"IMM" wrote in message ...
"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
t...

We were at Bede's World, Jarrow (I can thoroughly recommend it) and living
in a Dark Age long house.

The floor, as I said, is beaten earth. There were two ill fitting doors on
the long walls, almost opposite each other.

Two unglazed and high windows could be shuttered but we didn't.

The roof was thickly thatched and overhanging, the ceiling high.

The building was timber framed, the infill was thick daub.

It was cool, delightfully cool. Even during the day when I was working
over
a charcoal firepot I was cooler than when I went into the sun. The hens
stayed in the building rather than go outside. Spouse worked outside but
under the shade of the eaves.

On Sunday morning we had very heavy rain and a long thunderstorm but I
reckon (didn't measure it) that the temperature indoors stayed more or
less
the same as the rest of the time. The butter didn't melt, the milk didn't
sour, the fruit and vegetables didn't wilt, we didn't sweat.

We were sorry to come home.

Mary,

Simple. Insulation and ventilation.

Au contraire, ventilation wont bring a house's temp below the outdoor
temp. The keys are insulated roof plus earth floor. The earth floor is
a constant source of damp, and as this damp evaporates it cools. Same
principle as an evaporative cooler, only big.

In the winter tho, it'll be damper and colder.

Overhanging roof will help as well, and a hgh ceiling with ventilation
at the top means the hottest stratum of air escapes. Be grim in winter
tho.

Regards, NT