westcliffe01
Veteran Member
In 3rd world countries, like where I grew up in South Africa, there was and is no such thing as "cheap energy". The buying power of the average family was extremely limited. Probably 3/4 of the country was at a mean elevation of about 5000ft. Hot dry summers and frosty in winter. The town I grew up in was in a "bowl" and cold air flowed downhill into it at night resulting in temperatures of 6F in the early morning hours.
The homes had single pane windows, since double glazed ones were out of the question price wise. If there was any insulation at all, it might have been a 4" layer of fiberglass insulation on top of the ceilings. Usually a tin roof. The walls were masonry with an air gap. The air gap provided a modest thermal break from inside to outside and also helped keep the inner wall dry (the bricks were often exposed on the outer wall).
The big thing was that all homes were sited and designed to maximise passive solar gain. Homes were not sited to face the road the way they typically are in the US. It does not look unusual, since every home on every lot is oriented the same way, facing the sun. 80% of the glazing was on the sun facing facade and extended to within about 12" of the floor (which was concrete and all interior walls were masonry). The solar facing roof overhang was large, to shade the home in summer when the sun was high, but in winter the sun could penetrate. Probably 80-90% of the winter heating needs was though the sun. Of course that means that all curtains have to be open from sunrise to sunset and then promptly closed at sunset to reduce heat loss at night. Floors were tiled typically, to ensure that the floor covering did not act as a thermal barrier to the suns energy. Rugs and the like were used only in the sleeping rooms, usually on the opposite side of the home, where the suns direct rays could not penetrate. For the balance we used a coal stove on the coldest days of winter and sparingly a few space heaters in the morning when getting up in the dark to get ready for school. The water pipes were generally installed on the outside of the building (I never did figure out why - except bad planning) and in the morning they would be frozen solid, yet we never had a pipe split/burst. At night a jug of water would get filled up for brushing teeth and the like and baths were taken, since it could not be done in the morning. A pot of water would be filled and placed where it could be put on the coal stove in the morning for washing dishes and anything else that needed hot water (coffee, tea, breakfast etc)
We slept with down comforters and typically a hot water bottle to pre-heat the bed. I lived in this kind of environment from when I was 1 until middle school when we moved to the coast. It was amazing that by virtue of the coast being foggy, we actually found the climate less comfortable at the coast than it had been up on the plateau. Of course the homes were designed, built and laid out in the exact same way.
As an outsider, it is rather baffling to see the impact that years of cheap energy have made on society in America and the kinds of "rules" that have evolved regarding home siting and the like. Even the way homes are styled, which is generally completely at odds with the environment (like facing the facade west, into the setting sun, windows all over, even on the northern facade, hallways with no windows or natural light at all etc etc......)
The homes had single pane windows, since double glazed ones were out of the question price wise. If there was any insulation at all, it might have been a 4" layer of fiberglass insulation on top of the ceilings. Usually a tin roof. The walls were masonry with an air gap. The air gap provided a modest thermal break from inside to outside and also helped keep the inner wall dry (the bricks were often exposed on the outer wall).
The big thing was that all homes were sited and designed to maximise passive solar gain. Homes were not sited to face the road the way they typically are in the US. It does not look unusual, since every home on every lot is oriented the same way, facing the sun. 80% of the glazing was on the sun facing facade and extended to within about 12" of the floor (which was concrete and all interior walls were masonry). The solar facing roof overhang was large, to shade the home in summer when the sun was high, but in winter the sun could penetrate. Probably 80-90% of the winter heating needs was though the sun. Of course that means that all curtains have to be open from sunrise to sunset and then promptly closed at sunset to reduce heat loss at night. Floors were tiled typically, to ensure that the floor covering did not act as a thermal barrier to the suns energy. Rugs and the like were used only in the sleeping rooms, usually on the opposite side of the home, where the suns direct rays could not penetrate. For the balance we used a coal stove on the coldest days of winter and sparingly a few space heaters in the morning when getting up in the dark to get ready for school. The water pipes were generally installed on the outside of the building (I never did figure out why - except bad planning) and in the morning they would be frozen solid, yet we never had a pipe split/burst. At night a jug of water would get filled up for brushing teeth and the like and baths were taken, since it could not be done in the morning. A pot of water would be filled and placed where it could be put on the coal stove in the morning for washing dishes and anything else that needed hot water (coffee, tea, breakfast etc)
We slept with down comforters and typically a hot water bottle to pre-heat the bed. I lived in this kind of environment from when I was 1 until middle school when we moved to the coast. It was amazing that by virtue of the coast being foggy, we actually found the climate less comfortable at the coast than it had been up on the plateau. Of course the homes were designed, built and laid out in the exact same way.
As an outsider, it is rather baffling to see the impact that years of cheap energy have made on society in America and the kinds of "rules" that have evolved regarding home siting and the like. Even the way homes are styled, which is generally completely at odds with the environment (like facing the facade west, into the setting sun, windows all over, even on the northern facade, hallways with no windows or natural light at all etc etc......)
Once it gets warmed up good, it takes a while (days) to cool off, and overnight won't do it unless the outside temps are cool enough. Lots of glass is a significant heat gain source in summer too, even if it isn't getting direct sunlight.