Cob: RE: Keeping cool with cob

[Patrick Newberry]

 Just a litte note on dealing with the heat here in Middle GA. 
 The old cob house had been getting a bit warm, especially towards the
end 
 of the day. Now in the morning when you woke up it was actually just
about 
 perfect, but by mid to late afternoon, that had changed. 

 We use fans to keep our bodies cool and there where positioned in the
areas we would 
 sit and spend time. 

 I realized I needed to bring the temperature of the building down more
at night then 
 I was doing at the moment. I then placed a simple box fan in an opening
over the front 
 door which is on the north side of the house. There is also and opening
over a picture window
 on the south side of the house. By blowing the fan inwards on the north
side during the night
 and the air flowing thru the house out the south side, the temperature
of the house dropped 
 significantly more than without the fan. Don't have any exact numbers,
but when waking up 
 in the morning, I was then inclined to put on a long sleeve shirt. The
extra coolness gained
 by this technique has made the house more comfortable during the day as
it now takes longer for 
 the house to cool off.



 On a side note: Concerning renders... 
                 I use lime plasters both inside and out. The cob I make
here, without a lime plaster, 
                 is very dusty. I just used the plain ole hydrated lime
from the feed store and it works
                 fine. I mix it with a super white sand that is very
fine (?silica) that is produced locally 
                 at our many sand pits here in middle GA. It makes a
very beautifull plaster. 

Pat
http://www.gnat.net/~goshawk