Colca Lodge is an incredible getaway where you can have a unique and sustainable experience with breathtaking views! Blogger Ivana Vysna shares her experience.
If you are looking for an environmentally friendly stay in Arequipa’s Colca Canyon, come visit the Colca Lodge where you can have a rewarding stay that is away from any hustle or bustle. Did we mention they’ve created their own heating system through natural hot springs?
Travel blogger Ivana Vysna is currently on an unforgettable road trip throughout Peru. She had the privilege to visit the Colca Lodge where she learned more about the unique lodge while interviewing the general manager, Renzo Morante Pajuelo. Read on for the interview!
An innovative heating system
On your website, you have written that you are using creative heat-radiating stone slabs warmed by your own geothermal energy sources. What does your heating system work like?
About the heating system, it’s an underneath flow heating system. We have pipes under the floor in our rooms and those pipes are filled by water and the water is heated by our thermal water. In the hot springs, we have a radiator, and this whole system is closed so the water is moving all the time, but the water is always the same because it’s a closed system. So you only fill it once and you don’t have to refill it again. The water warms up the floor of the rooms and that’s actually the most efficient way to heat any interior because the heat tends to go up so you need less energy. The only energy we use is for the pumps that move the water which is really low compared to a normal heating system. Even if you shut down the pumps, because of the difference in the temperature, water always moves, the flow it’s low, but it’s always going to move. For example, in the summer, when we shut down the whole system we still get a little bit of heat because the water moves slowly but it moves.
When did you start using this heating system?
We did a trial like 10 years ago with only one part of the hotel and from there we started to move on to complete the whole hotel and we finished around six years ago. So all 45 rooms have it.
To read the entire interview, visit Ivana’s blog here.
If you’d like to add the Colca Lodge to your visit to Arequipa, let us know when you are booking our package or contact us at yourfriends@livinginperu.com.
Cover photo: Ivana Vysna
