tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14474631.post1494594798473671362..comments2023-10-19T05:40:59.162-04:00Comments on Sippican Cottage: Think Outside The BoxSippicanCottagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14940797380578921776noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14474631.post-62949620978328576302011-07-27T21:05:13.413-04:002011-07-27T21:05:13.413-04:00Hi Thud- None of that now. Get back to work!
Hi J...Hi Thud- None of that now. Get back to work!<br /><br />Hi Jed- Thanks for reading and commenting. <br /><br />We just paid Americans to take perfectly usable cars out back and destroy them, so we could all get rich replacing them. We made everyone smash their perfectly good lightbulbs so we could get rich replacing them. The United States is now a negative railroad themepark.<br /><br />It's Bastiat morning, noon, and night around here. The other fellas can't get a word in edgewise.<br /><br />Hi Ben David- There are parts of the southwestern US that need the same sort of housing you're describing. The housing stock in America used to be more varied, and more suitable to its surroundings. Uniformity is leading to bad houses everywhere.SippicanCottagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14940797380578921776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14474631.post-59907156715749974442011-07-27T10:18:41.368-04:002011-07-27T10:18:41.368-04:00Heh.
All my Yankee rule of thumb knowledge about h...Heh.<br />All my Yankee rule of thumb knowledge about houses went out the window when we moved to Israel.<br /><br />Here prospective buyers are so suspicious of sheetrock that they rap their knuckles on the wall to make sure it's solid lath-and-plaster-on-cinderblock. I can't begin to describe the mess and expense of even minor electrical/plumbing repairs.<br /><br />Wood? The Turks and Brits cut down what little forest there was to build railroads. Anyway it's all concrete, brick, stone and block - lotsa "passive mass" in this climate. <br /><br />Also some interesting designs based on Roman/Arab prototypes - tall L or U shaped houses whose interior courtyards are shaded by the house itself. Open living areas/passages under second-story overhangs or loggias. Sleeping porches enclosed by breeze blocks.<br /><br />And various nifty roof vents.<br /><br />Around here recessed windows are a plus. In fact our equivalent of stupid modern house design is picture windows without shutters or roller-blinds, in a locale with a brutal 6-month sunny season. <br /><br />And totally ignoring solar orientation when laying out developments.Ben Davidnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14474631.post-33380428183556568192011-07-26T23:51:54.940-04:002011-07-26T23:51:54.940-04:00Just recently arrived here by way of The Smallest ...Just recently arrived here by way of The Smallest Minority. Nice place you have here.<br /><br />But I'm wondering about that <i>only important economist in contemporary American life</i>. I dunno. Thomas Sowell? Henry Hazlitt? Ludwig von Mises? Friedrich Hayek? Nothing against Bastiat, of course.jedhttp://freedomsight.net/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14474631.post-73757327039310883142011-07-26T22:39:55.086-04:002011-07-26T22:39:55.086-04:00Another classic post, i may just give up blogging ...Another classic post, i may just give up blogging and work and hang out here for edumakation.Thudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18320037763190473684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14474631.post-49481033397761182072011-07-26T21:20:30.903-04:002011-07-26T21:20:30.903-04:00Hi Casey- Thanks as always.
Hi John- Thanks for ...Hi Casey- Thanks as always. <br /><br />Hi John- Thanks for reading and commenting. I hope you'll be happy in your new home. <br /><br />Hi Derek- Thanks for your purchase and for your kind words. I have a great deal of respect and affection for Gerard. <br /><br />Hi Bretton- One aspect of the whole shebang I omitted is that thicker walls allow less light into the interior of a house, because the windows are in a sort of niche. You generally need more artificial light in a thick-walled house. More waste. <br /><br />Hi Jimmy- As you say, American houses should vary by location. A kind of numbing sameness in house design all over America is a real problem. <br /><br />I find window placement and the solar orientation of the house is more important than how expensive the windows are. Windows are just placed willy-nilly now, and the whole house is just nailed on the ass end of a garage a lot, too. The sun never shines into a lot of modern houses. It's an (expensive0 shame. <br /><br />Thanks for reading and commenting.<br /><br />Hi Ric- Thanks for reading and commenting. I share your distaste for euphemism in these matters.SippicanCottagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14940797380578921776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14474631.post-68747764417996024632011-07-26T18:54:34.297-04:002011-07-26T18:54:34.297-04:00Don't say "energy". "Energy&quo...Don't say "energy". "Energy" is a scam, a handwave designed to confuse the issue.<br /><br />Physicists came up with "energy" as a unifying concept that makes some of the maths easier. Something that's up high has "potential energy". Something that's moving fast has "kinetic energy". Something that burns has "chemical energy". What do a hammer lying on top of a ladder and a fire have in common? Energy.<br /><br />In every case, "energy" is the unseen and unknowable that allows work to be done -- that is, <i>power</i>. Energy is only visible when it's converted to power.<br /><br />They aren't telling you to "use less energy". They're telling you to <i>have less power</i>.<br /><br />Regards,<br />RicAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14474631.post-13354283455527484092011-07-26T18:30:00.926-04:002011-07-26T18:30:00.926-04:00Too much common sense in this. As you mentioned, f...Too much common sense in this. As you mentioned, for energy savings the builder would be better off spending the money on very good windows (triple pane, gas infused), sealing all the little cracks and gaps, and making sure the insulation is well done. A very good, leak proof vapor barrier helps a lot.<br /><br />In a sunny climate like Colorado, passive solar design can save big on energy bills. But it takes some know how to get the south facing windows sized right and the passive mass (collects and radiates heat) right. I lived in a passive solar house in Boulder, CO some years back. It had too much south facing glass and not enough passive mass (stone/concrete). A sunny day in January would overheat the house. Had to open the windows to keep things comfortable. It did save on heat bills.Jimmy J.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14474631.post-65482852965425643422011-07-26T17:20:58.313-04:002011-07-26T17:20:58.313-04:00Would Mr Al McMansion Gore be aware of your radica...Would Mr Al McMansion Gore be aware of your radical un progressive thoughts on home building? Thought so!BrettonPointnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14474631.post-72409037209775009472011-07-26T16:41:53.258-04:002011-07-26T16:41:53.258-04:00Well done. Been enjoying your site for years (a la...Well done. Been enjoying your site for years (a la Gerald Gerard Van der Leun's recomendation). Just bought your book and will give you my assessment via amazon (I am certain the only rating it will take is 5 star so I won't even bother with any of the others).<br />Cheers,<br />DerekAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14474631.post-32451034722995282532011-07-26T16:22:06.112-04:002011-07-26T16:22:06.112-04:00Good to hear. The "new" house, built by...Good to hear. The "new" house, built by pros, is built with 2x4s and I thought we were making a big concession. The small, unfinished house I built, 100 feet away, with 2x6 walls, is rather hot and chilly given that it still needs insulation and drywall. <br /><br />Yeah, I bought into the energy saving madness. <br /><br />I think the energy crisis of the 70s had a warping effect on me akin to the effect the Great depression had on my and my wife's parents.John Lienhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15607964922479543670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14474631.post-10613333987697962962011-07-26T11:01:01.556-04:002011-07-26T11:01:01.556-04:00R-value explained away with one of the classic thr...R-value explained away with one of the classic three R's: 'rithmatic.<br /><br />Your story makes too much sense. But, that's what keeps bringing me back.Casey Klahnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08020906666248399435noreply@blogger.com