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Joe Fischer

On 18 Nov 2006 02:47:08 -0800, wrote:

Joe Fischer wrote:
On 17 Nov 2006 wrote:
A typical brick or block house should be big enough, assuming its
decently insulated. Mine doesnt lose a whole lot of temp overnight. One
simply sets the solar heating stat to above the temp of the gas CH,
make use of that comfort zone.
NT

A house built for solar heat, or any type of efficient
heating, should have a triple wall construction, in contrast
to present common designs, a well insulated outer wall,
a thick masonry wall (concrete block), and either face brick
on the inside, or furring strips and plaster (drywall).
There are many concrete block houses, but almost
all have the block on the outside.

This is as bad as all the industrial buildings having
north facing windows.
Joe Fischer

It would be a lot more material efficient to have 2 wall leafs than 3,
with the inner being thicker than the outer, eg 2.5" outer leaf, 1"
uninsulated cavity, 6" insulated cavity then 6" inner leaf. SS wall
ties would give the 2.5" leaf good stability.

Triplewall construction only gives a 2nd cavity, and this can be
achieved at far lower cost in other ways.
NT

I was thinking of getting more mass inside the insulation,
masonry only has a specific heat about half that of water, but
100,000 pounds of concrete inside the insulation would mean
that 50,000 BTU would have to be lost for the temperature
to drop one degree.

The latest thing seems to be thick foam core walls,
which gives excellent insulation if thick enough, but
doesn't have the mass to buffer temperature changes.

Joe Fischer