what they don't tell you about Thermal Mass

[@bobbyc1120]

You can get around the cold storage problem by opening the window. This reduces the building insulation to near zero, allowing warm air in, and at night you can close the window and raise the insulation value again.

[@Cspacecat]

Thermal mass and insulation run hand in with maintaining mean temperature, not to heat or cool the building. In the summer, if you have sufficient mass and insulation, you can run your air conditioner at night instead of the heat of the day, dropping your electric bill dramatically. The same thing if you heat your house with electricity in the winter. Run your furnace during the heat of the day.

[@oldowl4290]

I live in San Diego where we have mild winters..rarely below 40F at night in winter. I pulled out all of the old carpet to bare concrete and then used 18” industrial carpet tile which has a little foam on the back but overall is all of 1/4” to 5/16” thick. I’ve definitely noticed in winter that the floor feels like the air conditioner is always on. I quickly realized its the cold concrete. If the ground is cold, for weeks at a time, then of course the cement slab will absorb and radiate that temperature. And I just don’t think any amount of sunlight would really do that much, save for a few hours after dark. Because the surface area of the ground is the same as the slab and because they are in direct contact with one another, the ground will always win and will win fast. The only resolution that I can imagine is a reflective barrier of insulation under the slab. Only then would it retain solar heat longer, maybe up to bedtime hours, but again, it depends on how cold the ground is. I think people easily forget that there are several types of heat radiation and conductive, where one object touches another, is the greatest.

[@johnnyb8629]

well that's exactly what you want actually. It takes the extremes out of the interior, that's why we lived in caves in upper latitudes during Neolithic era. you are also right in that you cant depend on this alone, thermal mass just makes the heating ?cooling system work less to maintain temperatures in the moment because the system doesn't need to react to extremes swings inside in short amounts of time. In floor radiant heating of the slab is the best most efficient way and their are several strategies, like geo thermal heat pumps, high efficiency boilers, solar water heaters etc. I personally like the idea of using the natural underground heat source for passive cooling as well as heat pump operation . This could be used even in extremely cold regions given the below ground temperatures remain stable with plenty of heat for a high efficiency heat pump to utilize.

[@masterdebater8757]

i wouldn't go as far as to say "extremely cold regions" they have permafrost....

[@lowowl]

Thank you for sharing your work with us. Over the years I have learned so much from your videos. 😊

[@markschuette3770]

thermal mass is generally not used unless you have the winter sun stricking it directly (and is shaded from the summer sun). you also can charge it up via a passive or active air movement system but this would be a 2nd choice in my book. . if you can design it to do that its a great thing to have. and you DO always need to have moveable window insualtion systems on all glass.

[@refusoagaino6824]

Excellent work. Distribution (of the mass) is also critical. A monolithic block centered on the energy accumulation point, or Phase Change Materials, incorporated into the sheetrock? Sketchup allows components to be built that include sufficient BIM (Building Information Management) characteristics, to run in energy analysis software to determine such things. In real time, and Virtual Reality, one to one scale. Results pop up in graphs like a 'heads up' display, but someone will soon add the equipment to make you feel the changes as you construct, deconstruct the building using Sketchup. You can thicken the slab to 8" from 5" and run a 24 hour cycle on any day of the year, for example. Another thing the Passive Solar enthusiasts have been longing for but have never been able to achieve, is move-able insulation. The heat loss through any window is greater than the heat gain, that's why the ratio of 17% to 20% of glass to floor area is required, no more. A simple sliding panel, (R 10) like a pocket door, could roll down an incline into place at night, to magnetically (refrigerator gasket) seal and insulate the glass area. Freezers at grocery stores have them made of glass. You could have up to 40% glass/floor ratio then, and the additional heat that would come from it. Another way to do that is to incorporate two buildings; One with a conditioned space wrapping the other, a classic, unconditioned Passive Solar. Heat loss through glass then would be mitigated a lot, by the lessened Delta T factor (difference in temperature between inside and out) provided by the unconditioned (but well insulated) passive space. A lot more glass. If the building took the shape of two proximate, rectangular volumes, you'd have a cottage with a sunporch. Wrap that sunporch on three sides with the cottage, and make all common walls 40% glass.

[@hirthirthirt1693]

its not excellent work...it is all wrong. You all did not understand physics

[@Solaboder]

Hi Paul, a good subject to discuss. As a Passive solar designer of 40 years I concur, however... Your northern English climate is not the best at re-energising thermal mass so yes you will need a radiant heat source to keep the mass from losing too much heat - and for those who might not know, any convection heater that heats air, will be useless at warming up thermal mass which needs radiant heat. Underfloor warm water pipe systems while ideal, are expensive to buy but a DIY system would be cheaper. A simple radiant wood stove though will irradiate thermal mass quite well. In New Zealand here, we have better winter sunshine hours so Passive solar homes with thermal mass are much easier to keep topped up with stored heat. I use fully insulated (including edges and footings) 100mm (4") thick floor slabs as an optimum thickness as 150mm takes more than 6 hours of radiant sunshine to heat up; and we only get a maximum of 6 useful hours of sun in winter here. A ratio of between 16% - 20% north facing glazing (south facing for you) of the exposed floor slab area, is about the right proportion of glazing to mass area. Any more than that results in over heated air in winter on a sunny day. We maintain internal winter temperatures of 18-20 deg C for a 24 hour period after a sunny day in winter. Our night time winter temperatures can be up to -5 deg. also, but some southern areas get to minus 10 deg C. Simple passive solar design with good insulation negates these extremes very well indeed. The sad thing is, hardly any architects here really understand how it works and usually cost clients too much money in over designed systems and at the same time cost those clients the thermal comfort they deserve. So a good topic!

[@redsea866]

I would love to read up if you have a place to learn this

[@jimbronaugh]

'Doesn't increase efficiency;????? Are you mad. I ask again are you mad. It clearly stabilized the temperature and kept it within a live able range which could be manipulated artificially to make a comfort zone. What do you expect, that the mass is going to generate energy and know what your preferred temperature may be??? It takes so much less energy to change the interior temp by ten degrees than is does to change it by forty degrees. The next time your thermal mass calls you up and asks what temperature you would prefer, perhaps you should give it a good scolding for not knowing those things for themselves. Thermal mass doesn't make energy, it stores energy and is slow to absorb or release energy. that is it.

[@audigit]

@@heindlwest I agree... depends on the insulation... lots of missing data in these

[@rtyrtyrtyus]

It increases efficiency indirectly by keeping the building at a liveable temperature, avoiding big fluctuations that track outside temperature. It only works if used in conjunction with a heating system that is controlled and monitored to work with a certain thermal mass design for a climate. If this is not the case, the thermal mass design is pointless and can even make the system less efficient. Passive house design without a heating system needs a thermal mass designed in mind with the typical climate the house is built it. People's comments often get misconstrued because they don't elaborate on their points. There are a lot of variables that need consideration. As an energy consultant myself, most poorly efficiently operating buildings are due to bad heating control for what's installed within the building in conjunction with occupancy patterns. Controls just get overridden because occupants are lazy and then complain when their bill is high. They then refuse to listen to your explanation because they don't want it to be their fault. They want to blame the building, the architect, the heating system or the surveyor. It's ludicrous.

[@refusoagaino6824]

In cold places like Scotland, it's true, those castles get to ambient temperature right through. I remember someone who bought one describing heating it; The rooms had fireplaces big enough to load with a forklift. They spent the month of November moving fuel and burning it in all of them until the building warmed up enough, then let them burn out and let the building cool down, until Spring. Temperature is never right, always too hot or too cold. Here in the low desert, it's always too hot, and thermal mass and the ground are our friends.

[@hirthirthirt1693]

but that is not the fault of the thermal mass. Thermal mass is supposed to charge up with energy, then slowly release it. But if you are unable to store the radiating engergy inside the building it is useless. You all did not understand thermal mass and the video is all wrong.

[@LaurentiuGavrea]

Yes, yes !! You are very right! I can also tested this one year ago when started similar passive greenhouse own project while feeding PVs solar sourced energy into an active thermal mass I made basing on alike sand battery working like a charm today!😎

[@friggyfrig123]

I have hot water storage tank and it works great. It has huge thermal mass, but you can use in if you need.

[@hirthirthirt1693]

the video is all wrong....they don't understand physics. When a building is not heated, as it is dead mass, it will become as cold a s the environment. Only heating it in any shape or form does make it warmer then the outside. So the thermal mass cannot "store the cold" as everything in the house gets cold without engergy that heats the house up. Thermal mass stores energy, when there is no energy over a certain timespann everything cools out and goes in an equilibrium with the envrionment. There is no such thing as storing cold, you only can prevent cold mass from heating up. But in a cold house the thermal mass does not make anything colder.

[@friggyfrig123]

@@hirthirthirt1693 big thermal mass prevents quick temperature changes. In some cases it's enough to keep temperature in comfort range. You get average from night and day temp and it can be good. In other cases big thermal mass can be bad for same reason. If you need to change temperature quickly you need much more power for it.

[@ronaldsahn9649]

Good explaining this, simple hot water solar system would heat the mass and even out the temperature, for a existing structure you can add a thermal mass bench or wall add water tubs or larger metal piping for a solar hot air system. Could Be Ran On A Solar pump or fan and would work automatically, This could be used in the summer for cooling by bringing in the cool air or water at night .

[@davidmicheletti6292]

Yes mass can work for you or against you. I used a wood burning stove to to heat our home. The stove was placed inside of a massive stone filled alcove that would absorb the huge influx of heat during the short burn and very slowly give it back into the room later. During the coolest of nights heat was release back. This stove and stone mass was located dead center in our home. The cats and dogs would be found all over and around the brickwork. In the very cold winters of northern Minnesota winter mornings my pet friend could be found sleeping in pure bliss.

[@peterbeyer5755]

I did the same with a Gabion cage around my box wood heater about a total of about 2 sq m it was amazing!

[@MrDeicide1]

Butt Paul, your graph perfectly illustrates the moderating effect of massive walls. Less fluctuations in temperature... precisely their purpose. If they were less massive - your blue graph would have same ups n downs as the red one... doh

[@eliinthewolverinestate6729]

What they told me is thermal mass averages outsides temps so you dont have as great of swings. I was told to get as much solar gain in winter as possible. Meaning my mono sloped roof the sun should hit the top of my north wall in the winter. Also to insult my floor as much as possible to stop heat from radiating down.

[@audigit]

thank you for all this very carefully researched data.

[@Tricyklist]

The type of insulation matters greatly. Polystyrene has low thermal mass as has glass wool. Rockwool has high thermal mass. Our last cottage had walls over four feet thick and was like a fridge, year round downstairs, despite a really massive inglenook and large woodburning stove. Our present home is almost flimsy by comparison but I put 12-16" of Rockwool in the pitched roof. We have hardly started using our wood burner yet this year. End of October 55N with average of 50-55F outside and mid 60s indoors without *any* heating. Our neighbours have been making wood smoke for months! We live upstairs, close to our insulation, in an open plan arrangement with the much cooler downstairs. Don't expect high thermal mass to work with a single glazed, lean--to greenhouse in northern climes. Insulation is far better! I covered the entire south wall with a 22' green house and it is hopelessly erratic in there for growing or living. All this was worked out in "real world" practice by the Welsh Alternative Energy center decades ago. They built a super-insulated, low mass, polystyrene building which fluctuated like mad whenever the door was opened.

[@d.a.t.4699]

im thinking of adding a connected greenhouse to my south wall when i build next year..your saying it isnt working for you?

[@Tricyklist]

@@d.a.t.4699 You need external shade in summer and thick, add-on, panel insulation in winter. Without these you'll see roasting temperatures and bitter cold. We covered our south wall with a single glazed greenhouse 8' deep x 8' tall x 22' long 20 years ago. Brick back wall and brick floor. It is far too uncomfortable to enjoy for most of the year. Can't ever grow anything in there. Provides indoor heat for just a few days of the year in spring if it's sunny. We use white cloth, internal, white shading until it disintegrates from UV. Out of desperation we're trying some expensive, pro, agricultural shade netting this year.

[@d.a.t.4699]

@@Tricyklist thx!

[@masterdebater8757]

Your correct in that you cannot passively charge or discharge a thermal mass at a comfortable rate. You have to look at the mass as a battery that you want to either charge or discharge. Once you have that trained into your mind you move on to doing things like plumbing rain water through the mass for cooling, venting off unwanted thermal gains at the right times, making use of solar hydronic heating, and solar air heating. Once you combine it all you can flatten the curves slightly more and maintain closer to the desired comfort level without consuming energy or fuels that arent given free by nature. I would personally be interested in solar electric and infrared quarts heaters to heat the mass rather than hydronics because the infrared gives comfort on the spot while also heating the mass. But there are many options and each home. location, and owner will have various abilities and access to certain materials that others may not. One may have a spring they could use for cooling, while another has abundant wood, while another has solar. You have to make use of what you have.

[@mountainbikerdave]

the problem you address has simple solution. If it is warmer outside than inside open the window. the temperature inside will equalize to the temp outside, and then close the window when the temp dips. effectively trapping the heat in. if you want to make this process more efficient, get a window fan to suck the warmer air in and blow the cooler air out.

[@KipIngram]

Yes - or arrange your heat exchanger piping in the slab so that you can connect it directly to the outside when you want to move it in that direction.

[@Hymeteron]

Your chart exactly showed what one expects of thermal mass to do, doesn't it?

[@ianmorrison6127]

Exactly, Hymeteron. I really can't see what other point Paul intends to illustrate. Thermal mass evens out not just day to day variations, but seasonal ones too. Without supplemental heat input, the building will loose heat to the environment (assuming the design temperature is above the external temperature). It would be useful if Paul could monitor his dome over a whole year... it would provide some useful data. Maybe supplemental heat input through a simple old blackened radiator as a solar water heater, feeding the slab, could give higher internal temperatures more quickly matching the external temps. Or even a bigger window which faces the sun. But again, all heat will eventually flow through the structure to outside, just in a more moderated way.

[@walterrutherford6625]

Thermal mass doesn't mean unheated. It's just a buffer which evens out the wild swings of outdoor temps so you don't have to use as much fuel/energy to warm a structure in the winter or cool it in the summer. No surprise there. If you go deeper underground you have much more mass and a near constant temperature.

[@christopherneelyakagoattmo6078]

Well, I believe what Paul is getting at here is that thermal mass is not an end-all-be-all solution standing alone. Don't expect miracles. So many people are "insulated" from the harsh, cold world of the numbers. The uninitiated think, "Oh you can 'fix' that with _just_ some thermal mass; Problem solved." There are layers and tiers to it all. People use buildings every day having never built one. Just as computers and phones do not fix societal problems: these devices can augment our processing power and reach; but a tablet is only as useful as the mind and hand wielding it, in the real world. Use it to share cat pictures and profiles of your butt, you are doing no great harm, but you are not solving anything. If you are additive by nature, you will use your device to play video games and further withdraw from society, If you want to feed, clothe, and shelter the world, these tools can multiply the tools already available to your person.

[@Weirdomanification]

@@christopherneelyakagoattmo6078 Nice word salad.

[@susanneschauf7417]

Thank you. Very interesting.

[@fredygump5578]

When I see people carrying on about the magical properties of "thermal mass", I try to explain that it is like momentum. High thermal mass is like a heavy object that is hard to push, and once it starts moving, it is hard to stop. The thermal mass cools slowly, and it warms back up slowly. Because of this delay, you pretty much have to keep the house the same temp all the time. And if you keep the temp the same all the time, what advantage do you have over a low thermal mass design?

[@natashalindner2059]

Thermal mass doesn't work by it's self, it's part of the whole solution.

[@bigphillyed]

This video is more theorized for somewhere in the UK. This is not the case in typical earthen homes in typical geographic locations. Building materials, wall thicknesses and building type all play a role in thermal mass physics. The thicker the walls the more efficient the thermal mass. IMO using insulation negates the theory of thermal mass. In places such as the UK were cold is more of a problem then heat, alternate heating source is definitely required, still requiring a very thick wall and possibly even straw bales for insulation.

[@philipvecchio3292]

Even that last day proves the value of thermal mass. It's meant to keep the major swings in temperature, so for example today Where I live it's getting up to 89° f (~32°c), but overnight is going to drop to 65°f (~18°c). Ideally the temperature is low to mid '70s. I don't want the house to heat up to 89°, at 65 is probably too cold. Because I'm in a cooling season right now, I usually do my best to let the heat out overnight and cool off the thermal mass in my house so that the temperature doesn't rise as quickly during the day. In the spring and fall I use my west facing porch with glass windows to heat my house. I open up the front door to the porch during the day and bring in heat, and then I close the door at night. That usually gives me another week or two before I have to turn on my boiler. I'm sure The heating on that porch helps keep the house warm whether the door is open or not. But it's a buffer against temperature swings. It probably doesn't hurt to have some form of hydronic heating and cooling to give you a little more control.

[@heysupermanlook996]

If the structure has doors and windows that can be opened when the temperature is warmer outside than it is inside, is that sufficient to allow the thermal mass to be topped up?

[@Weirdomanification]

I think this is an instance where a critical mind should question the source. I think what you are saying could definitely work, just would take some trial and error that you could do yourself. That's the problem though. If you do this you won't need an hvac technician anymore...

[@ANJA-mj1to]

Point on midnight = - 0 C° to - 5 °C !!!! There are not only the high heat capacity of material include unbaked bricks, adobe, mud, adobe, stone, clay and various combination. WE MUST LOOK AT DAY AND NIGHT THERMAL FLOW BETWEEN AS IN THE BUILDING AND IN THE IN THE OUTSIDE OF ENVIROMENT. GREAT POINT OF VIEW ( not only compering outside and inside temperature like roof surface, outside temp. °F, inside temp. °F) // Like yours idea because the typical response to these climates is not only to build with heavy masonary, which delays the heat transfer from outside to the inside!

[@sergioramio]

yep, makes sense, in a hot environment too right? It overheats the home??

[@jlr3636]

On your dome, was the temperature of the thermal mass only controlled by the ambient temperature of the room, such as the sun heating the exterior skin, heat transferred through the insulation, heat transferred through the room air, room air transferring heat to the floor thermal mass, assuming there are no rugs, carpet or wood floor. What would happen if windows were set to expose the thermal mass to direct sun light ? My point - the system needs to be designed as a unit and must maximize all positive factors while minimizing any negative factor.

[@thefrub]

"Here's why thermal mass doesn't work" And he proceeds to show thermal mass working wonderfully.

[@nopenope3416]

We already know this. The advantage of thermal mass is that it will keep a home around a consistent temperature, too cold and you're screwed or too hot and you're screwed. In architecture, when you look at buildings in hot deserts with cold nights their roof structure is THICK. It absorbs heat, shades in indoors during the day and heats the indoors during the night. Yes, some of that is lost, maybe half throughout the night, that is normal and something professionals design around to optimise the structure for its climate in locality. But as the cold night begins to warm the now lukewarm thermal mass will begin to be cooler than the outside. This phenomena, as the ambient temperature rises higher than the cooler thermal mass, will again being to warm it up. This can keep a structure built in a hot desert to maintain a comfortable temperature, with threshold spaces and such, year-round, day and night. Now, in a cold desert or climate, thermal mass is still essential. However, with its function still to retain temperature, now has to contend with damp or humid conditions which enables mould growth and internal structural damage. If the house is designed, using sophisticated detailing, the dew point will not occur on the inside or internal structure and avoid condensation. What was just described is a key consideration for designers creating a Passive-House or Bio-Solar House or whichever type that desires to achieve Net-Zero energy standards. I thought I'd share this information as some of the comments in the KZbin comments section were 'interesting' and I felt that the title of the video was a little misleading or quick to assume that qualified professionals in the industry were not aware or ignoring such things. No ill intent was meant by sharing the information in this comment. I'm not a professional myself, but I am a student.

[@shawnr771]

I am new to this discussion and I have a question. It is my understanding that Thermal mass system are designed in such a way to mitigate temperature swings from one extreme to the other. I live in Texas where keeping warm although very important keeping cool is also quite important. My question is that if I incorporate a Thermal mass into a building where it would stay in the shade during the warmer periods of the year, Mar to Oct, is it possible to cool the thermal mass to aid in keeping the building cool. Example would be to blow air across it or even add piping like you said but pump in cool liquid instead of warm?

[@Geo-Dome]

Yes it works both ways but cold air falls so having a heavy slab cooled in summer would not work as well as having it warm in winter. You could of course do a vertical wall or something to help with this. In Spain they have marble floors which feel cool to walk on anyway.

[@masterdebater8757]

yes it is very possible but you need to factor in temperature stratification.. You would get more cooling by putting a huge spiral cold water loop on the ceiling than pumping cold water in the floor. It is true heat goes to cold but it also rises so fight both angles. Others are using this method to refrigerate (Mr.Teslonian and i think Paul Wheaton) with 35-50F degree water they are maintaining fridges with spring water. The ceiling loop would be best for cooling needs because the heat will rise as it does naturally it will penetrating the cool water in the pipe and be carried away while the cool air around the pipe will fall as well as both will do the tango.. One issue that could come up is dependent on the temps and humidity is condensates forming on the loop but im sure it could be managed easily enough with a little thought.

[@orcoastgreenman]

Bottom line: thermal mass is great, IF you have some passive or active system to add heat to it, in the time frame necessary for your desired use. These guys are building passive solar thermal houses in Alaska, where there is ZERO sun, and EXTREME insulation requirements for two months of the year... Their solution... 5-15 thousand gallon water tanks inside the insulated structure, providing “thermal mass storage” of solar energy, with enhanced stratification to allow for the most efficient provision of multiple uses from DHW to hydronic heating. For anyone looking at hot water storage of thermal energy, their method of returning water without disrupting the stratification in the tank is quite interesting.

[@netcomptech]

At what point in the structure was the temperature taken? What is the benefit of stabilizing temperature at approximately 10°C? That's to warm for food storage and to cool for human comfort. When stabilizing temperature at around 10°C, at least in Ohio U.S, using the temperature of ground water which is 13° can be used, as mentioned in the video, to heat the thermal mass at times after the peak of outdoor temperature. So I think the transfer of heat from the outside would also be more readily stored inside as well and may improve overall efficiency.

[@davepowell7168]

Finding staff small enough to clean out my hypocaust is now more challenging because with 21st century sensibilities ads have to be careful with wording not to offend or be censored. Call me old fashioned but young pygmy midgets seem thin underground these days Thanks for your cogent explanations of physics, heat has a mind of its own. 😁

[@JohnSmith-vz8pc]

2:12 at this point open the windows both sides, and let the warm air in! 😊

[@wulfclaw4921]

Very interresting and informative content. Thanks for the report of it. A question I have is that my place is built into a mountain and some large boulders. It is on a multi-level with staircases made of concrete and earthbag walls covered in plaster. Fo you rekon putting pex tubing and running hot water through it under the flooring and at different levels would help all that much ? Thanks, Wulfy

[@masterdebater8757]

hydronic heating of a mass is a ballet IF you want comfort and to flatten the curves of the graphs like the content creator showed.. If not done just right the heat is to soon, to late, doesnt last long enough, or lasts to long. It would take some very sophisticated software and a weather man that actually can do his job. Everyones solution to the problem will be different due to location, structure, weather, and the people. House full of females going to say 4 times a day im cold when it is 76F inside and 20F outside.. But house full of men would think it is warm. Same females will tell you its hot inside in July 90F outside with AC on set to 72F. Ask me how i know....

[@nizarahdragon3973]

Paul Wheeten over at permies has several rocket stove ideas that might work in your dome How big is it

[@stanmalbon1787]

And then there is the Rocket,stove thermomass heater.,the thing that makes thermal. Mass work good.

[@cordellscott]

It's the goodest

[@vitruvianstudent2800]

thanks a lot

[@Chan-rc2hw]

If you pumped air through the thermal mass while it was hotter outside and had an insulated lid, I think that would eliminate this problem

[@drumsnapete4]

Hi Paul - thanks so much for sharing your knowledge and insights with us, really enjoy learning from you. Could you tell us please what hardware/software you are using for tracking and recording temperatures? Thanks again. Pete

[@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork]

I don't know what he uses by I used Raspberry Pi - More about all that including how to set it up on my channel. Cheers!

[@1943L]

You can store heat. Not sure you let cold seep in, just a loss of the heat.

[@gigabane7357]

insufficient thermal mass and the pipes in the ground can be fed from simple black solar thermal panels that can massively boost how much sun you harvest and can deactivate them when the world is warm enough.

[@Chimonger1]

The earth is thermal mass! Use that! Insulating the building from the earth, requires somehow tempering the space inside....depending how severe the climate is for the house, determines how much more insulation is needed for the shell, and, how much mass you use...concrete mass is classic to use if insulating your mass from the earth. But, many have discovered simply using the earth’s mass...it’s already on-site, there’s far less carbon footprint to use the earth, than to use concrete. Building can be sited to take advantage of shade and sun, which helps keep the massive slab in the floor evened-out, passively, whether the slab is insulated from the earth, or not...but, it might not suit your requirements. But keys: .....The volume of the slab must be “tuned” or “balanced” to how much heat or cool the passive solar or shade can provide. How those are provided, is up to the designer and how savvy they are at keeping it low-tech, low-cost simple. .....The placing of hydronic radiant floor heating, or in-ceiling radiant cooling, can be hybridized with solar or geothermal tubes, to provide, essentially, free indoor tempering. .....Those can push fluid around, or push air around. .....Insulating the building’s shell to double the R-value of Code requirements, is crucial. .....despite industries pushing “tight” buildings, buildings still need to “breath”...that can be costly high-tech, or low tech. Moving air around, is critically important as fresh air exchanges.

[@TuNiPece]

@5:09 "Up to almost 15 degrees!" like if it was a warm day. UK must be a cold island XD

[@pauljenkinson1452]

Thermal mass just reduces temperature variation which is good for plants and animals.

[@od11bj]

Another guy did that with water he said he got a 30 percentage increase I believe. I could be wrong. Thanks for the explanation

[@KipIngram]

That's it? What they don't tell about thermal mass is that it works all the time? Of course it does - this should be obvious to anyone from the go. Thermal mass is the capacitance of a low-pass filter, and that makes changes in both directions more difficult.

[@collegesynewave]

Even a passive(active for the pedantic) home usually has some small form of heating for prolonged cold periods,hot to cold is the heat flow not being a smart arse,thanks for the channel regardless :)

[@johnwyman6331]

I would have opened the doors and windows when it got warmer outside than inside helping to warm the slab.

[@WraithlingRavenchild]

It isn't mass, it is capacitance. Mass has inertia. An object doesn't keep getting warmer once energy is disconnected. As soon as the energy balance changes the heat value changes. Capacitance is the better term.

[@masterdebater8757]

I have been saying battery but capacitance works as well... it is the use of the material to be charged and discharged of its thermal energy. A ground loop is a ground battery if you use a second loop under it flowing from solar water heating panels your charging it at a faster rate. A thermal battery would cover all sorts of materials and have rates dependent of the chargers design and the materials conductive/resistive rate. Capacitors have a fast charge and discharge rate compared to conventional rechargeable batteries, but yes i agree. About the inertia part that is splitting hairs the common definition versus the scientific one. Without the context of how the word is used it means both with and without inertia which is defined by the unproven theory of gravity so it cannot be held as a fact.

[@od11bj]

But if you gonna add all these windows, thermal mass, and special insulation with a higher thermal mass. Why not just go get geo-thermal? Just get a good R value insulation and turn the heat up at night.

[@ALEXSW46]

So your whole point is its not good if you dont have another heat source? But who doesnt put some kind of wood stove in these structures? Obviously people are going to include extra heat sources

[@hirthirthirt1693]

that makes no sense, when a building is not heated, as it is dead mass, it will become as cold a s the environment. Only heating it in any shape or form does make it warmer then the outside. So the thermal mass cannot "store the cold" as everything in the house gets cold without engergy that heats the house up. Thermal mass stores energy, when there is no energy of a certain timespann everything cools out and goes in an equilibrium with the envrionment. There is no such thing as storing cold, you only can prevent cold mass from heating up. But in a cold house the thermal mass does not make anything colder.

[@matricafranca]

Paul, I wanna purchase geodome plan. Please guide me how. Thx!

[@davidfuller764]

Now available on Kickstarter

[@kinvert]

I mean that looks like a good thing overall. You can do some numerical integration on this to see how it helps. Not a fan of this video.

[@whatever465456]

We can't understand anything without seeing the actual dome :D

[@kodeshian1]

Thermal mass generally works better with some south facing glass...

[@kingmasterlord]

so this is basically the exact same problem that they're having with making sterling engines harvest waste heat

[@eric123426]

Two words. Masonry heater.

[@GodBoredWas]

You circled the portion where the outside temperature was 5c hotter than the dome, but you COMPLETELY neglected to circle the point where the dome was 15c hotter than the outside... why did you not draw specific attention to that detail? Be consistent man.

[@mikedee6915]

centigrade

[@thomvogan3397]

Please tell me you weren't serious.

[@jl9678]

What do you mean he want serious? I think it's you who don't quite understand what he's saying

[@ehombane]

Who does not tell me? And if does not tell me, is because is obvious.. Sorry.

[@user-xe2ek1td1x]

Click bait title. This is precisely what everyone tells you about thermal mass. 👎

[@igg5589]

useless information.