Cheap solar ovens from recycled cardboard boxes

[Atash Hagmahani]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/09/solar.oven.global.warming/index.html

This has been covered before, but worth a revisit.

Never mind the global warming nonsense; the problem is we are running out of natural gas and trees (firewood), and the electrical grid is precarious.

I suppose, too, these work nicely for keeping houses cooler in really hot, sunny climates, by taking the cooking outdoors. My climate is not so hot, but we have no air conditioning, and I don't like to cook in hot weather, because then the house is so hot we can't sleep at night.

[opsec]

Looks like somebody is trying to send us a message about how we are going to be living in the future. No more fossil fuels except for the very rich.

[The Future]

Uhhh How can you invent something that has already been in use for at least 10 years?   

[opsec]

I seem to remember discussions about these ovens long before this guy invented them for us to talk about.

[Atash Hagmahani]

Solar ovens have been around for a while; this one's claim to fame was to design one with absolutely minimal components, was put together by children, and it won a prize.

The inventor works in Nairobi, Kenya.

[Beeherder]

So if we are running out of fossil fuels (seems likely to me) then lets recognize the few things like airplanes that really require such btu density and start doing things with different modes of power. Now I mean more that the easy stuff that you can buy with enough bucks if you have them but more of these really small ideas that when applied together over long periods of time yield significant group and individual returns. Lets get used to doing it ourselves and with our friends what ever IT is and just be our creative wonderful selves and develop some new/old/evolved ways of doing things differently.

Surface transportation need not be petroleum or even any single easily metered and controled source of power. All power is political power, so by doing it ourselves we become so powerful they can not stop us, just can not do it, if we are willing to do the hard things called work or labor or whatever. TANSTAFL

[opsec]

I wonder if a giant fresnel lens mounted on the roof of a car and aimed at a large canister of water would generate enough steam power to push the car. Any thoughts?

[Dame]

We use a summer kitchen.  More like a kitchenette in an unheated exterior porch.  We do this primarily to keep gardening and other outside activity mess out of the house.

We also live in a house built according to an ancient houseplan, it is intended to be functional.  One summer we decided to cook a roast in the wood cookstove in the mainfloor kitchen.  About 3 hours of continuous wood heat and we slept comfortably on the second floor that night.  The daytime high was about 80F. 

[Beeherder]

good first jump OpSec you are now out of the box.

where do you want to hop around to next there froggy?

[wander]

I've tried building solar boxes, and they are hard to make and not very portable. This is a little bit more local to me, but very portable and cheap.
I haven't tried this but I will soon.

http://solarcooking.org/plans/windshield-cooker.htm

[Dame]

Plus wind and it could get messy.

[opsec]

I emailed Solar Cooking International about a month ago, and they just now got around to sending me a reply. They tell me that a thin guage, black steel pot is best for solar ovens and that my heavy dutch oven retains heat but does not transfer it to the food very well. Just a tip that I thought I should pass on to all who may be interested.

[Beeherder]

Could not help myself just had to hit the print key for that one. Man o man that is pure genius right before our eyes an oven that not only is selfcontained for packing if necessary but can also hold the cooking pots too. Wow!

a perfect example of

Keep
It
Simple
Silly (or whatevery)

[opsec]

You can buy turkey oven bags at most grocery stores. I'm pretty sure that's what these solar cooking places are using to put their pots in.

[wander]

I bought all this stuff at target for $12.00, which is slightly more than I expected. Mainly the cost was the velcro...

Assuming we don't have crappy weather tomorrow, I'll be testing it out, take photos and let you know the results.