JOSEPH ORR'S FABULOUS "MUD HEAT-STORAGE" SOLAR GREENHOUSE

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"We know it is an axiom of the solar economists that total solar heating is not yet economically prudent," Joseph Orr explains. "Our system—however—is actual, tangible proof that the solar economists are wrong!"

BEYOND WET DIRT

When pioneers get to blazing trails, they seldom stop at the first frontier. And so it is with Joe and Amelia Orr. Having demonstrated the feasibility of wet-dirt heat storage, Joe and his wife decided last winter to see if they could simplify their system one step further . . . by removing the water from their 878-cubic-foot underground mud supply.

For a good part of the past winter, the Orrs have been letting the mud in their heat-storage bin dry out while—at the same time—carefully monitoring the performance of the greenhouse solar heating system to see what (if any) changes would take place. The results, thus far, have been encouraging: It seems that heat stored in dry dirt is—if anything—more stable and easier to contain than heat stored in mud. "When the earth was wet," Joe recalls, "its temperature routinely dropped two or three degrees each night. Dry, it drops a mere half a degree per night. So we're seeing less heat loss now."

In theory—Joe points out—some loss in conductivity and heat capacity should occur as the dirt dries out . . . but so far, such changes (if they've occurred) have not affected the performance of the solar heating installation. In fact, the Orrs' greenhouse seems to be performing as well now as it ever has. (Even so, Joe and Amelia are already planning the construction of another greenhouse . . . one that—they say—might rely on a wet-dirt-filled wall for heat storage, or perhaps something even more exotic.)

Regardless of what the Orrs try next, one thing remains certain: Joe and his wife are now firm believers in solar greenhouses. Joe sums it up this way: "Our greenhouse has brought a new joy to winter, a new kind of warmth to our lives . . . the humid, hugging warmth of the sun. We've lived with this `new warmth' now for three winters. We'll never live without it again."

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