[Stoves] Peru Stove Projects?

[Charlie Sellers]

I met Laurie and Steve at ETHOS and support their conclusions about more instructions completely - EWB Princeton students have a project in Huamanzana (coastal sand dune area north of Trujillo, beyond the town of Chao - which is on the Pan American highway) and all sample stoves made during the first year (2007) were hacked to increase the fuel opening (as well as other changes).  The second year (2008) we improved the design and I spent 3 days after each installation visiting the family with my measurement tools and small gifts of dry wood that was suitably sized - for discussions and encouragement.  The main problem is that no stove brings water to a boil faster than a well tended 3 stone fire, and time elapsed until the meal is ready is their highest priority (saving time collecting firewood in this mostly cactus studded desert turns out to be not much of one, and this seems to be true of smoke reduction in the kitchen as well).  Typically the first
 day they continued to use their traditional stoves, on the second they may use both, and on the third hopefully they were persuaded by the aggregate of benefits offered by the new one (not any one attribute).  

But we won't know until the next visit whether this new batch of stoves is being used as it should (remember, no instruction manuals are allowed), and then whether they are actually saving wood for families - reducing IAP with a chimney stove is far easier than getting people to adopt the many methods we know of for reducing wood consumption via improving both combustion and heat transfer efficiencies.

Our biggest problem is finding decent stove components - in our case also all planchas and grates arer made by local blacksmiths and welders, the flimsy metal chimneys had to come all the way from Trujillo (they were favored over our hollow brick design, because they seem more modern), and we never found a decent refractory brick source we could access in time.  Good bricks can be custom made but you have to plan far ahead - and once some are made then we should spread them to all Peru stove projects!  Let me know if I can help with this and other aspects.

If you Google on "Peru" plus "improved stoves" you will find loads of references, and "Huamanzana" plus "stove" will lead you to many references on the Princeton project - and all can contact me offline about my favorite ones.

Charlie

 




________________________________
From: Laurie Iaccino <laurieiaccino at hotmail.com>
To: stoves at listserv.repp.org
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2009 8:58:03 AM
Subject: Re: [Stoves] Peru Stove Projects?


hi there, 
I (Laurie Iaccino ) and my partner (Steve Bouton) are in the Cuzco area doing stove projects.   We are a long way away from Lima though.  but  i thought i would share some of our experience.  we were here almost 2 years ago and worked in 3 villages in the Cuzco area building 100 stoves.  we did surveys but more in the way of health surveys and as it turns out not nearly enough teaching about the stoves.  this was discovered when we returned and re-visited the villages to do the follow up health testing.  of the people we were able to visit (homes are upwards to 14000 feet and nearly impossible to reach) many had de-constructed their stoves (a sort of Lorena model with a rocket chamber of thick metal (yes, bad idea)2 burners and chimney).  reasons for this appeared to be: (a) not enough hands on instruction because we could not always get to the homes, they needed to meet with us which did not dependably happen.  (b) up in these elevations it is not just
 about cooking.  their traditional 3-stone fireplace also provides heat.  and the opening of the rocket did not provide enough heat. (c) many did not prepare their wood properly and often used branches of eucalyptus with dried leaves attached and all just stuffed into the rocket. and (d) finally the metal rocket, for the folks who did try to use the stove properly, developed holes in spite of its thickness and weight of 7 kg.  interestingly enough the problem was not in lighting it tho, it was the holes that developed after 1 year.

now we are in a small village at a lower elevation and working with 10 families and building a stove that has been in part designed by the residents.  it has a chimney and is made of 18 adobe bricks.  we have a local welder who has made us chimneys and grates, and painted the part of the chimney that is outside with a waterproof paint.  of course the chimney has a hat, as well.  the burn chamber is larger than our rocket was and made of a mix of arcilla, fine dirt, mud, and a liquid extracted from a planty called paqpa, a type of cactus that our friends in the village says makes it more durable and water proof. we are hoping it addresses the heat issue.  it has two burners again but each will accomodate 2 different size pots. so, families provide the local materials: (arcilla or clay, fine tierra (dirt), mud and this extracted liquid and also pay 30 soles.  we provide the chimneys, rejillas, (or grates) and the retention cooker and various other things
 aiding in improved hygiene.  (with our past experience, its always better to have them have ownership, and to realize that an improved stove is not the only thing that improves the lives of the people we have come to work with in the andes.)

we are still doing health surveys but this time we are asking more questions about the type of food they cook, and hygiene issues.  we are also giving each family a large basket that we are teaching them to use as a retention cooker.  here they simply will not cook on a one pot stove.  our hope is to teach them to make things like potatoes, rice or soups by first boiling for a certain number of minutes over the cookstove and then putting the pots in a basket lined with rice sacks filled with either paja (grasses) or other insulating materials such as blnkets, pillows etc.  then they have 2 burners still free and also when they head to their farmland, food can be cooking while they are working and ready when they get home. i am using one now in our apartment and have made soups, rice and potatoes.

so forgive me for going on.  i would advise you locate local people to help you design something that uses local materials.  sometimes hiding in these villages are a few people who have put something together already.  and these folks are often willing to work and help out their compañeros.  and to think about what they eat and if they need the stove for heat.  just a few ideas.  hopefully its a bit helpful.

soon we will be posting pictures on our blog and also the design of our stove and the survey tool.  the address is http://pencilsforperu.blogspot.com
sincerely, 
Laurie and Steve