Cob: Thermal Mass

[Darel Henman]

Chandra,
   sorry about the lateness of this reply.   But,

Chandra Shakti wrote:
> 
>I currently live in a 100+ year old house with
> lath and plaster walls which were insulated some time in the past with blown
> in newspaper insulation. I have no air conditioning. ......
 ...... snipped
>..... but it is definately cooler than out in the full heat.
> Perhaps I am wrong, but I credit the effect of the thermal mass of the
> plaster walls much more than the (puny at best) insulation for the
> moderation of temperature.

The plaster on lath would not have sufficent thermal mass to do much at
all during a diurnal period, let alone do anything close to a month,
three, or six month lag.

Thermal mass of a thin plaster on lath is nearly negligible.

>   Another hint for coping with temps using thermal mass: I let the house
> cool down to 60 or a bit cooler in the spring (April) and allow it to get
> over 90 in the fall (Sept) to give myself a bit of extra wiggle room in the
> extreme seasons.
For structures with a lot of thermal mass this strategy is recommended,
but NOT, just plaster on lath.


>   -Chandra

Darel