[Greenbuilding] Effective R Value Was: Kitty litter

[RT]

On Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:46:52 -0500, Peter/Pam Martin <p2j2 at shaw.ca> wrote:

> <snip>
>> So I'm wondering "Why not just use sawdust or woodchips for kitty litter
>> instead of buying processed wood pellets for the task ?"

> The problem with sawdust is the cat may traipse it around or inhale it,

Sorry. It just occurred to me that I should have been a little more clear.

The "sawdust" that I was thinking of was more like the "noodles" one gets
when using a well-tuned two-man crosscut cut saw or just-sharpened  
chainsaw or the stuff
that sawmills churn out by the mountain -- not really saw "dust" like what  
one
might get when using a smaller toothed/narrower kerfed blade like those on
hand-held circular saws or shop table saws etc.

ie No risk of inhaling unless your cat is part Dyson or Hoover.

To prevent Ms Cat the embarrassment of having little bits of wood noodles
stuck to her heels when emerging from the litter box, perhaps the sawdust
could be pre-mixed in a clay slip, perhaps in bulk, a wheelbarow-full at a
time, compressed into large tiles or sheets, then dried in the sun and  
once dry,
busted up into pellet-sized chunks ?


> What is an effective R value? (of earth)

I doubt that the thermal properties of earthen materials have
changed much in the past half century so any copy of the ASHRAE
Handbook of Fundamentals or the UK equivalent, (the IHVE  
something-or-other ?) should provide good numbers.


-- 
=== * ===
Rob Tom
Kanata, Ontario, Canada

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