Cob: Cob insulation idea

[lightearth at onebox.com]

Workshops are great for getting kicked into gear, at least for me....

Cob COULD (and my guess will) be a pretty big heating need if it's all masonry (i.e. hard clay/sand/straw walls)......insulation would come in by the inclusion of alot of trapped air which happens with straw/clay.. But straw/clay doesn't provide wall strengths so you need wood beams to hold up the roof etc.

One alternative is to build some type of inner / outer wall structure like we're doing, it's kindof a version of Rob Roy's cordwood but we use junk wood from construction dumpsters ...this allows for an insulation (i.e. lots of trapped air) layer in between an outer load-bearing surface and an inner one. That way heat generated inside the building is not put to use just trying to keep the walls warm against the drain of heat (teens is pretty cold over long periods) from the cold outside. Cob WILL create a block for cold air but that's different from the radiant kind of cold that I'm referring to....

Hope this helps, I'm not saying that you can't build with Cob in COLD climates but I think that it'll take alot of internal heat generation to keep the walls (and therefore you) from getting cold where the winters get cold and stay there....

Best

Marlin

================

Thanks for the info.  I am currently in WA state and
plan to take a workshop this summer with either
cobworks in BC or Cob Cottage in OR.  The books I've
read on cob never mentioned much about insulation
except for in the roof.  I was under the impression
that thick cob walls were insulating themselves by
shear mass.  Anyway, I'm hoping to build myself a
house next year in my native northeastern
Pennsylvania, where winter nights are usually in the
low teens.  I'd like to hear how your house it works
out for you.

thanks, 

Andrea

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