Greetings,
I am sorry to disagree, but since a tornado damaged my house, I have
been living in a standard commercial metal building. I live in Texas,
about 125 miles from the Gulf and no, we don't use AC. About 1800
square feet are house, the other 1000 is used as our barn.
How? I have a sprinkler system on my roof. It goes off every 12
minutes and stays on for 30 seconds when really hot, 12 when the
temperatures drop in the lower 90s. I have 5 windows on both sides of
the building, which do catch every stray breeze. We run 3 deep freezes
and two full size fridges, as well as the standard entertainment
equipment, but we only watch movies, no television.
Our home is comfortable, people walking in for the first time are
amazed. It does get a touch warm when the temperature goes over 105,
but it doesn't do that every year.
My electric bill uses around 400 KWH a month in the winter and about 480
in the summer due to the use of fans.
I am planning on building a real home, with paper adobe on of these
days, but until then, the metal building is quite comfortable and
affordable to live in.
Bright Blessings,
Kim
slurryguy wrote:
> Are you factoring in the MONSTROUS extra costs to heat and cool a
> structure with a total insulation R-Value of Less than ONE? Good
> grief! Uninsulated metal walls? I can't think of an more
> uncomforatable place to live or a more expensive one. Is the sun
> shining? Want to step into an oven? Is it night? Care to step into
> the meat locker? I'd rather live in a TENT!
>
> I'll bet Mikey will confirm my assertions. He knows what his
> containers were like before he insulated them and after. There's a
> reason Mikey wants to insulate his containers. It makes economic
> sense as well as environmental sense. He's willing to put in the
> work and is doing a nice job.
>
> You probably have an analog parked in your driveway. A metal box
> with wheels on it. It's called your car. Go sit in that thing on a
> sunny day. Or try to sleep in one at night. How much would it cost
> heat and cool that tiny space to keep it comfortable? Would it be
> more than a typical 1200sqft stick home? I'm thinking it might very
> well be. What a miserable existence.
>
> Most papercrete structures are at least R36 walls. If I understand
> the math correctly it means that an uninsulated container that is the
> same size as a typical MINIMAL papercrete strucuture will cost 36
> TIMES AS MUCH to heat and cool. Holy cow! Watch your wallet on that
> one! If a papercrete structure has a monthly heating bill of $100, a
> same sized uninsulated container will have a bill of $3600!!!!!!
> Where's your savings now? I can pay people to make a lot of
> papercrete for $3600. That was an example of JUST ONE MONTH'S ENERGY
> BILL. Imagine costs over 10 years? 20? 50? I hope you are
> independently wealthy. Are engergy prices going to continue to rise
> over that time? Better factor even bigger bucks for that.
>
> All I'm saying is compare apples to apples. THERE IS NO FREE LUNCH.
> One reason papercrete is attractive is that people can CHOOSE
> inexpensive materials and compensate with more of their own labor
> instead of expensive materials and less labor.
>
> In time we may come up with more efficient mixer, pumping, and
> forming technology to decrease the laber required. We will never
> have a system that will make it for free and with no labor at all.
> Not gonna happen! We will probably get better systems as time goes
> along.
>
> Also keep in mind that working with a tow mixer or barrell mixer is
> probably a very inefficient construction method if paying someone for
> the time involved. The reason these techniques are commonly used is
> because it is simple to get started. The simple mixers are practical
> for an individual DIY builder to come up with the equipment to get
> the job done. The simple mixers are cheap to build. I can't
> remember one instance of someone saying the technique optimizes the
> labor required.
>
> If you want industrial quantities and speed, you'll need to think
> about industrial scale equipment. Commercial contractors will be
> able to afford to invest in that kind of equipment and produce enough
> papercrete to justify the costs. An indiviual DIY builder cannot.
> When papercrete is in the building codes, contractors will find a way
> to make it profitable.
>
> I'm not trying to sour anyone on containers, I think they definitely
> can be used for some interesting structures. Just keep your
> perspective and look at all the factors. Looking at just a select
> few factors will distort the full picture. Look at the total cost of
> construction AND OWNERSHIP over time.
>
> Oh yeah. Don't discount the intangible value of living in a house
> that you built with your own two hands! It means a great deal to
> anyone that's done it.
>
> Keep thinking of unusual ideas and different perspectives John. I
> want to hear them even if I disagree.
>
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