SELF-HEATING, SELF-COOLING HOUSE
(Page 3 of 4)
July/August 1971
By Wendell Thomas
The roof sheathing was covered with roofing felt which should have been painted with aluminum coating for reflective insulation. The roof itself was crimp aluminum. I think corrugated aluminum would have been better for both reflective insulation and hot air drainage in the summertime.
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The masonry walls were waterproofed outside with 2 coats of 1/4" cement plaster plus 2 coats of cement sealer. We insulated the living area walls inside simply by nailing on insulation boards with ordinary nails. We painted the boards Ripple Green.
The virtue of the shed-roof is to promote interior air circulation. The warm air goes up to the highest level, which is at the south. There were two transom windows—one at each end of the high south line—near the ceiling, to let the hot air out in warm weather. The two ventilators, the two doors and the two transom windows gave us plenty of ventilation.
The roof-overhang on the south side kept sunlight from the main windows in June and early July. But during the heat of late July, August and early September the sun was low enough to shine in. To prevent that, I constructed a three-foot wide frame above the windows on which wires were stretched parallel to the south wall. Grapevine and woodbine were easily trained to cover this trellis. Their leaves sheltered us from the sun's rays and the respiration of the leaves cooled the air. In the fall, when sunlight was welcome, the leaves dropped off.
The main windows were fixed and well insulated. The panes were all "double strength", one-eighth of an inch thick. I sealed the inside pane and left the outer one unsealed—like a storm window without a frame—by setting the glass against four little 1/2" blocks. Each block was nailed with one little nail and the pane of glass was fastened with another four nails. The air between the panes is non-humid outside air and does not fog.
I insulated the windows at night and on cold, dark days with heavy pull-drapes after covering the panes with aluminum-painted insulation boards. Two of the large windows were left uncovered, for light, and these special windows were three panes thick! It was nice, on a bitter cold day, to put your hand on the inside pane and feel it warm. The transom windows I fitted with extra panes, and even covered the greater part of the screens with glass in the cold season.
Sunnycave, like Sunnycrest, had cold air drainage slots which gave us a no-draft floor. When someone opened an outside door, the cold winter air drained down to the crawl-space through the register right by the door and did not scoot across the floor. No chilly feet in these dwellings! Children could play on the floor in comfort. You could put a pad on the floor and sleep there just as if you were sleeping on a bed.
Another virtue of the "no draft floor"-aside from saving heat, trouble and expense—is the way it (and the sloping ceiling) promotes internal circulation of air. Even with everything closed, the air in our houses never felt stuffy.
