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Family Lives in the Arctic Circle by Building Cob House in a Solar Geodesic Dome
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- MeteorMarc 10y agoThe link to SolarDome explains the dome uses single glass, so the dome has virtually no isolation. In other words, it freezes inside unless they have external energy sources for heating.
- JshWright 10y agoThere is a fully functional house inside the dome. The dome itself has no insulation, but the massive 'dead' air space between the dome and the house provides a huge amount of insulation. The dome by itself isn't that interesting. It's the dome/house system that provides the benefits. It means they can spend a lot less on heating fuel.
- upofadown 10y agoOpen air will convect like crazy. ... and the area of the glass is much larger than the outside area of the building. So chances are things will cool down quite quickly once the sun goes down.
- JshWright 10y agoIt will convect a lot less than a 15 knot wind... It will certainly cool down, but there is no way the dome is anything but a net-win in terms of thermal efficiency (is it enough to offset the cost of the dome? I don't know... but it will absolutely reduce the amount of heat lost by the house)
- schiffern 10y ago>In other words, it freezes inside unless they have external energy sources for heating. Such as... the sun. Greenhouses are actually quite effective at night (or through a long arctic winter), since they're designed to keep in infrared radiation. This one also acts as a windbreak. So any sources of heat (eg a clean burning rocket stove, or even just your metabolic heat) will be more effective inside the greenhouse. With that much glass, for most of the year they should need no heating, and in the dark winter they should need a lot less.
- upofadown 10y agoGlass will happily absorb infrared and reradiate it outside. In the dark it's just a single pane window ... a really big single pane window. Such things are known for being really good at transferring heat. The rule of thumb is a single R value per pane.
- schiffern 10y ago>Glass will happily absorb infrared and reradiate it outside. And some fraction will also radiate inward, so overall the total radiant heat flux is lower. This is the aptly named "greenhouse effect."
- credit_guy 10y agoOr not. The so called greenhouse effect is not what keeps a real greenhouse warm. Here's the relevant wikipedia quote: "a greenhouse is not primarily warmed by the "greenhouse effect". A greenhouse works primarily by allowing sunlight to warm surfaces inside the structure, but then preventing absorbed heat from leaving the structure through convection." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_effect https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_effect
- schiffern 10y agoHah, I stand corrected. Not-so-aptly-named I suppose!
- joshvm 10y agoBear in mind that snow is a pretty good insulator. After all, igloos are viable housing for some people and many animals hibernate in burrows under the snow. This means that in the winter the snow should stay on the roof. Assuming the weight isn't an issue and the house is sufficiently insulating that it doesn't melt it, then you would actually prefer this. Above the arctic circle this isn't much of a problem for illumination because it's dark all day anyway (typically you get a brief twilight period). https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/snow/science/characteristics.html https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/snow/science/characteristics.ht... Solardome can produce double glazed systems as well, but presumably single glazing is a lot cheaper. http://www.solardome.co.uk/domestic/dome-uses/domestic-self-build/ http://www.solardome.co.uk/domestic/dome-uses/domestic-self-...
- api 10y agoThings like this always make me think of Martian settlement and what kinds if clever building methods we might discover there.
- hugs 10y agoI thought the growing awareness of the risk from cosmic radiation meant most settlements would be built below ground. (So no awesome geodesic dome front porch patios on Mars.)
- falcolas 10y agoIf (and yeah, I know it's a stretch) you could create a dome of water, it might be something similar... It would be a very thick dome, but it still seems possible.
- hugs 10y agoMaybe a dome could be used afterall, if the panels are made of plastic... https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/real-martians-how-to-protect-astronauts-from-space-radiation-on-mars https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/real-martians-how-to-pr... "Polyethylene, the same plastic commonly found in water bottles and grocery bags, also has potential as a candidate for radiation shielding. It is very high in hydrogen and fairly cheap to produce"
- extra88 10y agoNASA was just talking about using an "ice dome" on Mars as radiation protection. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/langley/a-new-home-on-mars-nasa-langley-s-icy-concept-for-living-on-the-red-planet https://www.nasa.gov/feature/langley/a-new-home-on-mars-nasa...
- api 10y agoIce could work. I wonder if it could be polished to work as a window?
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- peterburkimsher 10y agoSolar in the arctic circle? Isn't the arctic circle defined as the place where the sun doesn't shine in winter? During the summer, I'm sure it's great there. The architecture is beautiful. But it just doesn't seem practical year-round.
- JshWright 10y agoPeople already live there year round (in houses similar to the one inside the dome). The dome just provides better protection against the elements (preventing wind from hitting the house is a likely a _huge_ win in thermal efficiency).
- zokier 10y agoRegarding the solar panels, my first intuition would have been to mount them outside the dome. I wonder why they are inside?
- PedroBatista 10y agoThey don't have to remove the snow that way.
- TheCondor 10y agomine perform very poorly when snow is directly on them. Nearly zero output even on bright days. On cloudy but bright days if they are clear they produce better, not great but like 30%. I imagine if you have snow build up there it might take a long time for it to melt and you give up a lot of production.
- kiiski 10y ago> place where the sun doesn't shine in winter For at least one day a year. Not the whole winter.
- schoen 10y agoThe only places where it never shines through the whole winter are the poles (right?).
- bogomipz 10y agoThis is really beautiful. The stunning beauty aside, the practical side of my brain has to wonder: 1) What do these folks do for work that they can live up in the Arctic in this fashion? 2) How do they keep the dome's light from being completely obliterated. In the second to the last picture from the bottom you can see the dome almost completely covered in snow, which would make it very dark inside. Unlike in majority of photos where there is no snow covering the glass.
- knlje 10y agoThe second question bothers me as well. In addition, partially melted and refrozen snow can cause really large loads to the dome if not removed on time. Must be annoying to climb up there.
- bogomipz 10y agoI looked at the link for SolarDome referenced in the article and wasn't able to find a good answer to that on their faq: http://www.solardome.co.uk/faqs/ http://www.solardome.co.uk/faqs/ I'm guessing people clean these with a telescoping pole. But I could see that being a back-breaking exercise. But maybe that's a small place to live in such harmony with your surroundings.
- b34r 10y agoNeed a little robot to do it :)
- protomyth 10y agoIf they're like the ones we saw a demo of then they have a panel(s) that opens on the top for you push the snow off. I seem to remember something about plowing the snow around the dome too, but it was a decade+ back.
- pepsi 10y ago"Able to withstand over 4KN/m² of snow loading and wind speeds exceeding 31m/s" http://www.solardome.co.uk/case-study/the-nature-house-north-norway/ http://www.solardome.co.uk/case-study/the-nature-house-north...
- foundmysandwich 10y agohumidity/wood... just sayin'...
- thekevan 10y agoAnother family build a greenhouse around what they call a "summer home" in Stockholm. There is a YouTube video at the bottom of the article for those who want more info. http://www.ecowatch.com/couple-builds-greenhouse-around-home-to-grow-food-and-keep-warm-1882128131.html http://www.ecowatch.com/couple-builds-greenhouse-around-home...
- russellbeattie 10y agoThis would seem to be a perfect home for the West Coast of the U.S. - When I first moved to California, I had no idea the Pacific would be so damn cold! There are homes all along the coast already, obviously, but this would allow living by the ocean, enjoying an "outside" deck with a gorgeous view, yet not being blasted by daily wind and fog.
- cpeterso 10y agoGeodesic domes are notoriously leaky because they have so many seams and joints and odd angles. But when you have a whole 'nother house inside the dome, then you're probably OK. :)
- ChuckMcM 10y agoFun stuff, and I wonder if the architecture of the future (where the climate is much less predictable than it has been) is houses, and perhaps communities, like this. A "two layer" architecture where there is an isolation layer between the wind/rain/snow aspects of the climate and the garden + living quarters. The folks over at earthship (http://earthship.org/ http://earthship.org/) are of that opinion.
- maxerickson 10y agoIn humid areas it would be pretty uncomfortable during the warmer months (at least, without lots of ventilation or active cooling).
- ChuckMcM 10y agoTrue but there has been some interesting work lately in building adsorption materials[1] with the property that they keep humidity at a particular level (caveat their ability to absorb more water or release more water). Given that a domed house would have a large volume available for adsorption material it may be possible to have a completely passive system. [1] http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1004510417593 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1004510417593 [2] https://cotes.com/cotes-humidity-management/ https://cotes.com/cotes-humidity-management/
- Gravityloss 10y agoHow do you make the geodesic facet seams so water doesn't go there and freeze? To me, they don't seem like a good solution for cold and wet climates.
- sliken 10y agoSome dripping isn't a big deal, there is after all a house under it.
- Gravityloss 10y agoBut it will break the dome or at least pry the seam open when the water freezes.
- synicalx 10y agoOne thing the article doesn't touch on is the 'why'. What's the motivation behind this? There's a, I want to say similar but its sort of not, community/town in my state called Coober Pedy where a good number of the dwellings are located almost entirely underground. Even on a 45c day, it's quite nice inside without any AC although when the lights are out the pitch black is pretty unsettling...