Had To Turn On the Cooling Systems!

Plots are from Atmo weather station on campus. Top plot shows that breezy conditions continue to prevail here in southeastern Arizona. Bottom plot shows T and Td. After a nice cool day last Wednesday the highs have been inching up each day. I gave up this afternoon and switched the

cooling systems on for the summer. This is fairly involved for the main house and we are now committed to cooling and no heat, so this is a fairly important decision twice each year.

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The main house is constructed of 16-inch wide mud, adobe bricks. With about 2 inches of mud plaster inside, the walls are about 18-inches thick. Thus, for about 3 months each spring and fall the thermal inertia of these massive bricks keeps the house cool/warm without the need for much use of the heating/cooling systems. Very nice for the utility bills. Of course the other six months of the year the heating/cooling systems are fighting the thermal inertia of the bricks - so all-in-all, yearly utility costs may be about the same as for other types of construction.