permaculture

[Marimike6@cs.com]

From: Sharon Gordon <gordonse@one.net>
>I am trying to find a site I saw once before which describes the use
of
>underground cooling tubes which brought cool air into the house
without the
>use of fans.  It seems to me the drawings were of nonwestern
architecture
>and may have had rooms around a courtyard as well.
>
>Does this sound familiar to anyone, or do you know of other sites
that
>describe this well and have examples?
>

Dear Sharon, and all--

In Pakistan, Hyderabad and the hotter and dryer portions of India they have always had a cooling system that draws air from above rooftop level. Down by the pavement it gets about 130 degrees there before the rainy season, but up in the breeze it stays around 90-95. Basically it's an air scoop with the mouth pointed in the direction of the prevailing wind. This design is several thousand years old. Maybe this is what you remember seing.

The Romans, in their top-of-the-line homes, had a coal furnace in the cellar that heated the floor. It didn't use ambient heat from the ground, the way a true passive heating system would. I understand these passive systems work pretty well for a couple of years but in time, through overuse of the ground heat, usually either get too cool in the winter or too warm in the summer.

Hope this helps,

Mike Elvin