Comfort: Earthships maintain comfortable temperatures in any climate.

We must become more aware of how we use our energy.

Comfort: Earthships maintain comfortable temperatures in any climate. The planet Earth is a thermally stabilizing mass that delivers temperature without wires or pipes. The sun is a nuclear power plant that also delivers without wires or pipes.

Different climates around the world require different designs for the home to interact with these two sources of temperature.

The outer few feet of the earth heats up and cools off in response to surface weather. However, deeper in the earth, about four feet and beyond, the temperature is more constant (around 58 degrees). Here, the earth can be used to both cool and stabilize temperature if the home is appropriately designed.

Earthships are thermal mass homes first, passive solar homes second. Therefore, the layout and design of the Earthship can be completely customized to look like any conventional home, and still be sustainable.

The "generic" earthship designs are what works the best, both in terms of economics and energy efficiency.

Because of the way Earthships interact with the sun and the earth, little to no fossil fuels are required to maintain a comfortable, stable temperature in any climate.

Warmth

If you want heat, you admit the sun. The sun heats the mass, the mass stores the heat and the insulation won't let it escape. The more mass, the more storage capacity. When there is no sun, the heat stored in the mass radiates into the space, for heat travels to the cooler direction.

Coolness

If you want coolness, you admit the cooler earth temperature and block the sun. The cool mass of the earth connects with the mass of the shelter, is absorbed into the shelter mass and leaks into the living space. This is like hooking a big battery (the earth) up to a smaller battery (the shelter). The thermal mass of both the earth and shelter is a storage battery for temperature.

Insulation & Thermal Mass

In recent years humans have recognized the fact that insulation can help keep temperature in a shelter. Insulation, however, neither collects nor stores temperature. It simply blocks the passage of temperature from inside to out and visa versa.

Good insulation has millions of tiny air spaces. The presence of air spaces tends to slow up the movement of temperature by causing it to pass from air space to air space as opposed to moving easily through unobstructed dense mass.

Dense mass both collects and stores temperature like a jar holds marbles. Examples of dense mass are stone, water, compacted earth, or concrete. There is a major difference between mass and insulation and this difference is not very clearly understood. Dense means no voids or air spaces. The more dense the mass the more temperature it holds. This density actually acts as a conduit for temperature.

The people made shelter by assembling pieces one at a time. They put pieces together around themselves not upon themselves Soon they had created shelter around themselves They were in shelter The people also found happiness by manifesting it piece at a time They manifest happiness all around themselves not for themselves Soon they had created happiness all around themselves They were in happiness Both shelter and happiness can be achieved by focusing outside of self.

We are simply adapting our needs to the already existing activities of the planet.

Why pipe water long distances from a centralized community water system, or from an expensive well that needs significant electrical power, depletes aquifers and lowers the water table, when water fall from the sky?

Why have a corporate or political "middle man" between us and our energy needs? our vessel (home) must be designed to sail with the forces that exist beyond human control and exploitation.

An understanding of mechanical systems for most humans is limited to what is within reach of their fingertips. It is understood that when you flip a switch on the wall, a light comes on. when you turn on the faucet, hot water comes out. When you pull the handle on the toilet, it flushes. Little though is given to where the electricity comes from or what kind of nuclear waste was produced to generate it. how many of us even know where the power plant is that supplies our power. Few people ever wonder which water table is depleted to bring them water and what chemicals have been added to it. Where does the sewage go after it is flushed and which rivers and lakes are polluted by it?

Humans need comfortable temperatures, light, electricity, hot water, food, sewage treatment, etc. These necessities are all available within the framework of a certain "rhythm" in the Earthship. The more we are able to align our priorities and needs with the prevailing rhythms of the planet, the easier and less expensive (both in terms of economics and ecology) they will be to obtain.

If our lifestyles can conform more to the patterns of the planet than to our socioeconomic system, we can reduce the stress on both ourselves and the planet. This is easier said than done due to the "reality" and the "gravity" of mortgage payments, utility bills and the generally high cost of eating and living. Most of us have no choice. We have to be places at certain times looking certain ways in order to make the money needed to make those payments. However, many people have built Earthships themselves and ended up with little to no mortgage payment. They also have little or no utility bills and their ability to grow food year-round inside the Earthship has greatly affected what they have to spend on packaged, processed foods.

The condition of our planet tells us we must now begin to take responsibility for what happens beyond the reach of our fingertips. We must begin to reconsider the source of these utilities, our access to them, and how we dispose of the waste produced. The mechanical systems of the Earthship confront these issues directly. We call this direct living. Source, access and destination are all contained within the Earthship, within the reach of our fingertips. There is no mystery involved in Earthship electricity. There is no unknown source of water. There is no magical black hole that sucks up all our sewage. Instead, we work in harmony with the earth to deal with these issues - taking what it has to give us directly and giving back what it wants to receive. With this harmony ringing in our minds we evolve the Earthship Systems.

SweetGrass

Re:Comfort: Earthships maintain comfortable temper Apr 14 2010 00:47:05 Here is a good article about the Miles City Earthship with some awesome pictures - Earthship experience IMHO, there isn't a better looking ES anywhere (excepting the Phoenix, maybe) - very nicely done!

#3961

Dowser

Re:Comfort: Earthships maintain comfortable temperatures in any climate. Apr 15 2010 01:53:21 Don't forget the Ridiculous Humidity if you're around the Great Lakes.

#3987

SweetGrass

Re:Comfort: Earthships maintain comfortable temper Apr 15 2010 03:08:15 SweetGrass wrote: Here is a good article about the Miles City Earthship with some awesome pictures - Earthship experience IMHO, there isn't a better looking ES anywhere (excepting the Phoenix, maybe) - very nicely done! Another attempt at the link: http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_30b8c6aa-1dbb-11df-9e39-001cc4c002e0.htmlEarthship experience

#3988

Nightowl

Re:Comfort: Earthships maintain comfortable temperatures in any climate. Apr 18 2010 12:28:27 well most of the earthships they have built already are in new mexico.... I would guess it gets really hot there in the summer and they are working just fine?

#4072

Chet

Re:Comfort: Earthships maintain comfortable temperatures in any climate. May 21 2010 17:39:00 Are there any successful, finished Earthships in northern climates? Comfortable in any climate is a big statement to make.

#4424

earthship

Re:Comfort: Earthships maintain comfortable temperatures in any climate. May 21 2010 19:54:01 Scotland: www.sci-scotland.org.uk/earthship_centre.shtml There are some scattered throughout Canada. www.earthship.com/canada

#4426

Chet

Re:Comfort: Earthships maintain comfortable temperatures in any climate. May 21 2010 20:06:06 Good question. Comfortable temperatures in ANY climate is a bold statement...

#4428

earthship

Re:Comfort: Earthships maintain comfortable temperatures in any climate. May 22 2010 00:33:34 There is also an owner builder Earthship in Sweden. Location posted on the Global Network map: earthship.com/europe

#4430

earthship

Re:Comfort: Earthships maintain comfortable temperatures in any climate. May 27 2010 05:45:23 venting. the home can be vented, each room can have a cooling tube and side airlocks can have vents. Earthships deal with humid climates the same as conventional homes.

#4484

PauletteZander

Re:Comfort: Earthships maintain comfortable temperatures in any climate. May 27 2010 09:01:44 Hello, So sorry for the delay in responding, it's been very busy in Taos and I have been on vacation. Unfortunately, we don't know where all the Earthships are because we have not built them all! Also, we respect the privacy of our clients and not disclose their exact locations,if that is their wish. We can tell you, however, that there are Earthships in Canada and other Northern climes--and you can get a good idea of their locations just by googling the county/province/state and "Earthship." An astonishing number of people who built their own Earthships have a blog or a website. Generally speaking, Earthships perform well in most climates, some adjustments are required for extreme temperatures, including a back-up source of heat, for example. Hope this helps.

#4486

Greenman_KC

Re:Comfort: Earthships maintain comfortable temperatures in any climate. May 28 2010 02:18:28 I have been doing some additional research on earth cooling tubes. There is material on the web and several text books discussing how a well placed cooling tube can not only lower the outside summer temps but also drop the humidity level. I don't have a total understanding on yet but have talked with folks here in the Kansas City area that say it is very feasible. If it works in KC then that will be something the wife will be very excited about.

#4496

earthship

Re:Comfort: Earthships maintain comfortable temperatures in any climate. May 28 2010 20:07:49 The heat and the moisture is pulled out of the cooling tubes from the cooling mass of the earth surrounding the cooling tubes. The heat gathered in the upper part of the frontface and the vent located there works with the cooling tubes to create a natural 'convection engine' that 'pulls' air into the cooling tubes from outside. The air is cooled and enters the earthship in the back and bottom of the room and moves through the earthship, then gets 'sucked out' of the top of the front face as it heats up.

#4502

earthship

Re:Comfort: Earthships maintain comfortable temperatures in any climate. May 28 2010 20:09:09 there is also a button at the bottom of every thread to subscribe. thanks!

#4503

Greenman_KC

Re:Comfort: Earthships maintain comfortable temperatures in any climate. May 30 2010 19:59:18 There are a few different ways to implement the cooling tube, most likely dependent on where you live. Almost all concepts have the cooling tube installed with at least a 2% drop in grade. Some us a corrugated type plastic tube with a slot cut in the bottom of the tube for moisture to drain out into the earth. Another approach is to have the grade running back toward the home using a catch basin as the tube enters the home and a sump pump to pump out the moisture. Others run the grade down away from the house, either to open air or to a catch basin with a sump pump. I would think the grade away from the home to be the best choice since it would prohibit any unknown sources of water running back into the home. Some folks are using corrugated tubing and others are using smooth wall tubing. It may depend on what is available locally and how much you have to spend. I am thinking you really need to understand your local weather pattern and then decide what you want your comfort level inside your home to be.

#4509

tex1958

Re:Comfort: Earthships maintain comfortable temperatures in any climate. May 31 2010 20:22:29 to increase the comfort in an earthship in central texas east of austin... what should the orientation of the glass front be? around here we are used to capturing the southern breezes in the summer. few freezing days in the winter. i think in the book "comfort..." talks about aiming it to the north. sounds awful dark inside. is that still the way to go?

#4514

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