The BYU Solar Cooker/Cooler | Page 8

a BYU student (Colter
Paulson) measured the temperature inside the funnel and outside in the
open air. He found that the temperature of the air inside the funnel
dropped quickly by about 15 degrees, as its heat was radiated upwards
in the clear sky. That night, the minimum outdoor air temperature
measured was 47.5 degrees--but the water in both jars had ICE. I invite
others to try this, and please let me know if you get ice at 55 or even 60
degrees outside air temperature (minimum at night). A black PVC
container may work even better than a black-painted jar, since PVC is a

good infrared radiator--these matters are still being studied.
I would like to see the "Funnel Refrigerator" tried in desert climates,
especially where freezing temperatures are rarely reached. It should be
possible in this way to cheaply make ice for Hutus in Rwanda and for
aborigines in Australia, without using any electricity or other modern
"tricks." We are in effect bringing some of the cold of space to a little
corner on earth. Please let me know how this works for you.

XI. Conclusion: Why We Need Solar Cookers
The BYU Funnel Cooker/Cooler can:
-Cook food without the need for electricity or wood or petroleum or
other fuels.
-Pasteurize water for safe drinking, preventing many diseases.
-Save trees and other resources.
-Avoid air pollution and breathing smoke while cooking.
-Use the sun's free energy. A renewable energy source.
-Cook food with little or no stirring, without burning.
-Kill insects in grains.
-Dehydrate fruits, etc.
-Serve as a refrigerator at night, to cool even freeze water.
(Try that without electricity or fuels!)
The burden for gathering the fuel wood and cooking falls mainly on
women and children. Joseph Kiai reports from Dadaab, Kenya:
"Women who can't afford to buy wood start at 4 am to go collecting
and return about noon... They do this twice a week to get fuel for

cooking... The rapes are averaging one per week." From Belize: "Many
times the women have to go into the forest dragging their small
children when they go to look for wood. It is a special hardship for
pregnant and nursing mothers to chop and drag trees back to the
village... they are exposed to venomous snakes and clouds of
mosquitoes." (Anna K.) (Quoted by Solar Cookers International from a
newsletter.)
And the forests are dwindling in many areas. Edwin Dobbs noted in
Audubon Magazine, Nov. 1992, "The world can choose sunlight or
further deforestation, solar cooking or widespread starvation..."
Americans should be prepared for emergencies, incident to power
failures. A Mormon pioneer noted in her journal: "We were now
following in their trail traveling up the Platte River. Timber was
sometimes very scarce and hard to get. We managed to do our cooking
with what little we could gather up..." (Eliza R. Snow) Now there's
someone who needed a light-weight Solar Cooker!
Here's another reason to use a solar cooker. Many people in developing
countries look to see what's being done in America. I'm told that if
Americans are using something, then they will want to try it, too. The
more people there are cooking with the others will want to join in. A
good way to spread this technology is to encourage small local
industries or families to make these simple yet reliable solar cookers
for others at low cost. I've used this cooker for three summers and I
enjoy it. Cooking and making ice with the funnel cooker/cooler will
permit a significant change in lifestyle. If you think about it, this could
help a lot of people. The BYU Solar Funnel Cooker uses the glorious
sunshine -- and the energy of the sun is a free gift from God for all to
use!

XII. Answers to commonly-asked questions
Will the cooker work in winter (in the United States)?

As the sun moves closer to the southern horizon in the winter, the solar
cooker is naturally less effective. A good measure of the solar intensity
is the "UV index" which is often reported with the weather. When the
ultraviolet or UV index is 7 or above--common in summer months--the
solar cooker works very well. In Salt Lake City in October, the UV
index was reported to be 3.5 on a sunny day. We were able to boil
water in the Solar Funnel Cooker during this time, but we had to
suspend the black jar in the funnel so that sunlight struck all sides. (We
ran a fishing line under the screw-on lid, and looped the fishing line
over a rod above the funnel. As usual, a plastic bag was placed around
the jar, and this was closed at the top to let the fishing line out for
suspending the jar.)
The solar "minimum" for the northern