[HamRadioRocks]

Sitting on a concrete bench on a cold morning or night will teach you the meaning of the term "stone cold".

In winter, does some of the heat in the house leak out through the conductive concrete? Would it help to cover up the exposed portion of the foundation with long strips of plastic so that it's no longer exposed to the full force of the wind?

[bonjaski]

whats up with you?
why do you live in such a dump

buy a good appartment and work for it!

working for it means also that you will do your part to let us go forward, to help the develepoment of new and reliable energy sources

ts ...

[HamRadioRocks]

whats up with you?
why do you live in such a dump

buy a good appartment and work for it!

working for it means also that you will do your part to let us go forward, to help the develepoment of new and reliable energy sources

ts ...

I'm not sure what you're talking about. I live in a decent house in a decent neighborhood. I'm not sure what you're suggesting I do.

[WisJim]

A plain (s0lid) concrete wall has about the same insulation value as a single pane of glass---not much. Its redeeming quality is that it does store some heat in its mass. But to take advantage of the heat storage, you should insulate the outside of the concrete, and this is typically done with an inch or more of styrofoam which in turn is covered with some kind of siding or protective coating. Long strips of plastice wouldn't do much good, unless the concrete was porous and leaky.

[HamRadioRocks]

A plain (s0lid) concrete wall has about the same insulation value as a single pane of glass---not much. Its redeeming quality is that it does store some heat in its mass. But to take advantage of the heat storage, you should insulate the outside of the concrete, and this is typically done with an inch or more of styrofoam which in turn is covered with some kind of siding or protective coating. Long strips of plastice wouldn't do much good, unless the concrete was porous and leaky.

So it sounds like I should cover the exposed part of the foundation with stryrofoam this winter. For the parts of the foundation that get direct sunlight, I'll also cover the foundation with something black that will heat up during the day and transfer some of the heat to the concrete.

[azreal60]

Yes, definately styrofoam over it. And then something over the styro so it doesn't get degraided by abrasion and the like. Rob Roy in his earthwood building books describes what your describing as an "energy nosebleed" of the house. One of his big steps towards better homebuilding is stopping up that nosebleed.

You Want the constant temp of the land getting in, but the outside air? Nope.

[WisJim]

I would recomend running styrofoam (or your insulation of choice) down to the footings, or as deep as you are willing to dig. The soil isn't THAT warm down a few feet--around here it freezes 3 to 5 feet most winters. Maybe a double thickness above grade, and a foot or two down.

[Denny]

It is immaterial whether the concrete is insulated on the outside or the inside from the standpint of physics. But, practically, its much easier to insulate the inside, even during construction, as the compressive forces of the soil mess up the air pockets which insulation uses to be effective.

Most homes built in the last thirty years or so, at least around here, have insulation starting 0.7 m. below grade in the basement, up to the main floor joists. And, with a vapor barrier to preclude condensate causing mold and mildew. (At least that is the objective, but I found my basement vapor barrier was not so good when I renovated it and I replaced the barrier and the old insulation too, and the studding anchored to the basement wall.)

I am not sure if its a good thing to insulate all the way down the wall, at least its not called for in building standards, but am not sure why. My experience is that the lower part of the basement wall does not seem to feel so cold even in mid-winter.

[WisJim]

Insulation is worth using if there is a difference in temperature, and in the north, the earth outside the bottom of a basement wall is usually 20 degrees or more cooler than the desired inside temp, even though the walls may not feel cold, so insulation is probably worthwhile. But, the first 3 or 4 feet underground is the place to insulate first--and oof course any part of the wall directly exposed to the outside.