On July 11, 2009, I moved into my newly completed cob house. It’s now been over a year since the move-in, and there have been many learning lessons along the way. I’d like to present a number of those lessons here in my one year report of living in a cob house.
Here we go…
This is a call for information from folks living in cob houses in cold climates – by cold, let’s say places that frequently have below freezing temperatures in the wintertime. If you live in a cob house in an area with cold and/or extended winters, can you describe the construction of your home and your heating system?
How thick are your walls? Do you have any insulation (in the roof, stemwall, floor, etc.?) What is the square footage of your space?
How are you heating your house? How often do you run your stove? Is the home occupied full-time during winter days?
Finally, can you provide average indoor/outdoor temperatures? How comfortable does your cob house stay?
I will followup with some insight into winter conditions in my cob house in the near future.
I’ve been researching efficient, small wood stoves that could replace the rocket stove in my house. Most home wood stove manufacturers’ smallest models heat 800-1000 square feet at a minimum, which is overkill for my 200 round foot home. However, the house will probably benefit from the extra oomph with all of that (cold, cold) thermal mass and lack of insulation. Here are the two top contenders that I have been researching.
Here are a couple of photos of the tiny, super ragamuffin wood stove April and I are using right now. It’s manufactured by the Buckeye Incubator Co. Our setup is extremely tacked together, as you can see — the stovepipe runs out the top half of a double hung window. We didn’t exactly have enough stovepipe, so we straightened out some elbows to make a short straight run for inside the house. Outside, the stack rises a few feet above the eaves and is wired to the rafters to prevent it from shaking in the wind.
We used two perfectly sized sheets of metal (thanks Bob) and cut holes in the middle to seal up the window. Aluminum tape covers the edges and keeps air from sneaking in.
With this little thing, we can get the whole house decently cozy in about thirty minutes.
I’ll be happy to have a better quality stove in the house!
In our journey back home to Dancing Rabbit, April and I brainstormed ideas of how we could better button up the house for winter. At the time, the house was in the 30s, the rocket stove was clearly not going to keep us warm, and we didn’t have plans in place for a temporary stove yet. We expected to be cold. But we wanted to do what we could to make things more comfortable.
I have officially proclaimed the rocket stove “not working”. The stove simply does not draw on days without the right wind direction/intensity. It is unreliable. Even when the wind is right, the stove takes too long to heat up (even the barrel itself!) At times, it smokes into the house, which is added frustration.
Something is not right, unfortunately. The stove just does not keep the house warm. When April was home alone in December, she struggled to keep the indoor temperature in the 40s! That is not really livable.
After a week of travel in early January, I returned home to Dancing Rabbit… to cloudy, gray, cold Missouri. After days of thick clouds, the Common House’s power system was depleted and we went powerless (for the first time on this solar system) for five full days! Whoa.
Anyway, I have a fair amount of news to write about, but I have an inbox full of email to get to… It’s piled up after not being checked for two weeks…
But once I have a cool minute, there is some news regarding the rocket stove, winter conditions in the cob house, and future plans for home heat. Stay tuned! It’s been an interesting past couple of weeks…
The past few weeks have been the first real test for my rocket stove with outdoor temperatures dipping below freezing at nights, and daytime temperatures in the 30s-40s. (This week has below freezing daytimes, with wind chills in the negatives – but I am with family in NJ and April is at home tending the stove, so I keep hoping that it works well for her…) I have been firing the stove fairly regularly, and I’ve learned a good deal about its performance – or unfortunate lack of, at crucial times!
I recently got back from traveling. I have been away for six weeks, so I have not been able to closely monitor the condition of my cob house throughout this very cold Missouri winter.
The night I returned, I went to check out the interior of my house with a flashlight. The outside temperature was something like 1°F or less, and lower with the wind chill. Almost the entire interior of the house was glistening with an icy sheen – the walls, and ceiling all had a light coat of ice. It actually looked quite beautiful but it made me a little concerned. I’m not sure if it’s the result of moisture that is still locked in the house, or from condensation, or what. There is some light mold in some spots, too.
Should I be worried? I’m not sure. Is it enough moisture to cause a problem? I wish I knew. If anyone has had a similar experience, I’d love to hear more.
Hi there, I’m Ziggy. In 2008, I launched The Year of Mud while building my first natural home. This website is a collection of personal stories and experiences building with clay, straw, and wood over the past 15+ years. A few of the things that get me fired up are natural plasters, timber framing, & Japanese architecture. In 2012, we started offering Natural Building Workshops, so you can learn essential hands-on skills to build your own natural home.