Several homes and institutions in Mbale have turned to the eco-friendly energy stoves to cut down costs and reduce deforestation.
The stoves are widely used in Busano and Bufumbo Sub-counties.
The Eco- friendly stoves save up to 30% of the energy generated and does not emit smoke compared to a traditional three stone fire cooking stove.
Judith Khainsa, a housewife from Burukuru village in Busano Sub-county says the eco friendly stoves have enabled her to cut down on the cost of fuel.
Khainsa explains that formerly she used to use too much firewood for cooking but now uses one sack of charcoal in a month.
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Several schools in Mbale and surrounding areas have also adopted the use of energy saving stoves.
Bugwere High School in Budaka is one of the schools that have abandoned the three stone-fires for the cost effective energy saving stove.
Apollo Lyadda, the Headmaster of Bugwere High says the stoves have enabled them to use as little firewood as possible compared to the past when they used the ordinary cooking stoves.
Lyadda however does not state how much money the school saves from the use of energy stoves. But unlike Bugwere High School, Nabumali High School continues to use the three stone fire.
The headmaster James Mulomi says the school uses one lorry of firewood each week which costs shillings 180,000.
Mulomi says the school had intended to cut down the cost of fuel by building energy saving stoves but got a raw deal from the contractor who put in place defective stoves at a cost of 14 million shillings.
Energy saving stoves are made from sub soil. The price of the stoves depending on the sizes range from shillings 2000 to four million.
