Cob: RE: Windows & walls

[Michael Saunby]

On 20 July 1999 00:45, John Schinnerer 
[SMTP:John-Schinnerer at data-dimensions.com] wrote:
>
> "Legend has it" that the old Devon 3' - 4' thick walls were a less 
careful
> mix, often with very short straw, thus needed to be thicker...
>

Perhaps, but at 18' to the eaves and 31' to the ridge a Devon cob farmhouse 
isn't tiny, and many are still standing.  Certainly a legend!

As for windows, when I was young we were always told that most of the heat 
lost from even a solid wall building went through the doors, windows and 
roof.  Hence the importance of controlling draughts, of curtains and a well 
insulated roof.  To think of large heavy walls "sucking" heat from a house 
is rather ignoring the physics of the whole situation.  The unfortunate 
consequence of all the insulation and draught proofing of recent decades is 
that many houses in this country are inadequately ventilated which can be 
very unhealthy.

Michael Saunby
Devon, England