In the lead up to the Hurricane Sandy landfall that hit the US East coast hard over Halloween 2012, I saw a great looking multi-function stove come past my friends feed, and it immediately took my interest. This is the BioLite Camp Stove and here's why I want one. The photo below shows a bunch of power-deprived NYC folks charging their phones at a street-side kiosk running several of these stoves.
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| http://biolitestove.com/campstove/camp-stories/camp-stories-all/biolite-team-on-the-ground-after-hurricane-sandy.html |
The stove itself is pretty simple. With a packed height of 21cm (8.25") and 12cm (5") wide, weighing 935g (2 lbs 1 oz) It is built to burn sticks, pine cones, pellets, wood chips, or other lightweight, small fuels and the frame will support a bot of up to 3.6kg (8 lbs) or 3.6L (1 gallon) of liquid.The real magic however, is that the orange module on the side is a thermoelectric generator.
As well as being fast to boil (a reported 4.5 minutes to boil 1 liter of water) the fire has a calculated 3.4 kw (lo) 5.5 kw (hi) peak output, which the thermoelectric generator can output via USB as Max continuous: 2W @5V, Peak: 4W @5V which apparently is sufficient power to charge and run most USB-chargeable devices including smartphones, GPS units, flashlights and the like.
Some reviewers have noted that these aren't especially efficient and I am looking forwards towards my first venture in this regard, with my tPOD1 Kickstarter on its way soon ... but the large scale BioLite, combining both power generation and cooking facility in one, sparks a distinct interest in my multifunction wish-lusting!
love the idea of this. Saw it on kick starter so is on my list as some point ;-)
ReplyDeleteIt's a great innovation product. However from a hiking/cycling point of view it doesn't stand up to solar power in terms of weight, cost and power generation. Although the kitchen biolite cooking stoves are a different and interesting beastie.
ReplyDeleteFrom the cycling/camping energy generation perspective. I'm quite excited by power felt, http://phys.org/news/2012-02-power-felt-body-electricity.html. Although it's not market mature, yet.
Nice review! I have one of these on order, they’re not available in the UK till Feb. But i’m hoping it lives up to expectations!! Here's a blog with more info on it! Biolite Campstove
ReplyDeletePlease write back once you've gotten one and tested it out Chris, we'd all like to hear how you find it....
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