[GSBN] Solar air heater and hygroscopic plaster as ventilation strategies (was re: Can bale buildings be air tight?- How to ventilate)

[RT]

on Fri, 15 Mar 2013  Van Krieken <vankrieken@ ... wrote:


> There is a device that can give a good ventilation, reduce moistures and
> heat the house on winter, using only... the sun.
>
> A similar product is available in US at https://chesapeake-solar.com/ or
> find dealers in Australia, New Zealand and other countries at:
> http://www.solarventi.com/dealers/world.htm
>
> More information about this device (from Danmark) :
> http://www.solarventi.com/produkter/modeller.htm
>

and Graeme North wrote:

>> That aside - the best strategy I have found for drying out damp houses  
>> is to use hygroscopic materials in the fabric of the house - and the  
>> best and easiest is earthen walls or at least earthen plasters on any  
>> suitable
>> substrate such as dry wall.

>>  I  don't want to wake up dead of asphyxiation in an air tight building  
>> because the electricity failed while I slept.


Actually, if it were possible to "wake up dead", perhaps that might not be
such a Bad Thing -- certainly better than dying in the night in the normal
fashion (ie no more waking up-- ever).

At the risk of getting put onto yet some more listmembers $#!+ lists, I'd
ask Jorge to explain to us how he thinks that the solar air heater that he
mentions would go about providing the necessary air change rate  to each
habitable room (ie numerous bedrooms as well, which are likely somewhat  
isolated from the main living areas) in the house at night when the sun is  
down and all of the
occupants are at home and needing fresh air, assuming that he would only
install one Solarventi device on a given single family residence (a not
unreasonable assumption since the cost of one of the SAH mentioned in his
example is about the same cost as an HRV or ERV, which *would* do the job.)

A little more specifically, I would ask Jorge to explain how the minimal
rate of 10 litres per sec would be delivered to the master bedroom at
night in winter (ie when outside temperatures are below freezing) in a
two-storey design where the bedrooms are typically on the upper floor
level.

BTW, if I were going to buy a solar air heater, I'd likely go with the  
company that invented them back in the late 1970's (here in Canada I might  
add)

http://solarwall.com/en/products.php


... rather than some company that "borrowed" the idea, re-marketing the  
old glazed design via some schlub in the US whose site is scarce on  
details ... that is if I were to buy one intending to use it as my  
ventilation strategy (which I wouldn't).

                    				 *

And I would ask Graeme to explain how he thinks that a hygroscopic plaster
veneer over gypsum board would manage the more than 20 kg of water vapour*
that could be put into the air in a house on any given day, over the
course of a winter season lasting say, 3 months  ... when outdoor
temperatures are near or below below freezing and people tend to like to
keep doors and windows shut.

* The 20 kg figure is one pulled out of a little primer for builders of
energy-efficient homes here in Ontario back in 1985(see below). Again, I
cite the little booklet only because it's something that's been laying
around for a long time, readily accessible... not because it's any sort of
authoritative "last word".
It was reproduced in an issue of The Last Straw as a point of reference  
for a
piece on moisture years (a decade of more ?) ago.

In both explanations by Jorge and Graeme (or anyone else), it would be
nice if numbers representing real, somewhat typical scenarios could be
provided, as opposed to general "impressions".

  ================ stolen Jack Handey "Deep Thought" =========
	" Instead of having 'answers' on a math test, they should just call them
'impressions,and if you got a different 'impression,' so what, can't we  
all be
brothers ?"
=================== end of petty theft portion ==============

... since we are talking about things which have been quantified and for  
which
data exists and the means to utilise that data for the purposes of
comparison and evaluation exists right at our fingertips on these devices
which we are all currently using to communicate with each other.

-- 
=== * ===
Rob Tom					AOD257
Kanata, Ontario, Canada

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