[Greenbuilding] [BULK] Re: passive solar homes - floors

[Lawrence Lile]

>I'd say that if an unheated (but well-insulated) direct gain slab is  
deemed to FEEL cold to some bare-footed tenderfoot,

Ha Ha!  And hear!-hear! for your additions to the list of common
mistakes.  

 
 
Lawrence Lile, P.E., LEED AP

-----Original Message-----
From: greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org
[mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org] On Behalf Of Rob Tom
Sent: Monday, June 11, 2007 11:04 AM
To: Greenbuilding
Subject: [BULK] Re: [Greenbuilding] passive solar homes - floors
Importance: Low

On Mon, 11 Jun 2007 09:25:31 -0400, Lawrence Lile <LLile at projsolco.com>

wrote:
[portions with which I agree <snipped> for brevity]

> Concrete floors are definitely hard on the feet.  FEELS cold If a  
> concrete floor is 80F, it still feels cool to the touch.


I think that people's perceptions of comfort vary considerably from the

statement above.

Me ?

I have unheated concrete floors (or stone or porcelain tile over) and  
*always* go barefoot ... and like it.

I find that bare feet on a sun-warmed concrete floor in winter when it's

cold enough outside to freeze the nuts off of an iron bridge is almost
as  
delightful as showering from a rainbarrel outside in a summer breeze
after  
a morning ride.

OTOH, I can't stand walking around barefoot on a hydronically-heated
floor.
Too hot for me.

I'd say that if an unheated (but well-insulated) direct gain slab is  
deemed to FEEL cold to some bare-footed tenderfoot, that that
cold-footed  
person might consider wearing socks and/or slippers so that the rest of
us  
normal people (ie coolfoots) don't have to go around with our feet all  
scrunched-up in an attempt to minimise contact with an unnaturally hot  
floor.

And "no" I don't think that I'm just being a machoMooseHugger.
I have a 96 year-old living in my home who doesn't have any problem  
standing/walking/living on the unheated tiled concrete floors. But she  
doesn't go barefoot.

> Biggest common mistakes in solar:

In addition to LL-man's list I would add:

- Not enough attention paid to increasing levels of insulation and  
meticulous air-sealing
   and more often than not, throwing in way too much equator-facing
glass  
instead.

- omitting properly scaled overhangs or other permanent shading devices
to  
prevent unwanted gains during the summer months