photo #5482698

12-15-'23, “Daily Constitution”, WBR Live, “Hillbilly Friday” pics on wimkin, Some update today about the use of airspace in design construction for insulation and structural heat / cooling storage. The four pics of the home I built (by myself, alone, sans stucco / pointless self-promotion) at 6918 Nacelle Rd., Rio Rancho (Google maps) was my first exploration into this.. Some of the things I did there are the establishment of small rooms around the perimeter, a cement floor patio that absorbs heat in the morning, when it is the most effective, behind enclosed patio door glass, with double patio door opening into the great room for solar heat. The roof insulation is a double layer of composite insulation with an airspace in between That is heated from fan to a exterior solar glass and absorption area in the winter day, and fan vented in the summer to reduce the great room heat load. The interior floor in the great room is sandstone for mass retention, and the fireplace runs on wood and/or Gas (etc.). Everything was/is manual control, but timers and thermostats to fans can control the entire operation automatically. I suppose one could argue that that is what interior doors are for, but not many 'new' homes offer such a designed in option. The 'Tiny House' where I currently live is somewhat limited to the available airspace that can be used to insulate the heated floor space, but, at the same time, there is not much heated space to be worried about. However, I set in a plastic (temp?) walk through barrier inside the patio door main entrance, and on the bath to remove about 50 of 160 sq. ft. heated space into 110 heated space, with eh rest as walk through (mostly unused) atmosphere insulation. With the interior at about 74F, I measured 62F at the door frame, and 64F on the baht porcelain, at a outside temp of 32F. My bill (all electric/w/generator back up) is $133 this month, down 30% from last year. That amounts to about $85 spent on heat. More to come...