[Strawbale] concrete floor vs. wood floor

[Robert Tom]

Shody Ryon qi4u at yahoo.com wrote:

> A tromb (sp) wall has solar energy input often every 24 hrs.

I was just having a look at Don's message (hay Don, it's that time of the  
year for our annual porcupine hunt isn't it ?) on moisture control and  
caught a glimpse of the qote above and said to myself "Huh ??"

I think that the only places (on this planet anyway) where a Trombe wall  
would have solar energy input "often every 24 hrs" would be above the  
Arctic Circle and perhaps below the Antarctic Circle, and even then, it  
would only be during the early part of the summer for a couple of months.

For the rest of us, or at least for those of us in my part of the world,  
useful solar gains in winter would only occur between the hour of ~10 am  
to ~2pm ( ie a 4 hour window of opportunity) when the Trombe wall is  
oriented due south.

As to the question of a concrete floor vs a wood floor, I'd say "it  
depends".

If the floor is to be elevated any appreciable distance so that the space  
underneath the floor is usable as living space, then a relatively  
lightweight wood floor would make sense, especially if the framing is  
exposed (ie heavy timber) and plank flooring is used so that the floor  
does double duty as the ceiling for the space below.

If the floor is only slightly elevated (say 600 mm or less above grade) or  
is at or below grade, then a wood floor would be a poor choice except that  
the descriptor "poor" would be inappropriate because it would consume more  
material and cost more than a concrete or earthen floor.

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Rob Tom
Kanata, Ontario, Canada
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