Underground Heat Storage - The Moderation Zone

P O Box 1077

Paulden, Arizona 86334

Yavapai County

USA

Latitude: 345308N (34.75333)

Longitude:1122803W (-112.4675)

info@earthshelters.com

Still, the most advanced book available on the subject is Passive Annual Heat Storage - Improving the Design of Earth Shelters. This 1983 text is still quite up to date as it teaches the basic methods of understanding natural heat flow methods that never change. Other supplementary materials, home plans and instruction videos are available.

You can order books, videos, and papers on a large variety of topics which are available from the Rocky Mountain Research Center.

The home and the underground heat storage area must be separated from the harsher weather outside. The insulation umbrella covers over the top of the house, its warm underground heat storage area, and out 7 to 10 feet (2-3 m) beyond it. A 2 foot (.6 m) layer of earth is put over the top of this insulation. Its purpose is to isolate the underground heat storage mass with a reasonable amount of temperature moderating earth, support plant life, protect the insulation, and provide a permanent cover to protect the home. It functions in a wide temperature range that straddles the average annual outdoor temperature. This temperature moderating function is the main one used in conventional earth sheltering and is called the moderation zone.

Three thermal zones are established by using an Insulation/Watershed Umbrella. Each has its own job to do and each functions at a different average temperature: the Moderation Zone at the outdoor temperature, the Storage Zone at the indoor temperature, and the Isolation Zone which must span the difference between the indoor and outdoor temperatures.