Cob: RE: Insulation for cob

[ltlone at futureone.com]

Whoa! Hey everybody! When I got into Cob it was for the "THERMAL MASS"
properties. With enough thermal mass I don't need insulation or at least
not much. Where I reside they have, or used to, use ADOBE and many of these
dwellings are still here, although not in use too much. The Anazazi Cliff
Dwellings are presently abandoned for our use. ADOBE is COB in a structured
form i.e., bricks made for sand, water, clay and straw. I have been in
these dwellings on the Hopi Reservation in Arizona in the high temperature
summers and they were extremely cool. Did not need air conditioning or
evaporative cooling just open windows. In the winters conditions get into
the  30's and below however, not usually below 18 degrees. It is still cold
if you are used to high summer temps. A dwelling done with high Thermal
Mass will hold the heat it gains during the winter day using a passive
solar system. I will be incorporating passive solar with my cob home and
should have little trouble keeping warm in winter. Trouble with most
dwellings is the builder, home owner, etc., never takes advantage of the
gifts that area available to us here. Look around and see if "it ain't so".
How many houses do you see built with a true southern exposure and solar
window treatments? 
Think about this or just put two walls up as you are going along. That way
you can have an air space between and that's all the insulations you will
need.
Thunderhorse Woman in the High Country of Arizona. 
0/99 EDT, Otherfish at aol.com wrote:
>Holly
>I could be mistaken, but it seems to me that putting the bales outside of
the 
>cob wall would be much more useful
>- by having the cob inside the building you can take advantage of its
thermal 
>mass
>- most useful in cold climates with passive solar 
>- build up heat in the day & use it at night
>- isolate the internal heat storage from exterior heat loss with a natural 
>fur coat like our animal friends
>
>why would you want to put the bales on the inside of a cob structure?
>- you'd probably need to isolate them from the living space = extra finish 
>work
>- it would take up hard won interior space (bales take a LOT of room)
>regards
>john fordice
>otherfish at aol.com
>
>