New woodburning stove with usb output

[rualexander]

Just come across this new stove that burns wood/twigs and also generates electricity from the heat to charge usb charged devices, nice idea!
Not much information about the electrical side of it and guess it might take a lot of twigs to charge your phone.
http://biolitestove.com/BioLite.html

[ian5spot]

Did you try one out?
A mate of mine got a honeypot stove which burns small sticks. Seemed like a great idea but it does burn wood very fast so you have to have a good supply on hand if you want to keep it going.

[Graham O]

With a 2W electrical output, you'll have to be cooking for a long time to charge anything up. My charger is 5V at .7A or 3.5W and it takes about 4 hours to charge my phone. 2W is 5V at .4A so you'd have to keep the stove alight for perhaps 6 hours. It would be better to have a dynohub or a bottle dynamo and charge while you cycle.

And their comparison of Biolite to conventional alternatives is, not surprisingly, very biased.

[andymiller]

Did you try one out?
A mate of mine got a honeypot stove which burns small sticks. Seemed like a great idea but it does burn wood very fast so you have to have a good supply on hand if you want to keep it going.

Wood-gas stoves (eg bush cooker and bio-lite) are very efficient - a lot more efficient than simply burning the wood. My experience was that a handful of twigs would bring a half-litre to the boil - but yes, it might be best used on conjunction with a pot cosy.

[Barrenfluffit]

reviewed on the Gadget show.
http://gadgetshow.channel5.com/gadget-s ... technology

[byegad]

Yes. Fuel for a wood burner needs to be plentiful, dry and cheap or better, free. My younger son was a Tree Surgeon and had a free supply of wood on a day to day basis. He changed jobs and had to change to a coal based fuel as the cost of sufficient wood to feed his multi-fuel burner was prohibitive.

[welshwoodsman]

i've used my bushbuddy woodgas stove on many occasions. very good in below zero temperatures as gas stoves give up the ghost. i also carry a trangia meths burner with fuel as a back up to go in stove. making a pot cosy to pop your hot pot in saves on loads of fuel too.

[Drake]

Did you try one out?
A mate of mine got a honeypot stove which burns small sticks. Seemed like a great idea but it does burn wood very fast so you have to have a good supply on hand if you want to keep it going.

Got one of these last year and found it to be very good . But i have to agree it consumes small sticks quite fast . Thinking of purchasing the "Hive" extension pack for this stove,to be able to use thicker pieces of wood . Great little stove though .