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

[Ilan Ungar]

Yes, thats what I thought, as I have read here a long time ago about
extremely thick floor slabs, in climates similar to yours, charged with
solar heat during August-September and slowly releasing it, into the
super-insulated house, during the winter. (the relevant point being, the
house will overcome the inevitable heat loss any enclosed space would have,
and keep going for the winter months)

Thanks.

Ilan.



On Jan 6, 2008 4:25 PM, Speireag Alden <speireag at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> On 2008, Jan 06, at 03:19, Ilan Ungar wrote:
>
> > I thought that a massive floor means long charging time
>
>     It does.
>
> > and equally long draining time.
>
>     It does, assuming you want to let it get all the way back down
> to where you started.  But in the winter, when it's your heat source
> and it's as massive as mine, you don't want to let it get back down
> to where it started, in the autumn, at about 17°C.  That would take
> it a long time, and during that time, you'd probably be uncomfortably
> cold.  You want it to stay a bit above comfort level, so that the
> heat radiating from it counterbalances the lack of heat from the
> nearby windows, doors, and exterior wall surfaces.
>
> > 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?
>
>     No.  It has to lose *some* heat, or the cold air wouldn't warm
> up.  We could make your question an accurate statement:  A one-foot-
> thick slab, once sufficiently charged with heat, will cool very
> little while completely warming a sudden influx of cold air.
>
>     When I said, "left a door swinging", I should have been a bit
> more specific.  I live in New Hampshire, where average daily
> temperatures at this season are around -5 to -10°C.  I'm talking
> about if a door got left swinging in the breeze while you were away
> for the day.  So you've lost a fair amount of heat (and my house is
> small).
>
>     If someone stands in the door for about a minute, letting cold
> air in as they chat, the temperature in my two-room house drops
> noticeably.  Once the door closes, with no heat input, in five to ten
> minutes all is well again.  Technically, you've lost a bit of heat,
> but in practice all that means is that you'll turn the heat on again
> a little sooner than you would have otherwise.
>
> -Speireag.
>
>
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-- 
Ilan Ungar, Architect
Lehavot Habashan 12125
Israel
972 4 6953429
972 52 2431398