Cob: Cold Sink

[Darel Henman]

Kim,
  What is a deep cold sink?    Do you mean a heat sink or a heat source?

  I have rented a room during college that was a celler with cement slab
floor and cement walls.  Entry was via a door in the floor lifting up
and hooked to the side and stairs down.  This access door was located in
the enclosed back porch utility room. The celling was the floor joists
of the floor above.  Carefully placed cloth made a nice ceiling. 

  The room was warmer than the house above during the summer and cooler
during the summer.  The winter temperatures outide are about 32 deg F,
and the summer in the daytime about 108 F.  But, inside the celler a
comfortable temperature was maintained.  The door was not left open
(people might fall down the hole in the floor), so this also helped keep
the underground area from loosing heat or gaining it during the seasons.

  Grandma, had a cellar under the house but entry was from the outside,
it was basically earthen walls and had a pounded dirt floor and worked
find for storing onions, apples, potates, etc.  By nature this area was
seldom accessed.  Only to put in produce when its was ripe from the
garden or to take out a batch to the house panty area.  The celler
worked well.

 Is this what you mean by *inside" of a house?

  If there is going to be too much influence from the house
temperatures, it is better to do the root cellar away from the house,
either underground or into a hill produces the most stable temperatures.


Darel

> Kim West wrote:
> 
> I was wondering if anyone here has tried digging a root cellar/deep
> cold sink *inside* of a house and if so, how it worked out. Thanks.
> 
> Kim