I actually live in California. The house in Bogotá Colombia is for my six-times-a-year business trips there. A caretaker lives there full time. The altitude is 9000 feet and the nights are cold; my one traditional fireplace was smoky and inefficient so I had it taken out by Luis, my local ‘maestro’ and assistant. The plan was to put in a big 8-inch Rocket stove mass heater.
With only the Ianto Evens rocket stove book to guide me, I started my first project, the standard 8-inch mass heater, with great trepidation. I was worried because I am not a constructor and never worked with these materials. Worrying only increased after I stacked the bricks up for the mock-up rocket stove and could not get it to burn or work right. I thought maybe the altitude had something to do with it. NEXT >>