Cob: cob/ thermalMass

[Ocean]

Cob houses are comfy, if occupied and heated daily throughout the
winter.  Every day a cob house is heated the cob absorbs some heat,
bringing the "average" heat  of the "thermal mass" closer to the
desired temperature (70 degrees? seems a little warm for me!).  

Even if the walls (aka "thermal mass") of the cob only get 50-60
degrees, the space in the cob is much easier to heat with a Rumford
hearth or rocket stove than say, a yurt tent pitched in a 20 degree
winter climate.  

Now, your argument must leaning towards building with strawbales, since
they have an insulative quality of R50 or so.  But if you want
insulation, please try subscribing to the strawbale listserv.  We here
on the coblist LOVE COB!  

Cob houses are cozy and comfy, even in the winter.  This may be due to
the "thermal mass" of cob houses, which is why they tend to be likened
to caves--easy to heat in the winter, cool in the summer.  There was a
reason our distant ancestors like cave-dwelling!  

Whatever the case, please spend some time in a cob house, especially
during the winter, before theorizing about whether they need
"insulation" or whether "thermal mass" is indeed enough to make the
space cozy.

As for me, "I love my cob!"  Hey, that might be a cool bumper sticker. 
Any takers?

Ocean

ps:  Look at the super cool bas relief cougar Kiko sculpted above our
restaurant's front door!  CLICK HERE:  http://www.intabas.com

--- Bill&Julie <wbates at mn.rr.com> wrote:
> Greetings and Kudos to one and all.........
>     This maybe obvious to most, and to those that see something that
> I am
> missing, please fill me in.
> If a person were to think of Thermal Mass as a Fly Wheel, it may help
> in the
> choice of  how much
> and what kind. It would seem that the average target tempurature
> INSIDE
> should be very close to
> the average OF the AVERAGE extreems OUTSIDE. In other words, if the
> target
> temperature
> INSIDE is 70 F, then for every hour that it gets to 90F during the
> day it
> should get to 50F at night.
> 
> With that said, that does preclude opening drapes of large sun facing
> windows, and closing heavey
> insulated drapes when heat is not coming through the windows. By
> doing this,
> one can shift the
> Inside Target temperature by weighting the transfer of energy.
> 
> Getting back to the Fly Wheel analogy.  The bigger the fly wheel
> (thickness
> of cob) the more power
> it will take to increase its speed ( btu's to heat it up). The bigger
> fly
> wheel (thicker wall) will retain
> more of the speed (heat) over a longer length of time. Now here is
> the rub
> as I see it, If you were to
> build in a place that the average winter 24 hr daily OUTSIDE
> temperature was
> 20 F
> (extreams are for clarity) then you would have to add energy ( Heat )
> day
> and night to keep up.
> 
> Here is also a point to ponder: Heat is not the absence of cold, but
> cold is
> the absence of heat.
> And This is where we need insulation, not just thermal mass. To keep
> heat in
> where the averages
> are colder than our target. And to keep heat out where the averages
> are
> hotter than our target.
> 
> bill
> Ps  I keep kicking the bee hive... and this is fun?????? ouch   ,,, 
> ouch
> ,,,
> 
> 
> 
> 


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