[Cob] thermal mass, insulation and "Ianto says"

[Marlin]

Radiant heat in a small heating envelope feels different from moving air that is supposed to be warm (like in a typical forced air system)...I've found that the same "temp" feels different with a heated floor radiating up or a woodstove then the draft/dirt blowing/evaporating off my-skin-cooling gas forced air that most houses are made with...... 

Hooray for dog heat! Also good insulation, good mass and some internal heat from say Computer Monitors, refridgerators, stoves can make quite a difference.

Marlin


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-----Original Message-----
From:     Quinn <quinn1 at mindspring.com>
Sent:     Thu, 29 Jul 2004 12:54:27 -0400
To:       <coblist at deatech.com>
Subject:  Re: [Cob] thermal mass, insulation and "Ianto says"

Another consideration that no one has mentioned is -how warm is warm?  

As a thin 40-something woman, I always find that I am cold while at work at the hardware store where the temperature is kept around 68.  Nearly everyone else is male and quite comfortable.  I also sing in a women's chorus where nearly everyone else is significantly overweight, they are also comfortable where the few thin one's of us wear sweaters in the air-conditioned room.  

Without records of ambient temperatures inside cob or strawbale or alternative buildings (given various climates, building size, other variables) and a foreknowledge of one's temperature comfort level, it would be hard to say what would 'work' for one person or another even in a similar environment.  [For instance, two dogs wouldn't keep me warm in upstate NY winters even if I were sandwiched between them!  ; )  ]

Quinn


> On Fri, 23 Jul 2004, Amanda Peck wrote:
> 
> [snip]
> > I'm too lazy to look it up, but as I remember it "IANTO SAYS" that you're
> > fine in a house you actually live in full-time with cob and no extra wall
> > insulation.  If you're going to use the building as a once-a-week community
> [snip]
> 
> I think some context is probably missing here, like what climate the house
> is in, and/or what heating system, etc.  Linda and Ianto's Cottage is
> heated (rocket bench stove of course), and designs they have done for
> colder climates have included things like a bale wrap to make up for cob's
> poor insulation.  You are not going to generate enough heat from just
> living in a cob house to keep it warm, <snip> 
> Shannon C. Dealy      

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