Thermal Houses Keep People Warm in Peru's Highlands

[Judi Lynn]

Thermal Houses Keep People Warm in Peru’s Highlands
By Mariela Jara



Néstor Flores, who lives in the village of Quinsalakaya, more than 4,300 meters above sea level, in
the Andes highlands of southeastern Peru, stands outside his new adobe brick home, where he and
his family will move before the end of the year and which will allow them to live free of cold and
smoke. Credit: Annie Solis/IPS


HUAYRAPATA, Peru, Dec 6 2018 (IPS) - Thirty families from a rural community more than 4,300 meters above sea level will have warm houses that will protect them from the freezing temperatures that each year cause deaths and diseases among children and older adults in this region of the southeastern Peruvian Andes.

José Tito, 46, and Celia Chumarca, one year younger, peasant farmers who live in the village of Quinsalakaya and are part of the group of 30 families whose new houses will be finished this month and who will be able to spend the end of the year without cold or smoke in their homes.

“We have two daughters, ages seven and four, and they are the ones who suffer the most from the freezing temperatures. We want to be warm in our homes, and that’s why we decided to participate in this project, which is new here, it hasn’t been seen before,” Tito told IPS, enthusiastic about the prospect of having a house where the cold doesn’t seep in through cracks in the walls.

The Andes highlands region of Puno is one of the coldest in Peru. Between May and September the temperature drops at night to 18 degrees Celsius below zero, causing acute respiratory illnesses and deaths, especially among children and the elderly.

More:
http://www.ipsnews.net/2018/12/thermal-houses-keep-people-warm-perus-highlands/

Environment and energy:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1127121560

[mr_lebowski]

1. Wait how is that house going to protect them -18C temperatures?

Is there going to be a WINDOW there? An actual roof? It looks like there's a lot of cracks in the walls ... and it doesn't look at ALL 'new' ...

I feel like this is some kind of misprint, like ... that's where he USED to live ... and now he's getting something like a real house ...

[TreasonousBastard]

2. Read the linked article...

The houses are built with a Trombe wall to capture solar energy and keep the warmth in, and they include the installation of fireplaces with chimneys.

The Trombe wall faces in the direction of the sun and is built with materials that accumulate heat – adobe bricks in this case – between which an air and ventilation space is created, thus forming what is called a solar thermal collector.

It is an easily installable and usable technique that works by establishing a difference in density of hot and cold air, which creates currents by the orientation of the open ventilation points, thus channeling the accumulated hot air inside.

Now, many of the houses have stoves but no chimneys, so the smoke stays inside.