-----Original Message-----
On Behalf Of Cuyler Page
Sent: Wednesday, October 04, 2006 8:56 PM

>
The Manor House has a food storage "Cool Room" in the form of an addition 
bumped out (symetrically in proper Georgian style) on the back side of the 
house.   The addition, built right into the house as part of the original 
construction, has a flat roof (very a-typical), and on the roof is a lead 
pan covering or making up the entire roof.   The lead pan has walls 4" to 5" 
tall and was intended to hold water.   Evaporation of the water cooled the 
food storage room below.   During the heat of July, when you opened the door 
to the room, it felt as though you had opened your refridgerator door. 
Amazingly effective!
>


Bruce Marcham responds -

Cuyler:

The room you speak of interests me.  Looking at the photos (http://www.victorialodging.com/craigflower/index.html) it appears that it is on the northeast side of the building (judging by the garden a mid to late summer scene, fairly high sun angle, shining right down the back side of the building, etc.)?  I would expect that they would put something like this on the north side of a building if one was available (to shade it from the sun) and put it mostly underground (like a root cellar).  Even more odd that they would put a window in a space they are trying to keep cool.  

(I notice that the old photo shows structures off the building that aren't symmetrical so, at least at times, symmetry wasn't always a big concern.)

I find it hard to believe that the evaporation effect contributes much to the cooling of the space.  What is the construction under the roof--is there much insulation there (maybe moveable insulation panels)?  Is there an easy way to get water onto the roof or does it seem to be intended just for rainwater?  Are the walls heavily insulated like an old ice house, perhaps lined with tin to serve as varmint-safe pantry?

I recognize that something like this that wouldn't make sense to someone in upstate NY might make sense out there.  Is there a lot of rain there, typically low humidity for a low dew point, etc.?  

Is the perimeter of the roof pan beveled to minimize the chance of the expansion of the ice in the winter causing a problem?

Bruce

--
To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
<http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>