Dear Ray and all,
In general, transportation costs are very high for bringing stoves from
the developing societies in relatively small numbers. And the market
inside the USA for such stoves is small. So the prospects for profit
are slim to none, unless the mark-up is quite high. And it does take
time and energy to do the supply efforts to this select target market,
which are of little interest to people like me.
The three examples you give of having supplies of the stoves in the USA
(or Europe, etc) are all either profitable or are justified by the
Public Relations value to the parent company that makes the efforts, or
both.
Check out Todd Albi's selling of his Silverfire stoves (some are TLUDs,
but I have no personal experience with them yet).
http://www.silverfire.us/ Based in Eugene, Oregon.
For purposes of evaluation and to show to USA audiences of stove
developers and NGO supporters, I will have 20 to 40 of the latest of my
Quad TLUD stoves (version 3.1) that are now being made in Uganda by
Awamu Biomass Energy LTD. Nothing on the Internet or websites yet, but
will be soon (by mid August) with YouTube videos, etc. These stoves
are coming to America in the luggage allowances of 7 Americans here now
at Awamu in Kampala, Uganda, and returning to the USA before the end of
July. They are all "flat-pack" stoves that are to be assembled
locally. But this assembly requires some metalworking skills, so the
flat-packs are not intended of just anybody to be able to put it
together well. I will be showing and doing this assembly with
participants at the Stove Camps and Biochar events in Oregon, Tennessee
and Massachusetts from late July to mid October (and at other places
that I could be visiting in the coming months).
The Quad 3 TLUD stoves can be shipped as flat-packs anywhere from
Uganda. Inside Uganda the price is US$ 12 plus shipping and handling.
Prices outside of Uganda are not yet determined. I want this TLUD
technology to be widespread, but Awamu needs to be sustainable.
So this relates back to Ray's question. If only a few units reach the
USA, what price will the market bear? And is there a different price
when the purchaser is an NGO with humanitarian objectives or is an
affluent person with personal objectives of backyard BBQ or other
occasional usage?
It is topics like this that bug me. Doing stove technology/design
development and doing stove business development are NOT the same thing,
and many people cannot do both, or maybe do not want to do both. An
unfortunate possible outcome is that sometimes poor technology/design
gets promoted for business profit while better designs languish in the
sidelines. The materialistic "capitalist" responds "that's the reality
of business." And the socially concerned person responds "that's why
progress is so slow and funding so meager for significantly helping the
Base of the Pyramid BOP."
All comments are welcome.
Paul
Paul S. Anderson, PhD aka "Dr TLUD"
Email: [email protected] Skype: paultlud Phone: +1-309-452-7072
Website: www.drtlud.com
On 7/6/2013 10:34 AM, Ray Menke wrote:
Suppose someone in the U.S. wanted to purchase some of the wonderful
TLUD stoves discussed on this list, such as those by Paul Olivier, or
Paul Anderson (Quads or Champions-Servals), or Crispin
Pemberton-Pigott, Nathaniel Mulcahey of World Stove, + others, where
would I send these buyers? I can find sellers of Dr. Reed's Woodgas
Campstove, and Envirofit's Rocket Stoves, and the Biolite Wood Burning
Campstove (sold by REI). One can search Ebay and Amazon, and do
google searches, but it seems almost impossible to find comprehensive
descriptions and buying information in one location for the potential
"affulent" stove user.
I might add that I am one of those (imaginary) people who live in the
U.S., and do almost all cooking chores outdoors on the patio using
waste biomass. I also make biochar, have a compost pile, and have a
home garden. I have purchased three of the Tom Reed Wood Gas Stove
XL, and made multiple versions my own Champion TLUD from Dr.
Anderson's .pdf files, as well as other simple stoves from tincanium.
In summary, and more to-the-point would someone direct me to a U.S.
source for individual stoves from Mulcahey, Olivier, or Anderson.
(Nothing on the drtlud site about purchasing a stove?)
Thanks, Ray Menke
--
Ray Menke
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