Module 3: Guidance on standards and testing

Internationally recognized standards for household energy devices serve an important role by providing clear information on device performance. Standards can give consumers confidence that the device will be reliable and achieve certain benefits (e.g., fuel savings and emissions reduction), and also help manufacturers ensure they meet regulatory requirements.

This module includes resources to help planners develop national standards for stoves based on safety, performance, durability and other features.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has developed standards for cookstoves and clean cooking solutions, in collaboration with around 90 stakeholders from 23 countries. The standards include guidance on testing stove and fuel performance in both controlled and real-life settings, and for assessing social impacts like time savings, gender impacts and livelihood impacts. This module offers practical guidance for using ISO Standards and documents (field testing, lab testing, social impacts, voluntary performance targets) to set national-level standards and performance tiers. WHO serves as a Category-A Liaison organization in the ISO Technical Committee 285 that is developing these standards.

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Man testing stove

Tools and templates included in this module

A tool that can be used to determine locally-specific stove emission rates to achieve air quality and health outcomes associated with the ISO tiers of performance.

Provides practical guidance on how to set national standards for the performance of cooking, heating, and lighting technologies.

ISO 19869:2019 provides standardized protocols for evaluating cookstove emissions, efficiency, safety, and durability in household settings.

ISO/TR 19867-3:2018 outlines voluntary performance targets for rating stoves into tiers of performance based on efficiency, emissions, safety, and durability.