[Cob] PaperCob!

[GlobalCirclenet]

Sure heat loss through walls is a huge deal - if you have no insulation at all in the walls. But you have to compare total heat loss for the whole house, conventional insulation versus straw in the walls with conventional everywhere else. Why? Because you can't make a roof of strawbales. Straw can only raise the R-value in the walls, not the whole house. And adding R-value in walls  above that of standard insulation reaches a point of diminishing returns on investment. Gee, why not make a house of popsicle sticks? Why limit it to straw? 


paul tradingpost at lobo.net

Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes. 
--Henry David Thoreau 
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>On 7/6/2006 at 2:07 PM Clint Popetz wrote:

>>Aiee!  No!  It is true that hot _air_ rises, but heat travels in all
>>directions at once.  Heat loss through walls is a huge deal.  I'll
>>admit your attic is the first place to look if it's not properly
>>insulated, but after that, getting a good vapor barrier on a wall, and
>>decent insulation, and looking out for thermal bridging...these things
>>are a must for a well-insulated house.
>>
>>-Clint
>