4 ms·

I agree with the comments below, both on not wanting the inside of a house to be cold, and being worried that the degradation of nanowires would prove in some w

by abakker 12y ago

I agree with the comments below, both on not wanting the inside of a house to be cold, and being worried that the degradation of nanowires would prove in some way to be catastrophic to either human health or the environment or both. Even the breakdown of synthetic fabrics is causing environmental damage that is poorly understood right now. Silver could prove even more problematic to certain life forms. That said, I'm not sure why this wouldn't just be used in the the insulation of a house directly? If we could drastically improve the insulation of a house without causing a major vapor retention problem, that would do wonders. Of course, glass is a major problem with good insulation, but I wonder if this material could be made into a partially transparent insulating layer that could be applied to glass temporarily?

TomatoTomato 12y ago
I wonder if the reflective properties make it unsuitable for 4-season home insulation. During the summer months wouldn't that keep too much heat inside?
- mattdotc 12y ago
  Perhaps a home of the future might have the ability to roll the sheet up or down like window blinds inside the wall depending on the outside environment to self regulate.
- Retric 12y ago
  AC means you’re keeping heat out in the summer. A well-insulated house is cheaper to heat in the winter and cool in the summer. Traditional housing in warm climates focused on removing heat from homes but fans take take little energy to move lots of air so that's not a major issue in a modern home. The real gains come from managing solar heat gain. A fairly small solar hot water heater can keep a well insulated house warm in most of the world, other options include things like a solar porch etc. External shade can also drasticaly reduce heat gain in the summer. Pushing past that and using things like ground source heating can also work, but they rarely pay off.

by abakker 12y ago

TomatoTomato 12y ago

I wonder if the reflective properties make it unsuitable for 4-season home insulation. During the summer months wouldn't that keep too much heat inside?

mattdotc 12y ago
Perhaps a home of the future might have the ability to roll the sheet up or down like window blinds inside the wall depending on the outside environment to self regulate.
Retric 12y ago
AC means you’re keeping heat out in the summer. A well-insulated house is cheaper to heat in the winter and cool in the summer. Traditional housing in warm climates focused on removing heat from homes but fans take take little energy to move lots of air so that's not a major issue in a modern home. The real gains come from managing solar heat gain. A fairly small solar hot water heater can keep a well insulated house warm in most of the world, other options include things like a solar porch etc. External shade can also drasticaly reduce heat gain in the summer. Pushing past that and using things like ground source heating can also work, but they rarely pay off.