How to Build and Use a Sawdust Stove

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As we who live in the industrialized nations of the world are increasingly forced to tighten our belts and live less energy-intensive lives, we might do well to examine the gentler technology of the so-called "underdeveloped" countries for "new" recycling and fueling ideas. I'm indebted, therefore, to B.R. Saubolle, S.J.—of Katmandu, Nepal—or telling my readers how some inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent derive useful heat from what is commonly considered a waste material in the U.S. and Canada. Perhaps we need more of this "reverse" Peace Corps work.—MOTHER.

One of the simplest fuels for cooking and for heating the house in winter is sawdust . . . a waste product which is usually thrown away and which, therefore, is obtainable free or at nominal cost. (True, not everybody lives conveniently near a sawmill or lumberyard, but the same objection applies to many other alternative sources of power. Not everyone has a stream running through his property to generate electricity, or keeps cattle to supply manure for methane. We must make use of whatever resources are available to us.)

Sawdust will burn properly only in a specially constructed stove, which is very simple to make and costs practically nothing. The fuel always lights with only one match in such a unit, and can be kept ablaze for long periods—six, eight or even twelve hours if desired—with absolutely no smoke, no blowing or fanning and no refueling.

Once lighted, such a stove burns until all the fuel it contains is consumed. It can then be recharged and lighted again. Such a device is ideal where steady heat is required for hours on end with no attention (to provide day-long hot water, for instance, or to keep a sickroom cosy and warm through a chill winter's night).

To make a sawdust stove, take a large paint can, remove the top and cut a two-inch hole in the middle of the bottom. Set the container up on three legs, and the stove is ready. The only "tool" you'll need to make your burner work is a smooth round stick or length of water pipe which will fit through the hole in the bottom of the can. It should be long enough to protrude four inches above the can's top edge when the shaft is passed vertically through the stove and its lower end rests on the ground.

It is absolutely essential that the fuel for this stove be bone dry. If it's slightly damp, it will smoke. . . and if it's very damp it won't light at all. Dry sawdust burns wonderfully well—sometimes even with a blue flame—and is entirely smokeless. It does give off some fumes, however, and the room where the stove is in use must be well ventilated.

To load the burner, insert the stick or pipe through the hole in the bottom of the can and hold the shaft straight up while you pour sawdust around it. Every now and then, as you fill the container, press the fuel down—the harder the better—to make it tight and compact. When the can is full, completely cover the top of the sawdust with a thin, even layer of sand or ashes. Then twist the pipe back and forth and carefully pull it out of the packed fuel. You'll have a neat hole—which will act as a chimney—right through the mass.