Insulation by still air

[Willy FURTER]

All insulating products such as glass wool, rock wool, sheep etc ... are only heat transfer retarders, more or less effective depending on whether they retain more or less trapped air, because it it is this air that isolates and not the product.
For insulation to be effective, it must absolutely separate the outdoor and indoor atmospheres, both from temperature differences, summer and winter, but also from air currents and humidity.
The old houses had thick walls, not for their rigidity but because they were composed:
- an outer part rigid enough to withstand the mechanical stresses as well as the weight of the roof, a plaster prevented the penetration of air;
-an interior part supporting the weight of the ceiling or floors, plastered, plastered or painted according to taste, but above all, in order to prevent indoor air from escaping.
-a central part consisting mainly of air. Here and there there was a piece of wood which connected the two wall parts, in order to make them interdependent, therefore mechanically more solid. The thermal bridges were only at the level of the openings, which were as small as possible.
In winter, the hearth heated the interior part of the wall at the same time as the ambient air and, when it went out, it is the inertia of the wall which ensured the maintenance of heat in the habitat. The still air contained between the two wall parts, prevented the dispersion of calories to the outside.
The era of concrete completely changed this method of construction and, instead of having insulation at the heart of the wall, we opted for either interior insulation, catastrophic because it allows all thermal bridges and their consequences, but favors the character of the habitat, either exterior, requiring the construction of facades which, in order not to rot, had to be ventilated. A stream of air, from bottom to top, pumped the calories from the wall and distributed them to the atmosphere. This process, effective in summer, proved to be catastrophic in winter, it was necessary to place an insulating product between the facade and the wall, where an additional cost of the construction and an increase in the thickness of the walls.
Current techniques tend to return to the principle of double wall, but the damage is done and everything cannot be repaired with a magic wand. We must now make it clear to the builders that a house is not only a shell but that it is a cocoon in which it is good to live, safe from earthquakes, heat, cold and humidity.
It is in this state of mind that I designed a metal frame house, allowing to guarantee an effective protection against earthquakes, and containing in its walls, its soil and its roof, a central part made of still air, associated with reflective walls which, as in the thermos bottle, prevent internal and external calories from propagating in the walls. The latter must be capable of capturing solar calories in order to store them and redistribute them for heating water and premises. This concept can also be applied to timber frame houses.
It only remains for me to find a young dynamic to launch this process, used partially to date, with success, but only in the walls.

[Rabbit]

The thermos m technique worries me a little.
In winter it is certainly more pleasant and
on everything less energivor but in summer than
happens when we have a meeting of
family, whether one or two pc are running full
power ?
Have you thought about a thermal flywheel? Where must
it like in Canada or the US have a clime for
that the house is habitable when there are large
The energy balance is not ultimately so
interesting than what we could have wished for.

[Christophe]

It seems to me that this is the same topic of discussion as this: https://www.econologie.com/forums/isoler-des ... t8971.html

Shall we lock in here?

Also read the technical file on thin insulators (whose efficiency, relative, is strongly linked to the presence of one or two blades of unventilated air): https://www.econologie.com/les-isolants- ... -4177.html