Coal Usage in Winter (Tons)
Daily Coal Uasage (Kg)
Figure 8: Dolma putting coal in her stove.
Yearly Coal Consumption
We sought to ask families how much coal they consumed in order to develop a better understanding of coal was being consumed per household, as well as how much energy and pollution could be saved in the long term with the new design.
We found that families counted their coal consumption through two approaches: daily in kilos, and seasonal deliveries in tons. On average, most families purchased anywhere from .5 to 2 trucks at the beginning of the extreme heating season (throughout October to early November). Depending on whether or not the family had purchased enough coal for the main heating season (Dec. - Feb.) they would also purchase additional coal through various informal vendors.
Once the truck delivered and dropped off the coal directly in the household’s Hasha, the family would bag the coal into individual plastic bags, then placing those bags into the stove an average of 3-4 times a day.
Families’ estimated their daily consumption between a minimum of 8 kg, a mean of 19.9 kg, and the maximum of 30 kg. Families’ estimated their winter consumption to range between a minimum of 3 tons, a mean of 4.5 tons, and the maximum of 8 tons.
It is important to note that there are many variables that influence the families coal usage. Whether it be the number of family members in the ger, whether or not the ger is occupied during the day time and requiring additional heating in the day time, whether or not the family has additional layers of felt insulation on the Ger( and intern more insulative), and the whether or not the volume of the Ger is smaller(4khana) or bigger(6khana).
These figures therefore enable us to have a better understanding of the scale at which families are consuming coal to heat their homes. For example, when taking the average of the overall tons of coal that is consumed - 4.5 tons - and apply it to the current number of Ger households in the Ger Districts - approximately 104,500 households - there is an average of 470,250 tons of coal burning in from Ger households in Ulaanbaatar - accounting for only 48% of the Ger Area residents. As a result, significant savings could be gained by developing energy efficient gains.