pacific dome living and comfort

s5 · Post by s5 » Fri Sep 05, 2003 12:50 am

hi!

i'm curious if anyone has any good strategies for living inside a pacific dome for the week. we have a 20' pacific dome and we've slept in it using the canvas cover that it came with. unfortunately, it's extremely hot during the day, and extremely cold during the night. to the extent that the temperature is always more pleasant (in either direction, hot or cold) outside the dome than within.

i've tried to solve this in the past by using screens during the day, but they're prone to dust. and leaving the screens in at night makes things even more freezing.

i think what i need is some kind of insulation or more breathable material that somehow keeps heat in during the night. surely someone here has worked something out already. if you have, let me know!

zaphod · Post by **zaphod** » Sat Sep 06, 2003 8:59 pm

I built a smaller 8' radius dome and placed it on the playa and am pleased to announce that it stayed a cozy 68 degrees during the heat of the day. The nights were cold but that was taken care of with blankets over my sleeping bag. I like camping and it's no big deal. But I suppose an insulating cover like thick blankets would help with the nights cold. It's also a large enough area that putting in a propane heater would be pretty safe.

I believe that it stayed so cool because I used vinal billboard material with the white part facing out and that seemed to reflect ALL of the heat away from the interior. Placing my hand on the surface made me realize that the fabric was actually cool to the touch, inside and out.

I had planned on it being swealtering inside and placed zippers in the fabric in stragic locations but left them totally zipped up all the time. I did notice however that after a few days it started to warm up till I realized that the playa winds were depositing a greyish film on the exterior and that was enough to bring it up 10 degrees the next day. A simple brushing off of the dust cooled it right down again.

My dome is also custom built with triangles cut and sewn together to create a form fitting cover.

I am open for questions.

Zaphod

s5 · Post by s5 » Sat Sep 06, 2003 9:05 pm

so you're saying that reflective material as a cover worked well for you? maybe i'll give that a try.

zaphod · Post by **zaphod** » Sat Sep 06, 2003 9:09 pm

yea, I really think that that was key. I have a friend who is planning on covering his much larger dome with the silver bubble reflective stuff that goes around water heaters, that method is too expensive for me but the billboard vinal as $20 and was scrap material.

Zaphod

s5 · Post by s5 » Sat Sep 06, 2003 9:13 pm

where did you find the billboard material? is that something i can get an industrial fabric supplier, or an art supply shop, or ...?

and thanks for the tip!

zaphod · Post by **zaphod** » Sat Sep 06, 2003 9:22 pm

the material I use is scrap and I get it from viacom here in Denver. It is used billboard vinal (they've got quite a stack of them) and will sell them to anybody for $20 and a drivers license and a signed statement that you will not display the billboard. They want to cover their butts so a brand name does not get mocked or otherwise demeaned.

The pieces are 40' x 14' and weigh about 80lbs each. I would imagine that this resource is available in every large city. I can get you Denver phone numbers if that helps.

Zaphod

s5 · Post by s5 » Sat Sep 06, 2003 9:23 pm

thanks all the same, i think i have enough information now.

zaphod · Post by **zaphod** » Sat Sep 06, 2003 9:53 pm

for anyone else here is a link to some photos:
http://www.geekspeak.net/dome/dome.html

It's a 3 phase wooden dome with metal struts made at a local blacksmiths shop. Everything was scrap material except for the metal struts that tie the wood pieces together. Total cost $120 not including my labor to put it together.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:59 am

z -- ITYM metal hubs or connectors, not struts.

s5 -- Stretch camo netting or shade mesh over it, and cut in a large chimney vent, not necessarily in that order.

sharpstick · Post by **sharpstick** » Tue Sep 09, 2003 3:19 pm

i think the most important thing is to not let light through. IR creates a greenhouse effect. any cheap tarp or chute covered structure is like an oven in the sun, but if the covering is opaque, like a heavy duty silver tarp, or even darker tarps, it is surprisingly cool underneath. i've verified this here in florida and on the playa. we had a silver tarp over our tent this year and were able to sleep til past 10 am. the more reflective the better, but i find that 68 degree figure hard to believe. the ambient temp is way above that and i don't think you can get below that without some more active cooling mechanism.
next experiment - a swamp cooler.

Tafkah · Post by **Tafkah** » Fri Sep 26, 2003 9:28 am

We had a 3,000 cfm swamp cooler on our 24 foot diameter OM dome this year (with cut-to-fit panels made from silver tarp material)

It worked great. Only used 2 barrels of water for the week and kept the inside cool and dust free. The only problem was that it became so popular during the heat of the day - too many people inside napping.

I'd like to check out the billbord vinal material as an alternative to our silver tarp material. It might reflect a lot more heat.

preburnkentucky · Post by **preburnkentucky** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 7:48 pm

Has anyone tried those 12v swamp coolers.
I've noticed that one site has now started advertising running
directly off of solar.
Any comments toa newbie are apreciated.

geekster · Post by **geekster** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 7:53 pm

They work great in the climate around BRC. One thing to be careful of, though, is to SHUT IT OFF before sunset or that swamp will be inside your dome. As the cover cools off, moisture will condense in the inside and it will be chilly and damp in there.

Blue Jester · Post by **Blue Jester** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 11:25 am

Big, white sheet with gromits for anchors. I was sleeping in my tent at like 2:00 in the afternoon very comfortably. for night, blankets and lots of them.

Blue Jester · Post by **Blue Jester** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 11:25 am

Big, white sheet with gromits for anchors. I was sleeping in my tent at like 2:00 in the afternoon very comfortably. for night, blankets and lots of them.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 12:02 pm

I've been experimenting with smaller "interior cells" for inside of my dome- Creating interior walls with PVC pipe and stretching tarps over to make fully closed compartments. A lot easier to keep warm than a whole dome, and double as privacy areas for....whatever.

pacific dome living and comfort

pacific dome living and comfort

dome life on the playa

reflective

scrap

images

Swamp Coolers

Easy and cheap

Easy and cheap