[Strawbale] PEX, Concrete Slab, Fear of Death (by contractor)

[Ilan Ungar]

" *I have a very massive floor, far more than is probably best for
response time (over a foot of mass), and when I get caught
unexpectedly by cold conditions (as when someone leaves a door
swinging, for instance) I find that the response time is an hour or
so.  In the meantime, a cup of tea and a sweater hold me over nicely.*"

I thought that a massive floor means long charging time and equally long
draining time. Wouldn't the one-foot-thick slab, once sufficiently charged
with heat,
overcome long periods of cold air entering the house without losing it's
heat?
And then, although the air in the house got cold, the floor radiates heat to
occupants and
thermal mass objects, and air temperatures also rise quickly...?

Ilan


On Jan 1, 2008 6:22 PM, Speireag Alden <speireag at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> On 2007, Dec 26, at 17:37, David Neeley wrote:
>
> > There seems to be a general consensus that a three-string bale wall
> > house
> > represents about R30 to R40 (depending on many factors and who was
> > doing the
> > testing, it appears). If you couple this with superior insulation
> > in the
> > attic (seeing that the roof structure is responsible for about 65%
> > of the
> > heat gain or loss in a typical house) and decent windows and doors,
> > the
> > house should hold temperatures very well--and the lag times of a
> > hydronic
> > system would be difficult at best to deal with. Adding in the high
> > cost of
> > the system, and I cannot think it would be a worthwhile investment.
>
>     Everyone always says that hydronic systems are expensive.  Mine
> cost about $1000, ten years ago, for everything including the
> heater.  It has one zone, and an on/off switch, and a brass
> circulating pump.  Currently, the heat source is the same 30-gallon
> electric tank heater which supplies the taps.
>
>     When the floor is running, as we say, the tank heater gets drawn
> down and find equilibrium at about 110°F.  As soon as the floor stops
> running, the tank goes back up to its set-point of 145°F and thereby
> sterilizes its contents.  I did all the work myself.  When it's
> bitterly cold outside, the floor is toasty warm.
>
>     I have a very massive floor, far more than is probably best for
> response time (over a foot of mass), and when I get caught
> unexpectedly by cold conditions (as when someone leaves a door
> swinging, for instance) I find that the response time is an hour or
> so.  In the meantime, a cup of tea and a sweater hold me over nicely.
>
> -Speireag.
>
>
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-- 
Ilan Ungar, Architect
Lehavot Habashan 12125
Israel
972 4 6953429
972 52 2431398