Cob: Re: Re baking in earthen walls?

[Steve Lewis]

I've always thought that adobe (cob)  houses are perfect for areas like the
Southwest where sunny days and cool (to cold) nights are common year 'round.
You can selectively load on sun in the fall/winter with passive solar and
can dump heat in the summer at night by ventilating. With the thermal mass
approach, it is not so important to have an airtight house.  You can have
more fresh air.

Of course straw works great in the Southwest too, and can also benefit from
internal thermal mass and passive solar.

On the other hand, Texas, Oklahoma or whatever hot and humid places are
different.  Some months it might not drop below 80 untill 2 am.  Not enough
cooltime  to dump your accumulated heat.   I do think that you could have a
baking problem with adobe or cob in hot humid climates.   Straw walls seem
most appropriate.  Metal roof.  cross ventilation, porches, high ceilings.
Shade.  All that.

Steve


Subject: Cob: Re baking in earthen walls?


> This is something I have heard was a problem, especially in the Middle
> East, where everyone sleeps on the roof at night, and wind scoops are
> the norm to cool down the baked earth walls.   I love cob, but wonder
> if  extreme heat areas just soak up those rays all day, and radiate it
> INTO the house at night as well as OUT to the night air.  A thick  SB or
> sawdust-clay wall ( papercrete etc.) that does not hold heat) may be
> best in many environs.
>
> People in MEast  lay fans of woven palms, wetted, to cool the air over
> windows.
>
> Remember that in the UK people built with what they had.. Stone was
> prevalent in the East, so it got used heavily there, and cob in the West
> because there were far less trees and less or no stone to build with.
>
> Charmaine  Taylor/ Taylor Publishing
> http://www.dirtcheapbuilder.com
>
>
>