Cob in maritime and cold climates

[Michael Saunby]

David (and the rest of "coblist"), 

I can't give you any fancy figures on the thermal properties of the
cob farmhouse I am sat in at the moment but here are todays
temperatures: 

Outside: 48F Inside: 65F 

There is no heating other than that a couple of hundred watts from the
workstation I'm using now, which was running all night, it is now just
gone 11am.  The temperature inside is pretty constant. This room is
about 15ft x 15ft.  The house is about 40ft x 15ft in total (inside).
The walls are rather thicker than you suggest, about 24 inches.  The
house is thatched, and all windows are small and most are south
facing. This room has one window about  40in x 40in.  One feature
which adds greatly to the comfort is the huge thermal inertia which
nicely smoothes out daily temperature changes. Of course I have the
advantage of being home all day, every day, so when it gets colder I
won't have the problem of trying to raise the inside temperature
quickly.

BTW we don't still use imperial measures in the UK, but since this
thread started in Fahrenheit and inches, I thought it would be fun to
continue.  I doubt this house was built using any known measuring
system, every door is a different size!

-- 
Michael Saunby
Teachmore Farm, Inwardleigh, Okehampton, Devon, United Kingdom. EX20 3AJ