Leaking & heating costs

[novascroller]

a lot of what i can remember from when i lived in a log house as a kid was the south wall leaking when it was rainy and windy. i also remember being cold (wood heat only) what did my dad so wrong when chinking between the logs with cement? also, whats the R factor of a 8 or 10" log vs a 2x4 or 2x6 wall with insulation?

cheers,
graham

[Basil]

The first mistake is letting a wall get that wet to begin with!!

I'm building with a wraparound porch so that no wall or corner gets wet unless it comes in sideways. As far as the chinking goes, did he "touch up" the chinking after the logs shrank?

[novascroller]

The first mistake is letting a wall get that wet to begin with!!

I'm building with a wraparound porch so that no wall or corner gets wet unless it comes in sideways. As far as the chinking goes, did he "touch up" the chinking after the logs shrank?

the fix was building a greenhouse on that side of the house. he built the house on the top of a hill, on a field as well. it would have been better to build it into the woods somewhat, more sheltered from the wind and rain/snow but hindsight is 20/20. i can't remember if he touched up
the chinking or not, it was over 20 yrs ago when he built it.

[wood bug]

Ditto on what Basil said about the walls getting wet, I think to a degree a little rain will get to a wall but sounds like a construction issue or chinking failure, something was big enough to allow the water.

[novascroller]

how about insulation factors of logs vs 2x4 or 2x6 walls?

[rreidnauer]

If I recall correctly from the manual (which is currently buried amongst my moving boxes) there was a section on R values of logs. And, depending on the species, it ranged roughly from 0.75 to 1.25 R per inch. But you are comparing apples to oranges, and is not a fair comparison. There is a factor of "thermal mass" that affects the results of a home's heating efficiency.

DYork posted a great link to the type of data you are looking for in this thread: http://www.loghomebuilders.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1159

[DYork]

Thermal mass as insulation is only part of the equation. Air flow and good but subtle circulation is about 1/2 as important as well.
Air leaks can rob effeciency from even the best insulated homes, and that applies to all geometric planes-top, bottom, and walls, but a well PLANNED tho only minimally insulated home will often do better than many inches of insulation or very thick walls. A lot of it is about how a home 'feels' to it's inhabitants as far as temps go, and let's face it, that's what we all should be concerned with. How the air temerature in a home feels is often misleading tho. I'll give you an example:
I currently live in a bricked 2 story apt. Livingroom and kitchen downstairs with bedrom/bathroom upstairs. In the winter, I spend most of my off time down stairs at the computer. According to the digital infrared thermometer I brought from work, the downstairs is really within just a few degrees temp as the upstairs, (where the heater/blower assy is physically located) but it always 'feels' much colder downstairs. This is because of natural migration of the warmest air upward, and a natural movement of the air in general on the lower floor. Forcing air downstairs, where it has to move accross the room to find it's way up the stairwell to the bedroom and into the intake of the blower for recirculation causes both lateral and vertical air currents. Just the fact that the air is constantly moving makes it feel cooler than it really is. It's a functioned result of our skin's reactions, and no, you don't have to be sweating for it to be very much apparent. Being on a full slab foundation probably doesn't help either. The system was designed (if you can call it that) a couple of decades ago when energy prices were way cheaper than today.

Truely one of the worst things we in North America have done to ourslves is to become obsessed with an "ideal" temperature inside every inch of our homes 24 hours/day. I'm not saying we should be sweltering in the summer months and shivering in the winter while watching our favorite program, but we try to keep too cool in the summer and too warm in the winter. Bad for a number of reasons.
1. It's expensive as heck, both in day to day operating and initial layout funding. A light $20 sweater for lounging about inside in January will beat the heck out of trying to achieve the same warmth thru any heating system. An extra blanket on the bed at night can literally save hundreds of dollars in heating bills thru a winter.
2. It's not good for the ecology. All hivac systems burn energy.
3. It's not good for our health, and this concerns me most of all. Germs, mold, and bacteria don't fare well in fresh clean air. Yes, I plan on having central air, but I also plan on having plenty of fresh air circulating as well. And plenty of sunshine coming in.

[novascroller]

thank you for the responses. i appreciate it. i'll see if i still have any
pics of the cabin we built back in '79.