iMAGiNE LiViNG iN A HOME THAT COST YOU NOTHiNG TO HEAT OR
COOL !
HEAT
Earthships maintain a comfortable temperature in the house
all year around. How do they do that ?
There are two main natural resources that are used in
Earthships. One of them is the sun. We fae the house
towards the sun, with a huge glass front inviting the
warmth to come inside.
Normally the sun heats the surface and when it goes away,
the surface temperature drops down again. But in an
Earthship we create a path for the sun to heat the back
walls of the building. And here we use the second source -
thermal mass. The outer walls of an Earthship are made out
of tires, rammed with Earth. That produces a solid,
indestructible brick that can store heat.
In most cases the back wall of the Earthship is build into
a hill or - if the are is flat - Earth is packed against
the wall. That increases the heat storage capacity. An
additional thermal wrap - some insulation - is installed
between the tire walls and the Earth, that won't let escape
any heat. When there is no sun and it gets colder outside,
the walls will slowly release heat via radiation into
space. It isn't just a pure natural way of heating your
home, it is also much healthier and more comfortable.
Conventional radiators release heat through convection
which produces air flow and moves small particles like dust
around the room.
COOLNESS
If
you want it cooler in your home, you do what you would
normally do - you open up. Earthships have a roof light
that is manually openable. In really sunny areas the glass
front has curtains installed you can pull down if the sun
is just too hot.
Plus - thermal mass works the other way. If it is too hot
outside, the tire walls will keep it cool inside, just like
a giant thick concrete wall will do too. But the tire wall
is totally sustainable, not poisoning the earth.
So there you go - what you need are:
- some old tires that are lying around in a scrap yard
anyway
- Earth which you will probably find on your site when you
dig out the ground for your home
- big glazing for the front of your house - yes that might
be a bit expensive but saves you heating costs for the rest
of your life
- a roof light
Of course every climate requires special attention and
therefore every Earthship will have different needs. In
some areas you will want to have the glazing angled to gain
more solar heat during the winter when the sun is low. In
other areas, like in the Jamaica project I was working on,
we obviously focused more on how to keep the house cool
rather than warm. But so far there have been Earthships
built in almost every climate in the world. They all work
and keep the inhabitants happy.
