Cob: to insulate or not

[Kristen Wilson]

I wonder in what range of climates is it generally necessary to insulate 
cob? I had the impression from my readings and from following the list that 
in a broad swath of the country, a passive solar cob house with a stove 
would be adequate. Perhaps I am extrapolating from my own experience - I 
grew up in a stick-frame passive solar house in western Virginia, in that 
recently mentioned climate range of not always but occasionally going down 
to the 10s. We used a wood stove at night and on cloudy days in the winter, 
but there were lots of sunny days that kept us comfy without the stove. (I 
have memories of Christmas morning in our sunny living room, feeling 
overheated from the sun and excitement, despite sparkling frost outside!) Of 
course the stick frame house was all insulation and no thermal mass, so 
maybe a cob house in the same climate would lose too much heat. Interesting 
to note: my parents, while planning the house, considered the suggestion of 
filling the half-buried basement with rocks to incorporate thermal mass. 
However, I think that idea was dashed when our landlord in town raised the 
rent and we went ahead and moved into the completed basement while my 
parents kept building the rest of the house in their spare time.

Kristen
Chapel Hill, NC


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