Building for the Pagosa
Springs Climate
Building Considerations
The Pagosa Springs climate offers benefits and problems
that may not be familiar to residents moving here from other areas
of the country. One of the prime benefits of the Pagosa climate
is the abundant solar energy available, a benefit which also has
its downside in the weathering of certain exterior finishes. Another
benefit to our climate is the lack of humidity, and the accompanying
lack of moisture-related problems such as mildew and soggy basements;
on the other hand, the dryness can cause wood to shrink and crack
if not properly treated. Snow loads, sitting on roofs, and coming
off roofs, are important considerations in home design. Other
factors include heating choices, exposure to forest fire dangers,
and dirt driveways that turn into muddy bogs during the spring
thaw.
The following article covers the following Pagosa
Springs building issues: Passive Solar Heating
| Solar Power | Exterior
Finishes | Snow Loads
Passive
Solar Heating
Building a home that utilitizes the abundant year-round
sunshine available in the Four Corners area, may be a cost-effective
choice. Passive solar heating, coming from design methods which
require no mechanical or electrical devices such as fans or pumps
to ditribute energy, are clean, user-friendly and conserve energy
resources.
Good passive solar design uses the orientation
and shading of dwelling windows properly to take full advantage
of the natural movement of the sun throughout the year, for maximum
heating and cooling of the home. Through timely opening and closing
of window shades or shutters, for example, the owners of a passive
solar home cooperate with nature in an active way, to create the
indoor climate they desire.
Merely locating an excess of south-facing windows
will not create a more liveable home however, because this type
of design can cause severely overheated daytime temperatures without
providing any heat at all during the nighttime hours, when the
heat is needed most. The creation of a thermal mass, to store
the daytime heat for the evening and night, is a very important
principle in proper solar design.
Several Pagosa construction companies specialize
in passive solar design, including Foxfire Construction, 970-264-4923,
which provided the information for the above overview.
Solar
Power, Electricity from the Sun
As with passive solar, the ability to generate electricity
through solar energy is quite feasible in sunny Southern Colorado.
There are four major components to solar electric systems; Solar
Panels, Charge Controllers, Batteries and Inverters. All of these
components are necessary to have a functioning Solar Electric
(PV) system.
The solar panel is the basic building block
of the system, serving as your battery charger. If you have several
solar modules wired together you have created a solar array.
The size of the solar array and the daily hours of sunshine available
determine the amount of power or energy that you can produce.
Charge controllers, which prevent the solar
panel or array from overcharging your battery, come in many different
sizes and types. Batteries are the energy storage for your
system. Without batteries there is no way to store the energy
your solar panels produce during the day. Typically, loads receive
their power from batteries instead of directly from the output
of a solar panel. A solar panel produces a high voltage that will
damage electronics if loads are powered directly. The last major
component is the inverter. The inverter converts the DC
energy stored in your batteries and turns it into the AC power
you use in your home. Inverters are rated by wattage and the quality
of their output. These major components can be put together in
many different ways.
One of the leading national retailers of solar power
supplies is located in Pagosa Springs: Abraham Solar Equipment.
Owner Mick Abraham can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-222-7242.
Exterior
Finishes
Drying oils provide a small moisture vapor barrier, which
will slightly reduce warping, cracking, and checking. They do
reduce liquid water penetration into wood. Tung oil is somewhat
better for this purpose than boiled linseed oil. It requires 3
coats of boiled linseed oil or tung oil to achieve a reasonable
level of protection. Oils suffer UV degradation, so a product
like Behr Exterior Tung Oil is recommended. Consider using drying
oils only on applications that are sheltered from direct sun,
like exterior doors under a weather porch.
Varnish is esthetically pleasing, but probably is the least
cost-effective finish because maintenance expense is high. Varnish
is mar resistant, and is suitable for decking, architectural millwork
and exterior furniture. Exterior marine varnishes generally need
to be sanded and recoated every 24-36 months or more often in
full-sun applications. Once varnish starts to crack, it must be
stripped and a new varnish coating applied. Re-finishing over
cracked or peeled varnish is not ever recommended. Therefore,
it is prudent to refinish long before the finish show signs of
degrading.
Semi-transparent stains contain pigments that partially
block the effects of UV light, so their longevity is generally
better than varnish. Their upkeep is also less costly and simpler.
Esthetically, they do not provide the warm, clear finishes that
varnishes provide. Selecting a semi-transparent stain is probably
a very good choice where some limited grain visibility is required.
It is definitely less costly than varnish.
Opaque stains last well, even better than their semi-transparent
cousins, in fact. Consider a maintenance schedule for these products
that requires repainting every 5-7 years. Opaque stains from reputable
manufacturers like Glidden, Devoe, and Messmer's are available
at many home centers. Opaque stains are often pigmented urethane
tung oil varnishes, and these are the best choice.
Exterior latex paint, applied in two coats
over a coat of oil-based pigmented primer provide the best possible
finish on wood surfaces. In terms of UV resistance, film stretch,
moisture vapor barrier, and longevity this combination is unbeatable.
Since the average recoat interval for full sun applications averages
10 years, the overall costs associated with its use are lower.
Paint is considered a moderate cost finish overall. Esthetically,
paint does not provide a natural grain look and so is appropriate
only for some applications.
Cement or synthetic stucco finishes have
become increasingly common in Southwest Colorado, as the "Santa
Fe" style has grown in popularity. Stucco finishes are more
expensive to apply than painted finishes, but offer superior longevity
and fade-resistence.
Snow
Loads
Snowload calculations are also often based on the possibility
of a hundred-year event. It is important to understand the significance
of snowload requirements. Because snow in your area may remain
on your roof for several months, the weight of the snow and ice
may easily build up over the winter and reach or exceed the snowload
capacity of the structure. The altitude of your home is directly
related to snowload calculations. For example, a home built at
7,000 to 7,500 feet in elevation requires a structure that can
support the weight of the roof plus and additional 65 pounds per
square foot for the snowload. A 1,500-square-foot roof needs to
be designed to hold 97,500 pounds of "live" snowload
plus the weight of the roof itself, or the "dead" load,
usually about 10 to 15 pounds per square foot. The total load
for this small roof area is 120,000 pounds, or the approximate
weight of 30 cars!
Snowload information courtesy of Builders Association of Pagosa
Springs.
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