Kramer,
The type of system you describe is known as phase change material (PCM) based thermal storage. It is highly effective at leveling your load for comfort control. There are PCM's available besides plain old water, and some of them even sequester more heat (or cold) than water does. More importantly, the various PCM's have been designed to absorb and release their latent heat in whatever temperature range you may require. There are a few threads on the forums where these methods are discussed at length, and some members have shared their experiences in using these materials to acieve goals such as you describe. When and if you experiment with and/or implement a PCM-based solution, be sure to detail your experiences with us. Projects like you speak of have made this site the robust source of information and inspiration that it has become.
I wish you luck in your pursuit of this method.
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