Cob verify?

[HandyM2 at aol.com]

With respect, I disagree.  Indeed I find Broad Statements to be generally
false, Including this one <G>  

<< I have heard quite the contrary. The cob has great thermal mass which means
it
 has the ability to keep temperatures constant both day and night. you don't
 need a/c, and only minimal heat in the winter. 

Here we go into local conditions.  I live in SC.  The ambient temperature for
most of the year is well above what any human would call confortable.  This
manmade thermal mass of clay-mud will rapidly (in the scale of a years thermal
cycle) attain the same temperature as the ambient.  Thus my hot sweltering
summer heat will soon give me Cob Walls of the same temperature.  

Pre A/C building here in the deep south by Indians was to build a Lightly
Built Structure (low Mass BTW) upon Stilts to allow maxium air flow around,
above and below the structure.  Thses structures were built in the shade of
massive Decidious Trees to allow maxium cooling in summer with solar
penetration for heat in Winter.  

The same but in reverse occurs in a cold climate.  I have visited and lived in
Cob Structures in England.  I can assure you that the vast majority of them
have been refitted with Stick walls to maintain Fibreglas Insulation, Decent
Heating systems (although I fear our english friends have a more robust idea
of confort than most of us Americans <G>) and in some places even A/C as the
ambient temperature made the Cob home too sticky hot for confort.  

Don't get me wrong, Cob has it uses.  In Moderate Climates where the
Nighttime/Daytime Thermal cycle averages in the human confort range the
thermal mass of cob is wonderful.  Look to the OLD Pre A/C Adobe Homes in the
American SW.  They use the thermal mass in truly MASSIVE walls BTW to allow
the day/night thermal cycle to moderate each other. 

I have visited Cob style homes in Greece that were untouched by "Modern"
heating, A/C nor Fibreglas insulation.  The temperatures were decent and
survivable by humans.  Yes, each morning the first one up SHIVERED while
getting the wood stove fired up.  Yes in the late evening we stayed OUTSIDE
the house in the shady trees eating a light dinner and chatting while the OPEN
WINDOWS and DOORS were cooling off the house.  But it was not that bad.  Man
can adapt beyond a "Perfect 72 degrees by TRANE"....    

Have you ever heard of a cave having the same average mean temperature all
year round? well, cob acts in the same way. 

Not exactly.  Cob has thermal mass as does nearly everthing mankind uses to
build shelter.  A 2X4 has thermal mass...  for example.  A cave uses the
thermal mass of the whole earth (or a huge parcel of it).

A cave is asigned a thermal mass, depending on how deep it is and
 what the walls and beyond are made of. With cob, the thermal mass is
 terrific...period. 

Sorry no.  You should IMHO replace that "period" with a comma to combine your
next sentance with this one.  A Cave has the MASS OF THE WHOLE EARTH working
with it.  No amount of manmade mud coils are going to achive the thermal mass
of Terra.  

However, the thicker, the better. As long as you have a
 roof with a high "R" value (to minimize thermal transference), and good
 quality windows and doors, you can keep your cob house warm with minimal
 energy output, no matter where it is! >>

Thermal Mass in my experence is useful to moderate temperature swings from day
to night.  Thermal mass is not insulation.  If it was so why do you use a
Blanket to keep warm instead of a layer of clay on your person?  Just a simple
thought, Ok? 

High "R" Value is speaking of insulation.  I strongly agree in the need for
High "R" values in modern homes.  Old style homes burned a lot of Wood and
other natural resources keeping the temperature survivable for humans.
Deforestation and pollution are the result.  We cannot survive as a species if
we continue to act as though we have unlimited resources and the earth can
adsorb unlimited human wastes.  

Otherwise Ma Nature will reduce our population to a level that our behavior
will support.  Grim thought but true.  Look about, the four Horsemen are
wandering about our globe as we read this e-mail.

As my Russian Friends used to say "Trust but Verify"

Michael