Subject: Larger solar closets

From: [email-masked] (Nick Pine)
Date: 10 Oct 1995 03:37:26 -0400

La Defense (is that the name of the empty cube in Paris?) looks to be about
500' tall, from a picture. If we filled the space inside with containers of
water, and insulated the front and back faces, and added a passive solar air
heater on the south face, we would have a solar closet that would take about
500^2 = 250,000 days, ie 685 years to cool to 70 F, with no sun, in 32 F air.

If the earth were a solar closet, it would take about 5 trillion years
to cool to 70 F. Of course the inside is molten rock, not hot water.

Nick

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From: [email-masked] (Brendan A. Niemira)
Date: Wed, 11 Oct 1995 08:35 est

> to cool to 70 F. Of course the inside is molten rock, not hot water.
         
Ah, but in addition to the heat input from solar light impacting, there is 
also the heat input from radioctive decay within the earth.  As if you were
to put a soldering iron inside one of your smaller solar closets, eh?
                  
Keep up the good work, Nick.  You've already convinced me to add a solar closet
to my house... when I get a house. :-(

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