Cob: Cob insulation idea

[lightearth at onebox.com]

You know I'm really sick of putdowns on this list......I'm sure that other's might agree if they didn't think that they'd be flamed....If you're so sure that Cob is a good insulator in zone 4 climates then by all means build them, ignore that people in Minnesota and other's have had experiences with cold masonry buildings needing tons of input heat and that S. England and Japan are mostly warmer in climate (read: different climate) then the cold/long winter north America---

I thought the comment that was made about past people using what they had and not neccessarily making the best climate choices was very pertinent but if it makes you feel better to say it's "Cob only or the highway..." then I feel I'll have to resign from the list as I'm looking for clever ideas, not stodgy ones.


Subject:  Re: Cob: Cob insulation idea

Lightear,
  By no means would I call  the;  -5 Celcius (23 F) here in southern
Japan last week and -21 Celcius (-6 F) in northern Japan, tropical as
you did.   The U.K., as well, depending on the region gets bitterly
cold.    North Wisconsin does get nice freezing breezes from up north to
be sure, but it is not the only cold place on earth.  Cob structures are
also used in Scandanavia, another severly cold contry.

lightearth at onebox.com wrote:
> 
> UK and Japan are down right tropical compared to No. Wisconsin for the winter, more comparable here to Eastern Europe/parts of Russia. (10 degrees Celsius vs. 10 degrees Fahr.)
> 
> I actually heard that some of the Cob buildings in cold climates used upwards of 20 cords of wood to heat during the winter, reminded me of castle/stone type heating requirements...
> 
What is the source of this information?  Give us the basis for your
statement above.


To show some scale here, how many coords of wood do you figure the
Eskimos used to heat their igloos? 

Darel