[Strawbale] Strawbale Digest, Vol 8, Issue 25

[S. Janssen]

Retrofitting strawbale

I also have been lurking on this list for a while and was also wondering 
about strawbale retrofit.  Our house was designed to be passive solar 
(although they did go overboard on the West facing windows).  Unfortunately 
we don't have sufficient thermal mass because the slope of the land made a 
slab difficult.  So we are on a crawlspace.  It is somewhat passsive solar. 
We turn our heat off at 8:30 or 9AM on a sunny day and it stays warm until 
the evening when it gets cold fairly quickly.  We couldn't afford 2x6s for 
the framing so we have 2x4 with Fiberglass R-15 insulation, chipwood w/vapor 
barrier surrounding entire house, then hardiplank.  We don't have a lot of 
money and are trying to make our house as energy efficient as possible.  The 
other thing is that we have these great overhangs which in the era of global 
warming and worsening storms are more likely to lead to having our roof 
blown off.  My idea was to put a shell of straw bales around the whole house 
to increase insulation and also decrease the exposed overhang.  Is this a 
crazy idea?  Can anyone point us in a good direction for getting more ideas?

Sarah Janssen
Hillsborough, North Carolina

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <strawbale-request at listserv.repp.org>
To: <strawbale at listserv.repp.org>
Sent: Sunday, February 25, 2007 1:00 PM
Subject: Strawbale Digest, Vol 8, Issue 25


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>   1. Straw Bale retrofit (Bill Jaine)
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> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 08:49:59 -0500
> From: Bill Jaine <anacapa at eagle.ca>
> Subject: [Strawbale] Straw Bale retrofit
> To: Strawbale at listserv.repp.org
> Message-ID: <45E19407.30108 at eagle.ca>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> I have been lurking on list for a time...but.....have now bought a
> cottage (read as small wood shack, 26x26) just outside Westport Ontario.
> Usual thing...on wood piers...6" clearance at back sloping to 2 feet at
> front. Uninsulated, outside biffy (have bought composting toilet....wife
> not awfully keen on using outside potty in minus 20) however a nice
> piece of lakefront.
>
> I'm very interested in using external straw bales to insulate/winterise
> it. Using existing frame/walls, I guess installing a concrete foundation
> for the straw, widening the roof to protect bales from rain, using extra
> width to install decent windows etc
>
> Can anyone point me to site(s) that have done this and all suggestions
> are really welcome.
>
> TIA
>
> Bill (currently in Port Hope Ontario, Canada)
>
>
>
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> End of Strawbale Digest, Vol 8, Issue 25
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