Cob: RE: Insulation

[bluemoon]

sojournr at missouri.org wrote:


> Wood burning is actually sustainable only if it is practiced only by a
> small percentage of the population on enough land to maintain their own
> personal woodlots (and I do mean maintain - NOT just cut 'n clear until
> you run out of wood).
>
> If everybody in the country started burning wood the pollution would not
> only be incredible, we would run through every burnable stick quicker 'n
> you could say "jack flash".

Um, I have to disagree here. Burning wood is NOT polluting to our
environment. Burning wood gives off the SAME gases as the wood would give
off decomposing naturally. And no, we wouldn't go through every burnable
stick, there are already people who sell firewood by the cord AND practice
replenishing their stock. Obviously if people are going to try to build
sustainable, there's a good chance they will try to incorporate sustainable
habits into their daily living.


> In New England and New York, that would be all four sides, really.
> Well, maybe he could skip the south side - depends on how much sun he
> typically get in the winter.  Some places are pretty much overcast all
> winter and you're not going to get much solar gain when its cloudy.

Okay, I live in Ontario, Canada. Yes we have overcast days, but not the
whole winter. There are many days when the sun is shining strong, you can
feel the heat. Just because a place experinces snow does not mean it is
generally overcast- damp, wet climates have these problems-ie. Seattle,
Vancouver.

> I'm from Ohio, and we virtually never see the sun all winter.
> Solarizing would only make me too hot in the summer, wouldn't help at
> all in the winter.  And it doesn't get near as cold where I'm from as it
> does in New England.  Upstate New York can get preeettty durn chilly -
> they say they have 2 seasons there.  9 months of winter, and 3 months of
> Bad Sledding.

The concept of passive solar energy is to regulate your homes temperature
throughout the year, solar energy does not mean HEAT. If you're going to
build a cob house, incorporating passive solar energy is a must. To begin,
the rooms that need more heat in winter(more use) like the
kitchen/livingroom should be facing south(actually it may be a little more
to the west or east depending on location). Have large windows here,
extended roof overhangs(sun is higher in summer/lower in winter) and have
deciduous  trees planted on this side of the house-these in effect are
natural air conditioners in summer and allow the sun through in winter. On
the north side of the house, have coniferous trees planted to block the
northern wind(again, it may be a little to the west) and small or no
windows(no entrances either). There's more but this is a cob list not solar
energy
:)


> I don't know about straw, but from another list I'm on I have found out
> that the sawdust idea (for insulation) works just fine, and you can
> treat it with boric acid (10% by weight) to cut down on fire hazards and
> reduce any potential insect problems from not much to nil.

another thing that works is to mix the sawdust with lime.

~Diana