I moved away from the humidity [ to SW Colorado] and yes we open up at night and close down during the day.
OK how about a small chiller that cools the slab during the day. There are solar absorption chillers in the UL stage that I have heard about [not seen or used] recently. Thanks - Dana Orzel Great Solar Works, Inc www.solarwork.com E - [EMAIL PROTECTED] V - 970.626.5253 F - 970.626.4140 C - 970.209.4076 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of R. Walters Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2008 4:33 PM To: RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Summer cooling Hi Dana; In-floor heating of a super insulated building is a great idea. In-floor cooling however, has some serious condensation problems and is not a good idea. In earth Air duct systems can harbor mold and Legionaries' disease. Here in Northern New Mexico we use adobes (lots of thermal mass) and open up to the cool night air. When I lived through Texas summers, you either ponied up for AC, went to your mountain home, or suffered. You stated the first 2 steps: super insulate & increase thermal mass. Next ?? : Reduce your cubic footage of air conditioned space. Reduce east & west glazing Grow overhanging deciduous trees on the East & West Use Fans Use some evaporative cooling if possible Use small High efficiency AC units (Sanjo?) Raise thermostat Use geothermal heat pumps Migrate? ?........ Ray Walters On Aug 20, 2008, at 4:03 PM, Dana wrote: I have always wanted to do a super insulated house design that had a large central masonry mass or floor slab with heat tubing that you could cool in the summer during the nighttime and solar heat in the winter with solar. Or an earth tube air duct system that you could pull cool night air through that would cool the slab. I built a Passive Annual Heat Storage home 16 years ago that kept the house at 68 F during the summer in western Washington. I was very comfortable. Any thoughts ? Thanks - Dana Orzel
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