A study of fuel consumption of three types of household charcoal stoves in Ghana

The purpose of this study was to find out the amounts of charcoal consumed using the traditional Ghanaian coalpot in contrast with two improved stoves, “Ahinbenso” and “Gyapa” stoves. The study covered 80 purposively selected charcoal-consuming households in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Each household was allowed a 1- week measurement of charcoal consumption for each of the three stoves and data were analyzed with Excel. Thestudy results showed fuel (charcoal) efficiency of 31 and 23 per cent for “Gyapa” and “Ahinbenso” over the traditional coalpot, respectively. The “Gyapa” stove saves 0.51 kg of charcoal per day or 186 kg of charcoalannually, which translates into about US$25.00 per year per household. For every 1,000 “Gyapa” stoves in use, the savings would be 186 tons of charcoal per year, equal to 1,488 tons of wood and 31.83 ha of forestland. It is,therefore, recommended that promotional activities on the use of “Gyapa” stove among charcoal-consuming households in Ghana should be strengthened.