Lowtech Graph lists low-tech options for every need of a home. Here you can compare them, find tutorials to build them, and link them together into a circular system. Why low-tech?
Rocket stove cooker
Passive
One of 11 ways to meet this need. Cost, carbon, footprint and rankings are relative to other solutions for the same need, not absolute.
A small cooking stove with an insulated L-shaped chimney that draws air through a very hot fire. The fire burns sticks and twigs so completely that little smoke is left. It cooks on a handful of small wood, using far less than an open fire, without electricity or gas.
10-20 years for a well-built metal rocket stove cooker, shorter than a full rocket mass heater given lighter-gauge materials typical of a portable cooker
Embodied carbon
Low
Space / material use
Low
Output timing
On-demand/controllable
Skill to repair
Basic
Regulation (FR example)
Flue installation follows DTU 24.1. Chimney sweeping is compulsory (typically once or twice a year) under the departmental sanitary regulation, and insurers generally require proof. Some communes restrict wood burning under an air-quality plan.
Levels are relative to the other options for this need, not absolute. Fewer dots is lighter.
Rocket stove cooker (This page) Can I use it? Works in a flat · No rebuilding needed What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Low · Skill to build: Basic · Upkeep: Heavy · Change to daily life: Daily · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if you want to cook on a handful of twigs with little smoke.
Wood cookstove Can I use it? Works in a flat · No rebuilding needed What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Low · Skill to build: Basic · Upkeep: Heavy · Change to daily life: Daily · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if you want the same wood fire to cook and to heat the kitchen.
Solar cooker Can I use it? Works in a flat · No rebuilding needed What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Low · Skill to build: Basic · Upkeep: Light · Change to daily life: Daily · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if you want to cook for free on sunny days, with no fuel and no smoke.
Household anaerobic biodigester (biogas cooking fuel) Can I use it? Works in a flat · No rebuilding needed What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Medium · Skill to build: Basic · Upkeep: Light · Change to daily life: Occasional · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if you run a biodigester and want its gas to cook with.
Induction cooktop Can I use it? Works in a flat · No rebuilding needed What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Medium · Skill to build: Basic · Upkeep: Light · Change to daily life: None · Works without the grid: No Choose it if you want the most efficient hob there is.
Haybox / retained-heat cooker (fireless cooker) Can I use it? Works in a flat · No rebuilding needed What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Low · Skill to build: Basic · Upkeep: None · Change to daily life: Daily · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if you want to cut the fuel for slow-cooked dishes by up to four fifths.
Micro-gasifier (TLUD) cookstove Can I use it? Works in a flat · No rebuilding needed What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Low · Skill to build: Basic · Upkeep: Light · Change to daily life: Daily · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if you want to cook cleanly on wood and keep the charcoal it leaves.
Solar-powered insulated electric oven Can I use it? Works in a flat · No rebuilding needed What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Low · Skill to build: Basic · Upkeep: Light · Change to daily life: Daily · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if you want to cook with the sun even after it has gone, from your solar panels.
Gas hob / cooker Can I use it? Works in a flat · No rebuilding needed What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Low · Skill to build: Specialist · Upkeep: Light · Change to daily life: None · Works without the grid: No Choose it if you want instant heat that keeps working in a power cut.
Insulating pot skirt Can I use it? Works in a flat · No rebuilding needed What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Low · Skill to build: Basic · Upkeep: None · Change to daily life: Occasional · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if you want the flame’s heat to stay on the pot while it cooks, for a few euros.
Earth wood-fired bread oven Can I use it? Not in a flat · No rebuilding needed What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Low · Skill to build: Intermediate · Upkeep: Light · Change to daily life: Occasional · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if you want to bake bread and pizza outdoors on wood, without heating the house.
We don’t list sizing or quantities, as the yield of each technique depends on the quality of its build. The catalogue compares options but doesn’t dimension them. Regulatory notes are indicative, with a French example, and need to be confirmed locally.