Cool comfort in the summer.

We promised to add a review of the summer performance of our adobe home and here it is.  Although temperatures get up into the 90's during the hottest days of the summer the overnight temperatures drop down into the 50's on most nights.  Although refrigerated a/c or evaporative coolers (swamp coolers) are used almost universally in the area, we chose to have absolutely no assisted cooling in our adobe other than the beautiful characteristics of the thick adobe walls.


Opening the lower panes of the windows on the south and the upper panes of the windows on north, and with the help of prevailing breezes from the south, cool air flows in, warm air flows out, and the thermal mass inside the home (thick adobe walls and brick-on-sand floors) cools down overnight.  This cool interior combined with quality insulation, and a limited number of small windows on the north, east and west keeps the home comfortable throughout the heat of the day as the following graph covering two weeks in August, 2011 clearly illustrates.    

Outside temperatures (red) vary from a high of 98°F (37°C) to a low of 53ºF (12°C). Inside temperatures (green) stayed in a comfortable range from a high of 78°F (26°C) to a low of 68°F (20°C).

Passive Solar Heating Works!

With the weather back to normal it is interesting to see how the temperatures in our adobe home are maintained throughout the outside temperature cycles.  Here you can see how the winter sun covers much of the room via the south-facing windows.  The trombe walls (seven in all) stay approximately 80° on the inside surface continuously radiating warmth into the rooms.  During the day the sun directly warms the brick floors and inside adobe walls.  These continue to warm the rooms overnight when we lower the insulating shades over the windows.  The shades help keep the warmth from escaping during the night.  The end result (see the temperature graph below) is very impressive.  Although the outside temperature drops as low as 20° and never gets above 65° (these are normal for this time of year) the room temperatures stay comfortable.  With our thermostats set at 63° the radiant heat boiler never came on during the entire week surveyed.  You can see the room temperature rose as high as 76° and only dipped below 65° once (on a cloudy day). 

Of course around the 1st of February when we experienced a low of -30°, our boiler had to work to keep the room temperatures at 63°.  However, even when the outside temps hovered around 0° during the day, the sun warmed up the rooms to almost 70°.  I would conclude that our passive solar system combined with the thick adobe walls really works to save energy costs and keep the home very comfortable. 

In the summer we will be back to report on the solar adobe's performance in the summer heat.



Living a Dream.

Living room with kitchen in the background.

I have to admit, there were times when I didn't know if we would get everything completed and actually move into our dream home, but here we are, all moved in and loving every minute of it.

It is hard to capture the true essence of the home with photos, but here you can see some of our favorite design elements.

The living room is where we spend most of our time.  We can visit, watch TV, enjoy the fireplace, or just hang out whether we are working in the kitchen or snacking in the breakfast nook (to the left of the kitchen in the photo).  The door leading in from the air lock entry is on the right.

Solar Heat

We moved in on 3 December and for the first 5 days we had no heat (the propane tank was not hooked up). We had only the sun and our fireplace to warm the inside.  Good thing we had clear skies and warm sun because the temperatures dropped to the low teens over night and never got above 28°.  But inside our adobe it ranged from a cool (but tolerable) 60°in the morning to 71° by noon.  Now we have the propane tank hooked up and filled up, and heat to warm the floors when necessary.

The Count Rumford Fireplace

The passive solar continues to work great, as long as the sun is out.  Temperatures in the morning drop down to our thermostat settings of 63°, but by noon it is up to 70°-72° without any help from the radiant heating system.  Of course the rooms on the north side of the house are closed off and don't enjoy the benefits of the passive solar.  They include my bathroom, the utility room, and closets and are designed to be thermal buffers to the living areas.

Air Lock Entry

Another wonderful design element is the front entry air lock.  It is an entry room, we also use as mud room, fitted with two insulated entry doors.  Thus, any cold air that blows in as the outside door is opened is trapped here before it can get into the living room.  It is also a good place to leave winter coats and shoes and a convenient stash of firewood.



East Wing Hall

  The layout of the house exposes all the living areas to the warming rays of the sun in the winter but an engineered overhang of the roof shades them in the summer. The two spare bedrooms (one we use as an office/crafts room), utility room (including washer/dryer, water heater, and the boiler for the radiant heating system), a large storage room (which also functions as the closet for the back bedroom) and the spare bath with shower make up the east wing. The utility room, spare bath and large storage closet line the north wall while the bedrooms line the south and enjoy the benefits of the passive solar heat, with a long narrow hallway in between.

The master bedroom, and master bath also enjoy southern exposure (and passive solar heat) while two walk-in line the north wall.  Separating the two wings is the open kitchen/living room, or great room.

Keeping to the "old look" theme, the master bath has a new claw foot tub but the vanity is an 1880's wash stand with a marble top and a ceramic vessel sink.  The towel rack is a pueblo style ladder.

Here is a brief video tour of our adobe home.



Master bath with 1880 wash stand
vanity with vessel sink.

 


Master Bedroom



Final Color Coat

The southern exposure.

Looking at the west and north walls.

 The exterior finish of our new adobe home is all complete.  The stucco protecting the natural adobes is on.  The flagstone atop all the parapets and buttresses is installed and sealed.  The windows and wood trim is all primed and painted.  The roof is complete with seamless cutters and drains (rain collection barrels will be added later).  Of course flagstone porches and the final grading will be completed once all the construction inside is completed.  We can't wait to move in.

North side showing the "air lock" entry.