[Greenbuilding] Year-round thermal comfort & insulation

Lynelle A. Hamilton lynelle at lahamilton.com
Mon Jul 16 08:23:02 CDT 2018


I have a Durisol/Nexcem house, second one, actually. It is well-sealed 
and has additional insulation to total approx. R40 in the wall assembly. 
The temperature does not fluctuate widely, although the house is still 
under construction and has only partial ceiling insulation at the 
moment. During the last heat wave we had in Ontario, the house remained 
cool, although humidity increased to uncomfortable levels eventually. 
The mini-split isn't hooked up in the new house as yet, but we did open 
windows and it wasn't unbearable. Standing in front of the south facing 
wall outside was another matter entirely...

Within reason, we don't seem to pay attention as much to temp; we notice 
temp /fluctuations/, Avoiding those to a great degree means I can set 
the heat lower in the winter and usually avoid a/c altogether in the 
summer, (using only the dehumidifier option on the mini-split.)

My (Canadian) nickel's worth, as we no longer have pennies.

Lynelle Hamilton
On 2018-07-15 3:10 AM, Paul Hadfield wrote:
> Reuben says: "Thermal mass (such as a brick or stone wall) would I think do a much better job producing comfortably cool summer evenings, but would not accomplish much in the winter"
> As Mike says, doesn't thermal mass provide a flywheel of heat through cold periods, asbuilding 2226 
> <https://www.detail-online.com/article/house-without-heating-office-building-in-austria-16667/>  (non-domestic, admittedly) shows?
> Paul Hadfield.
>
>
> On Sat, 14 Jul 2018 at 19:00, 
> <greenbuilding-request at lists.bioenergylists.org 
> <mailto:greenbuilding-request at lists.bioenergylists.org>> wrote:
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>        1. Year-round thermal comfort & insulation (Reuben Deumling)
>        2. Re: Year-round thermal comfort & insulation (Mike O'Brien)
>
>
>
>     ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>     From: Reuben Deumling <9watts at gmail.com <mailto:9watts at gmail.com>>
>     To: Greenbuilding <greenbuilding at lists.bioenergylists.org
>     <mailto:greenbuilding at lists.bioenergylists.org>>
>     Cc:
>     Bcc:
>     Date: Sat, 14 Jul 2018 07:43:24 -0700
>     Subject: [Greenbuilding] Year-round thermal comfort & insulation
>     I like insulation: the more the better as far as I'm concerned.
>     For keeping the cold out (speaking colloquially) I've found that
>     careful attention to air sealing and insulation pays huge
>     dividends. But for keeping the summer heat out, I'm finding that
>     the same insulation does a far less admirable job. Stretches of
>     direct sun not only manage to heat up the room/house, it feels
>     like the insulation then does a good job of holding that
>     just-gained heat in. While cool nights with the windows open
>     typically solves the problem in our relatively mild PNW climate
>     I'm still perplexed why the seasonal symmetry I (naively) expected
>     is not evident.
>     The walls in question have two parallel but isolated sets of studs
>     and as much dense packed cellulose as I my Forec 2 insulation
>     blower can force into the nooks and crannies. Thermal mass (such
>     as a brick or stone wall) would I think do a much better job
>     producing comfortably cool summer evenings, but would not
>     accomplish much in the winter. Are there hybrid wall assemblies
>     I'm not aware for? What am I missing?
>
>     Planned remedies: learn to make exterior shutters, plant more trees.
>
>     Thanks!
>
>
>
>     ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>     From: "Mike O'Brien" <obrien at hevanet.com <mailto:obrien at hevanet.com>>
>     To: Green Building <greenbuilding at lists.bioenergylists.org
>     <mailto:greenbuilding at lists.bioenergylists.org>>
>     Cc:
>     Bcc:
>     Date: Sat, 14 Jul 2018 08:40:38 -0700
>     Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] Year-round thermal comfort & insulation
>     Hi, Reuben—
>
>     In our house we used lots of insulation, and also thermal mass.
>     The house is built on a slab, the southern end has a clay finish
>     floor, it has Durasol walls on the south side, and there is a cob
>     wall in the interior. We also installed an ecoroof on the south
>     facing side, which helps reduce thermal gains on that area. I
>     believe the thermal mass helps dampen the temperature swings,
>     especially noticable in extreme weather. The west-facing windows
>     are shaded by a big cedar tree and a (sprawling) wisteria, and the
>     west-facing roof has solar water panels on it. With your same
>     night-flushing strategy, our house remains comfortable, even when
>     the outdoors is in the 90s.
>
>     Best,
>
>     Mike
>     (503) 819-8991
>
>
>     On Jul 14, 2018, at 7:43 AM, Reuben Deumling <9watts at gmail.com
>     <mailto:9watts at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     I like insulation: the more the better as far as I'm concerned.
>     For keeping the cold out (speaking colloquially) I've found that
>     careful attention to air sealing and insulation pays huge
>     dividends. But for keeping the summer heat out, I'm finding that
>     the same insulation does a far less admirable job. Stretches of
>     direct sun not only manage to heat up the room/house, it feels
>     like the insulation then does a good job of holding that
>     just-gained heat in. While cool nights with the windows open
>     typically solves the problem in our relatively mild PNW climate
>     I'm still perplexed why the seasonal symmetry I (naively) expected
>     is not evident.
>     The walls in question have two parallel but isolated sets of studs
>     and as much dense packed cellulose as I my Forec 2 insulation
>     blower can force into the nooks and crannies. Thermal mass (such
>     as a brick or stone wall) would I think do a much better job
>     producing comfortably cool summer evenings, but would not
>     accomplish much in the winter. Are there hybrid wall assemblies
>     I'm not aware for? What am I missing?
>
>     Planned remedies: learn to make exterior shutters, plant more trees.
>
>     Thanks!
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>
> -- 
> Paul Hadfield
> Firelight Open Fires Ltd
> Springside House
> Scotland Lane
> Burton Overy
> Leicester LE8 9DR
> Email : paul.hadfield at firelight.co.uk 
> <mailto:paul.hadfield at firelight.co.uk>
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