Cob: SOME COB HOUSE WINTER COMFORT FACTORS

[DoNegard at aol.com]

Michael

<< I wish you had mentioned the comfort level you felt in the houses you have 
lived in.>>Don in Hot Springs, SD>>

<<On what scale?>>Michael Saunby

SOME HOME-MADE SCALES
FOR COMPARING COMFORT LEVELS

ELEMENTS OF NATURE
1. Sheltered from wind (behind hill, valleys, canyons) or open to prevailing 
wind.
2. Wooded or barren ground.
3. Latitude.
4. Times of the day.
5. Sunny, cloudy or cloudy-bright.
6. Prairie, hilly or mountainous.
7. Heating days without sun per winter.

FEATURES OF THE BUILDING
1. Inside area of building.
2. Height of ceilings.
3. Type and amount of insulation above ceilings.
4. Type and amount of insulation in walls.
5. Interior wall materials.
6. Number of stories.
7. Number of rooms on each story.
8. The tightness/draftiness of the building.
9. Square footage of sunlit and non-sunlit windows.
10. The temperature in the building at different distances above the floor.  
(Was it too cold to sit on the floor on a rug? When you stood up from a 
chair, did you notice a layer of warmer air?)
11. Type of heating plant (fireplace, central heat, furnace, space heater).
12. Was fire kept burning all night?

PERSONAL  ELEMENTS
1. Number of layers of clothing (wool, cotton, other) you wore to be 
comfortable in different activities (sleeping, sitting reading or knitting, 
making meals, woodworking).
2. Height you were in the building (floor, chair, standing, in loft or upper 
story).
3. Pajamas and bedcovers number of layers and materials and thicknesses.
4. Height of bed above floor.
5. Bathroom or outhouse (times exterior door was opened).
6. Number of people living in the building.
7. Where did the dog and cat sleep?

Don Negard in Hot Springs, SD