The sunroom

[Christ]

Oh, it's lots of work, sure... but it's so much better when you can sit back, enjoy your work, and think to yourself: "I did that."

Do you not agree?

[Daox]

Oh, definitly. My cousin recently did a tiled entry way in his house. He cut the tile to kind of swerve like a small stream, and then put in broken slate pieces. He broke the slate himself and had to sort through the pieces. It took him forever to get done, but it really does look great.

[Christ]

I bet that looks sweet...

With your Cousin's permission, I'd like to see a picture of it.

[kbhale]

Ok. Your sun room heat rises. Put Pex tubing on the ceiling. Maybe a couple runs with the crown molding to hide it. Run fluid threw it. Collect the heat and transfer it to another part of the house or store it.

Get several barrels put plywood on the barrels. Table like. Fabric stapled around three sides to hide the barrels. no fabric between sun and barrel. Heat sink

Grow hydroponic lettuce, salad greens and cold weather vegetables, on top of the barrels. Most salad greens sell for $5-$6 dollars a pound in my area.

Flat white reflects light. Flat black adsorbs.

Make sure that ceilling is well insulated.



AcrylicStormWindow

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Building An "Interior Storm Window" To Reduce Draftiness

[Daox]

Interior storm windows NEED to be done to this room. The windows are nice thermal panes, but once the sun goes down it does cool down fast in the room still. It would be great to have interior storm windows along with some form of insulating shade/curtain.

[bennelson]

A couple of black barrels full of water might do quite a bit of heating.

It would be interesting to have one with a thermometer on it and check it at various times of the day and night.

I have a 30 gallon black food grade barrel with matching O-Ring lid if you want to try it.

I do also like the idea of some solar hot water panels on the roof there.
I have heard of people with similar roof lines arranging hot water or PV panels so that any light that bounces off them gets reflected right into that second-story window. That way you get your solar collection AND some additional direct gain.

In an architectual presentation I watched a few years ago, the speaker pointed out in a photograph of how specifically WHITE gravel was used outside a building so that it would reflect indirect light into the building for an airy feel.

I do have some of those 2'x2' plastic mirrors. I wonder what kind of difference it would make to set a few of those on the roof of the sunroom to reflect additional light into the upstairs windows. I know snow accumulation would be a problem, but even snow works as a reflector as well.

Last I checked, my cousin still had those solar hot water panels to rehab. We should play around with one of those in your sunroom.

[Daox]

Yeah, I'd love to get some hot water panels up there.

[MarkM66]

Bringing back an old one. Ever do anything else to your sunroom to help retain heat?

Has the room help in heating your house?

[Daox]

No, I really haven't. I do manage the honeycomb blinds fairly methodically. There can be some pretty good heat gain from all the windows. On a sunny day its always warmer in there.

I still really want to do the interior storms. They just have to be remade at a different size to fit the window opening, and I'm buried in other projects at the moment.