, and this is one for a more static camp.

[ImbikerTrash]

Rocket Stove! No Fan, Burns completely with less wood! I've seen minis You can shove in a Pack work as well as that.

[mikepepler]

@ImbikerTrash Yeah, I love rocket stoves too! Having used them, I think they need a bit more attention to fuelling than the woodgas stoves, but they are definitely simpler.

[olin777]

I believe this would be a great gift to a family in Africa living in desert areas with very limited wood/twigs to burn. Especially the solar powered model. It would save them going out everyday just to collect wood on extremely long walks.You could even burn dried animal dung. Great video! thanks.

[mikepepler]

@olin777 There's been research on a model that has a thermoelectric generator as well, so needs no external power supply. Not available yet though... Every one of these woodgas stoves that's sold includes a donation to work to make stoves for developing countries apparently.

[nephilim2006edge]

The fan is not needed if you have more holes in the bottom. Double the holes, allows more than enough air to come through, which many people do not realise. The fire will naturally try to draw in the air close to the source of the ground, so it requires no fan, as it will naturally create its own vacuum to suck in air.

[mikepepler]

@nephilim2006edge Yes, I've seen such designs working, but they don't give as complete and clean combustion I think? As always a trade-off: clean-burning vs. not needing a power supply...

[nephilim2006edge]

@mikepepler it works fine for me :) It burns cleanly to me, the ONLY time it smokes up for me is when I add additional fuel to it :)

[mikepepler]

@nephilim2006edge Sounds interesting then - do you have a video or photos of it?

[hydraman5]

its a nice thing.but i just cant get my head around having to rely on batteries when your in the middle of nowhere.now if it had bellows that you made someone pump by hand...!

[mikepepler]

@hydraman5 I don't think I'd use it on a long trip - we tend to use it on short camping trips, as two rechargeable AA batteries will run it for up to 15 hours - plenty for a few days. I've heard of a version which uses a thermoelectric generator in the base so it can generate its own electricity once its lit, but I've never seen one yet...

[kc88kc]

man technology has found a way to take the fun out of everything battery to start fire really hahha

[mikepepler]

@kc88kc We still do campfires too! :-) But the woodgas lets you do hassle-free cooking, rather than getting lots of smoke in your eyes and lungs trying to do it on the campfire.

[kc88kc]

@mikepepler just a joke hahaha have seen a penny soda can stove i made one the other day there pretty cool

[Rhinoch8]

This thing look really complicated. No offense but i made on with two soup cans and i can burn smokeless some big chunks of relatively dry wood without any fan or gizmo.

[mikepepler]

@Rhinoch8 Yeah, I've seen some neat DIY ones. I thought to get really clean burn you either need a fan or a chimney though, and a chimney makes it hard to get a pan on top? I know a fan adds complexity, but it does light *really* easily :-)

[Rhinoch8]

@mikepepler No actually you don't need a chimney at all! It's all about how many holes you put at which place that makes the difference. Btw, I'm coming back from a little walk, and i went to my tepee with a new design (that has a very thin grille instead of holes punched in the bottom) and it burnt without any smoke, for all the duration, and i was adding big chunks of wood every 5 min. The grille allows ashes that clogs the airflow to fall down way better than drilled holes!

[mikepepler]

@Rhinoch8 I must have a go making one some time... sounds interesting!

[ITReviewer]

Interesting, but I do prefer to run a homemoade version. But glad to see that someone else really like's woodgas stove's, and dosent think that you are just burning wood. Have a good day.

[bikenutter1]

Size, weight, batteries, prep time = no good for hiking/bushcraft. Jeez, might as well take a gas stove and done with. Not for me.

[mikepepler]

@bikenutter1 I wouldn't say it's heavy, but it is bulky. They do a smaller one, but that won't burn for as long. I've only used it in our woodland (driving there) or in the back garden, and it's great for those situations. For hiking something lighter would probably be better.

[bikenutter1]

@mikepepler Agreed, it's ok for "car camping" but then there are so many more convenient and quicker alternatives, if I was a "Dragon" from the "Dragons' Den" show (UK show)

, I'd be saying "I'm out" right now haha. Stil, it burns natural fuel, and I like that, each to their own eh, have fun out there :)

[jacobchigung]

so where can you buy one in the uk

[mikepepler]

@jacobchigung Just google "woodgas stove uk", you'll find them

[Zorroscamp]

With the greatest of respect - what a bloody useless instrument.

Have you never heard of a 'Blackman's Fire?

A very small fire constantly fed with small amounts of timber for about 30 minutes until the timber is reduced to hot burning embers Put the 'Billy' on.when the last of the flame dies down and it will be boiling in minutes.

Need to use more pans? Extend the size

no expensive equipment required, no mess, nothing to clean or maintain just somther the fire when finished.

[mikepepler]

@Zorroscamp Never heard of that, and there doesn't seem to be much on the web about it - sounds like a normal way of cooking over embers though? The woodgas stoves do have downsides (having to carry them with you, needing batteries), but they burn less wood than a fire, you can vary the heat output, they're ready to cook on within a minute or two of lighting and they don't leave a burn mark on the ground.

[MrStephenPugh]

Yes a good demo but, what happens when the battery runs out?

[mikepepler]

@MrStephenPugh I've found that two AA rechargeable batteries will run the stove for up to 15 hours, so over a short camping trip it's not a problem, and they're also not too bulky to have some spares. I charge these up from my solar PV system at home, but I've also tried running the woodgas stove directly off a solar panel as well, and this worked just fine - so there are other options if it's important.

[sparksaflame]

Does this unit still leave soot on the pan bottom? If not then you are left with folth issues and for some it is not as cool as one would like. In an emergency (like after a hurricaine or a severe storm, this could be very very useful. With all the broken homes lotsa sooty wood to burn, provided you stored some supplies in a car or in a cache. They must rest on a flat surface, (no legs?)

thanks, your demo was sanest of the lot.

[mikepepler]

@sparksaflame You do still get some soot on the pan, but you can minimise it by making sure it is burning properly before putting a pan on, and doing the same after refuelling it part-way through cooking. Yes, they do need a flat surface - I tend to use an old paving stone or tile.

[BernhardHofmann]

You said that using lighter fluid or solid fuel felt like cheating, but don't you think using an electric fan is cheating? Just saying, it doesn't feel very "natural" to me, and I would feel it was cheating. Not that I mind cheating sometimes - I cook on gas and meths pop-can stoves, so whatever works I'm okay with.

[mikepepler]

@BernhardHofmann Yeah, it iskind of 'cheating', but it makes camping a lot easier! I charge the batteries from a solar panel, so it can be used long-term away from home.

[amcguire89]

nice stove

[mikepepler]

@amcguire89 I agree - I have two woodgas camp stoves now!

[coal4life]

I have the smaller version. Bringing a ziplok bag with some dryer lint in it to help get things going is a big plus. I was wondering if some wood pellets might work well in one of these. They're easy on the wallet and easy to bring along. Any comments on that idea?

[mikepepler]

@coal4life I've never tried wood pellets, but I expect they'd work well.

[whoamiyouami]

@coal4life , I use pellets all the time in my XL, they burn long and hot, easy to get going too.

[Snizzorky]

@coal4life

they work very nice but are a little hard to light, when using wood pellets make sure to start a fire with twigs or wood chips on top to to provide a nice hot layer of hot coal for gasification

[saskcat9]

looks really good. nice video. can you add more wood after it starts. lift the pot off and add more pieces in the top?

[mikepepler]

@saskcat9 Yes, you can add more. The trick is not to ad too much at one go, and to make sure the fan is on high when you do it, or it can start smoking for a few minutes. Actually, you can usually get bits of wood in without removing the pot, so it's easy to just keep popping them in if you're using it for a long period. 30-40 mins is fine on the initial load of fuel though, if it's reasonably dense wood.

[ForViewingOnly]

I like the design, but one thing seems really daft: having two power sockets on the stove! Why didn't they design it with a single socket on the stove, and then the low/high power settings switchable on the battery box? That way you don't have to keep unplugging the lead from one socket and plugging it in the other.

[mikepepler]

@ForViewingOnly I'm not sure why, I guess it keeps the cost down?

[ForViewingOnly]

@mikepepler I was thinking about it a bit more, and I think its the 'keep it simple' principle. I suppose having a switch on the battery box would be a potential place for a fault... not a good idea if you're relying on the stove in the wild and you don't have a soldering iron handy! It's still a great little stove, thanks again for the video.

[surplusdriller]

way not just make a campfire

[mikepepler]

@surplusdriller You can, and I do, but the stove is a lot easier to cook on. I've cooked for 12 people using two of these, one for a curry and one for rice.

[bencinurts]

batteries = FAIL

[mikepepler]

@bencinurts I've also run it directly off a small solar panel. I agree that being able to cook without needing batteries is also important, but I can do that anyway. As long as I do have some batteries, or sunshine and a solar panel, then this stove allows you to cook using less wood, with less smoke, and more conveniently than the alternatives.

[bencinurts]

@mikepepler Well I feel dumb, I never thought of solar power.. DARDARDAR.. I guess I'm all about something I can rely on for months or years without buying batteries.

[mikepepler]

@bencinurts I agree entirely, dependence on batteries, and indeed anything that might break or not be available in future, is bad. But I'm quite happy to have something like this stove that works better, and use it while I can. If a point comes when I can't get power to run it, then at that point I'll drop back to a more basic form of cooking on wood.

[DanhNguyenster64]

I just recieved my CampStove LE and Im sad to report that mines defective the fan wont turn on w/ two new batteries. After looking at the product pretty thoroughly the build quality could be much better expecially the power source. Mine was purchased from amazon. I will update later

[mikepepler]

@DanhNguyenster64 That's a shame, both of mine have been fine, and also one that a friend bought. I expect they'll sort you out with a replacement.

[DanhNguyenster64]

@mikepepler I recieved a response already from both the manufacturer and the seller. The seller told me to get a wire hanger and pull the intruding wire out of the way of the moving fan and that any repair attempt would not affect my warranty. After doing so it worked. The seller contacted me and appoligized with a copy of the forwarded email to the manufacturer. The seller gave me a retractable marshmallow stick and an extra battery pack for my trouble.

[mikepepler]

@DanhNguyenster64 Ah I see, just a wire blocking the fan. Sounds like they were OK at sorting the problem out, which is good. A DIY fix is so much faster if it's simple.

[hanghoodiescum]

its a piece of junk better buying the kelly kettle

[mikepepler]

@hanghoodiescum Have you tried it? I have two kelly kettles as well, and they are brilliant - but only for boiling water, you need something like the woodgas stove to cook food. The really neat thing is that the large kelly kettle happens to fit exactly over the XL size woodgas stove, so after finishing cooking your dinner on it, you can leave it going, remove the pot stand and stick the kelly kettle straight on top to make hot water for drinks and washing up.

Mike

[biokwh]

Liked the demo, I'm interested in getting one on the strength of it. Many thanks Mike

[mikepepler]

@biokwh Thanks. I think they're great. At our new house we have a brick-built BBQ area, and we hope to cook outside using the stove during the summer! Mike

[TheBgcheez]

why not just make a small pit and burn the wood rather than lugging this huge thing around?

[mikepepler]

@TheBgcheez First - it's not that big, and isn't heavy. It also includes a pot stand, which you'd have to build or take with you for an open fire. Second, and more important, the amount of wood that lets this stove burn for 40m, cooking for 4 and heating water to wash up, would only last 5-10mins in an open fire, as the stove is so much more efficient. It also burns with a lot less smoke. Obviously open fires are nice aesthetically, but they fall down at every other point. Mike

[TheBgcheez]

@mikepepler - Thank you very much for this response which is very helpful.

[kingbleah]

i dont see the point of the device the battery and fan is a fad.

i used large beer cans make holes in bottom simular to device shown.

fill with wood and burn put the x on top of tin and it will work.

no fans no batteries just a can!

[mikepepler]

@kingbleah The point is that by using a fan you can regulate the air supply, allowing you to ensure complete combustion. By varying the voltage, and hence the fan speed, you can also vary the heat output of the stove.

[ArtisanTony]

cheating? you dont think batteries are cheating? LOL

[mikepepler]

Not if they're charged from a solar panel, as these were :-)

By cheating with lighter fluid, I mean from the point of view that it's a fossil fuel.

More interesting is a version of this stove, still in R&D, which uses a thermopile in the base to generate the electricity to run the fan!

The fact is that if you want an effective gasifying stove (for efficiency and clean-burning), you either need a fan or a chimney, but using a chimney makes it bulky and hard to get a saucepan on top of it.

[spidiq8]

Interesting concept, you find the thought of using lighter fuel 'cheating' but using an electric induction fan requiring a power source OK?

The ideas nice but frankly you might as well just use a gas stove, it's almost like like using an electricically heated sleeping bag

[mikepepler]

I say "cheating" because for me the idea is to cook without using fossil fuels, and the lighter fluid would certainly be fossil fuel, as would a gas stove. The batteries I use are rechargeable, and I charge them up from a solar panel. So, apart from the fossil fuels used in making the kit in the first place, this is a very climate-friendly way of cooking, and also handy if the power was off. Also, one pair of AA batteries will run for 15-20 hours, so energy input from the batteries is very small

[algentry1]

Neat demonstration, thanks.

Al in Oklahoma

[wayne539]

Thanks for this, I plan on getting one. Got a couple of questions.

1. Is it ok to start the fan at high speed?

2. If you want to simmer down the cooking, will it continue to burn if you pull the cord?

[mikepepler]

1 - probably. The only reason not to is if the fire is only just lit then the sudden rush of air may blow it out.

2 - you have to leave the fan plugged in at all times, the air flow is needed to stop the fan melting I think! I guess if you wanted to reduce the heat you could put something metal under the pan?

Cheers, Mike

[bencinurts]

IT IS NEAT THOUGH