Wright Chat

pharding

Relying only on cross ventilation, Frank Lloyd Wright's 1901 E. Arthur Davenport House is surprisingly comfortable at 97 degrees F outside. FLW's casement windows are wonderful for catching the breeze and working together for cross ventilation. The broad overhangs reduce the heat gain on the second floor. The thick limestone foundation walls of the basement act as a cold sink so we leave the door open to the basement stair so that the cooler air can migrate to the first floor. At night we open windows on all floors to capture the cooler night air. The cross ventilation is heavenly. Right now I don't really miss not having air conditioning.

We are installing the geothermal component of the HVAC system this summer. We are going to put the wells in the front yard and put the compressor in the basement so that I can avoid an ugly and noisy compressor box on grade. We are going to swap out the coils on the HVAC system so that we can do geothermal heating and air conditioning. When it is really cold the gas source for heating will supplement the heating of the geothermal system.
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Paul Harding FAIA Owner and Restoration Architect for FLW's 1901 E. Arthur Davenport House, the First Prairie School House in Chicago | www.harding.com | LinkedIn

peterm · Posted: Sun May 27, 2012 5:58 pm Post subject:

I'm in Oskaloosa at the Lamberson house with similar temps and staying quite comfortable sans a.c.

Wright understood cross ventilation. And our concrete floor is cool to the touch...

I suppose the true test will be 97 with no breeze. But then it's time to break out the fan. I despise air conditioning...

pharding · Posted: Sun May 27, 2012 6:14 pm Post subject:

classic form · Joined: 05 Dec 2006 Posts: 117 Location: Kalamazoo, Mich.

Cross ventilation works well as long as the humidity stays low. Most of the spring and summer opening windows at night and shutting them during the day works but I'll tell you those humid summer days are killer. AC is the only weapon I have for it.

I've considered looking into whole house dehumidification...

We open the north side lower windows and the south side upper windows. Cool comes in through the north, trapped hot air out through the south.

Paul Ringstrom · Joined: 17 Sep 2005 Posts: 2224 Location: Mason City, IA

A/C is a godsend to those of use with seasonal allergies.

John · Joined: 25 Mar 2005 Posts: 264

Paul, what is the actual inside temperature when it's 97 outside and you have a breeze going?

DRN · Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 1552 Location: New Jersey

We've found cross-ventilation and strategic window opening and closing to meet most of our needs at the Sweeton house, but the house's proximity to a wooded wetland can cause humidity to be an issue at times. When the air is still and the temperature is in the 90F's with high humidity, towels will not dry, nor will perspiration. The only relief is to lie on the cool floor slab in one's underwear, or turn on the Sanyo ductless A/C units. We set them at about 78-80F and they dry the air sufficiently to make the house comfortable.

When humidity is is not an issue, but air is not moving, we have a 1954 vintage Vornado pedestal fan that works well and looks good too.

http://lansing.craigslist.org/atq/2980144891.html

Roderick Grant · Joined: 29 Mar 2006 Posts: 3950

I open my windows in March and close them in December. I've never had an air conditioner for all the decades I've lived in California, nor have I ever used the heater.

pharding · Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 9:58 pm Post subject: Re: Davenport is cool

peterm · Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 10:28 pm Post subject:

This could be one of the reasons that Wright later began designing more one story homes. Our thermostat showed 82. Of course the two story house has the advantage in the winter of not needing as much heat on the second floor.

90 degrees with the right breeze can still feel very comfortable...

Roderick- Los Angeles is surprisingly easy to live in without a.c. But getting by with no heater would have been very difficult, at least for us in Altadena. We usually had a few days with below zero temps in the winter. The closer one is to the ocean in socal, the warmer the winters...

Roderick Grant · Joined: 29 Mar 2006 Posts: 3950

... this is true. We are a state of many micro-climates. Yet even on the occasional chilly winter night, I would rather add an extra blanket than deal with the wall units (gas in bedroom and living room; electric in bath). Southern California has never quite got a handle on dealing effectively with winter weather, while in a typically summer-cooled house, one can hang meat from the living room ceiling.

peterm · Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 2:11 pm Post subject:

I've noticed here in the Midwest that it seems as if many restaurants and private homes are kept colder in the summer than they would be in the dead of winter, for example 68 in the summer, and 75 in winter. It's really unbelievable. On a hot day, one feels as if it is necessary to carry a sweater around in order to survive these freezing interiors.

Roderick Grant · Joined: 29 Mar 2006 Posts: 3950

I noticed the same phenomenon, only instead of 75, it was closer to 80. At the FLWBC Gala Dinner in 1987 in Oak Park, the room full of people was so hot, it was almost insufferable. Again in St. Paul in 2000, in the court of a 19th century building at least five stories high, all the men were taking off their jackets to survive.

I grew up in Minnesota, but our winter thermostat was set at 65 for the daytime and 60 at night. We had a window a/c in the dining room, which meant that the dining room was frigid, with no perceptible drop in temperature in any other room of the house.