Research Notes: Improving housing conditions in high altitude Nepali homes

This is a very interesting topic, a little diversion from the energy research that I have been doing. This one was fascinated because of the location that was proposed in the report. I would really love to go there one day just to see the difference it makes in terms of transport and also the high attitude and whether I feel any difference in my body.

Improving comfort levels in a traditional high altitude Nepali house  by Fullera R.J, Zahndb,A, Thakuri,S.

Main thing to consider is: Climate is harsh, people are extremely poor. Heating comes from fuel wood of which the supplies are diminishing. To reduce the use of fuel wood they have tried to introduce the smokeless stoves to replace open fire in Humla homes.

Nepal is ranked 157nd out of 164 countries in terms of the Human Development Index. Traditional fuel consumption represents 93% of the country’s total energy usage and the average annual per capita electricity
consumption is only 91 kWh. In addition, fuel wood is now in short supply in many areas and this means that increasing time is spent travelling to and carrying heavy loads from remaining fuel wood sources.

Heat is particularly important in the mountainous areas of Nepal, where low ambient temperatures are common. In an attempt to reduce fuel wood consumption and improve the indoor environment, smokeless cooking stoves have been introduced into rural Nepal, as in many other developing countries.

Case study : Humla Valley

Of the 75 districts in Nepal, Humla has been judged to be one of the most deprived. Humla ranks second to last in terms of poverty, socio-economic and infrastructural development, and female empowerment. The population of the Humla District is approximately 47,000, which is very low for its district size, resulting in less than 10 persons per km2. Since the district does not have any road infrastructure, people and goods are transported on foot or by animal along mountain tracks. The climate in Humla is also challenging.

A typical house in Humli is usually multi-storey. The ground level rooms are used to stable animals, while the middle and upper storeys often consist of a living room and a store room. You can see from the table that the Animal stable is bigger than most of the Living spaces, this is needed especially in places where pastoral farming dominates the agriculture pattern.

The normal routine of this working family is to awaken between 5 and 6 a.m. and to go to bed sometime after 9 p.m. Main meals are eaten twice a day. Breakfast is cooked between 7 a.m. and eaten at about 9 a.m. Cooking dinner begins at about 6 p.m. or after sunset and takes 2–3 hr. This meal is eaten between 8 and 9 p.m. Some snacks might be cooked on the stove during the day between 1 and 2 p.m.

 

Assessing comfort has been clear this inadequacy has led to the other ‘‘adaptive’’ approach, which is based on the premise that a subject is an active agent in any given thermal environment
and that there is some thermal adaptation. The table below summarises data from the report about the different type of temperature recorded.

Temperature according to rooms:

	Outside Temperature	Living Room 1	Living Room 2
Minimum	3.3	14.9	10.6
Average	11.9	21.2	16.2
Maximum	22.5	31.9	21.7

So what can be done?

• Reduced infiltration
• Improve insulation
• Make room adaptable to sunspaces

In conclusion, with the suggestion given, it’s impossible to keep up the financial stability while maintaining a good comfort levels in these derelict areas.

Article summarised and referenced from: Science Direct
Pictures from : Google Maps