Keeping it in the house

[Ronnn]

We have 28'x10' of glazing in the main section of the house. This is potentially a big source of heat loss. Thinking about this as we were building I kept returning to the dead air idea but all the commercial solutions were expensive. Then opening a package I got it. It was surrounding our vitamins. Bubble pack is mostly dead air and much too small for convection currents to develop. Our intent was to sandwich it in some material we'd like looking at. But just to see how it worked we put up four foot wide sheets of 1 inch bubbles and were pleased with how well it worked. Right away we got used to looking at the bubble pac but the added benefit was all the extra light. You can still tell if it's a buck or a doe, a tom or a hen wandering by outside so we nixed the covering idea and just made curtains of it. The 4x8 PDRs are mounted to posts we made of whole ponderosa pine trees and the bubble pack is wide enough to tuck in between the curvature of the logs and glazing. We put pvc pipe filled with  sand in a loop on the bottom and raise and lower them with string and pulleys just like bamboo curtains. Every two or three years we buy another roll of bp and make them again as they get brittle from the uv. Takes half a day and we are good to go again. If you just get a sheet of this stuff and cover a sunny window with it you will really feel the difference when you take it away. So we use it winter and summer to raise or lower temperatures when we need to. To offset the possible glare of that glazing we have four good sized skylights in the back half of this area  o light up the back of the large room the glazing is in. All the skylights have permanant BP installations in them as well. This is a very easy, inespensive solution to slowing gain or loss thru your skylights or passive glazing. Anyone else do this?

Ron

[wooferhound]

another good story about Bubble Wrap . . .

http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2008/11/3/25839/0497

[birdhouse]

i read in some green architecture book (can't remember which one)  that even double pained sealed units have about the same insulating value as an un-insulated 2 x 4 wall.  funny how so many "green" folks have so much glass in their homes.  

birdhouse

[hydrosun]

I'm trying the bubbles in solar pool covers. It's 12ga and uv resistant. Some people are using over greenhouses in winter. I'm applying it to windows. I've used the bubble wrap in the past and had to replace after a few years. This should last a lot longer and I find it isn't much more expensive in large sizes.

Chris

[Capt Slog]

Yes, I've used bubble wrap for insulation on some wall linings I put in.  My house was built around 1910 before cavities were invented and the north facing walls were very cold in winter.  I put internal linings on these walls which I made from 12mm ply, and used bubble wrap as the filler along with aluminium foil, (foil, wrap, then foil again).  It's made a lot of difference.

At my previous house I converted a bedroom into a bathroom.  At the time there was little cash for a new window so I used bubble wrap to both make the original glass obscure and got the benefit of insulation.

.

[bj]

   That makes sense Birdhouse.  Even triples, argon filled, are only about

R-6.  Wood varies, but rule of thumb is R-1 per inch.  Single pane is kind of like an open hole, except the wind doesn't blow through.

 

[Ronnn]

Yea, the fools call it passive solar. Go figure.

Ron

[Ronnn]

BJ which part makes sense to you having gas filled tripple glazing or that it's dumb to use thermopane glazing for passive solar heat gain. You did know there is a net gain didn't you?

Ron

[Ronnn]

Hi Chris, the pool cover material sounds like a longer lasting solution even tho it' petty simpe to replace them every two years or so. Can you get that stuff clear or is it colored. I've only seen them in black on hot tubs and pools. They do double duty that way. Tho it seems the bubbles would slow down any heat transfer. That's the whole point of the dead air.

Ron

[Ronnn]

Wofferhound, Thanks for the link. Plenty of good uses for this stuff. Chris' pool cover idea has potential if you can get it clear.

Ron

[cuizonbernard01]

love to hear new ideas on house keeping.

[Ronnn]

Chris, took a look around the www at pool covers with bubbles. Can't find any that are clear or anywhere near as cheap as as 400 sq. ft. of bubble pack. I think it was around 40 dollars last time. I wouldn't mind if a pool cover was some acceptable color as long as you could tell the bucks from the does thru it and didn't cost so much. The places I looked at claimed 70% off and still a good bit higher than bubble pac. I know they a heavier material but they are usually non transparent.

Ron

[ghurd]

There is a type of serious heavy duty bubblewrap.

Not sure what they would call it.

The flat non-bubble side?  Both sides are like that.  The bubbles are covered on both sides.

I am sure I can walk on the 3/8" without a bubble breaking.

It weighs a lot too.  Seems like the flat plastic is 2 layers thick.

Uline does not have it, so it must be uncommon.

G-

[hydrosun]

Try googling magnaclear and then check out a few different sites. That's how I found what I bought.

Chris