I finally understood why my grandpa's adobe house never needed AC

Was reading an old New Mexico building code manual from 1978 and saw they required 18 inch thick walls with a specific mix of clay and straw - my grandpa's place was built in 1952 and it stays 75 degrees inside when it's 110 outside. Anyone else notice older desert homes just worked better with the climate than these new builds?

3 comments

3 Comments

jordan_hill6d ago

18 inches of mud and straw and it stays 75 degrees inside? That's absolutely wild.

emma_wells836d ago

Hold up, hold up. 18 inches of that stuff? That's gotta be some kind of magic or something. My friend's place is built the same way and he says it feels like a cave in the summer, just cool and damp. How does that even work without it turning into a moldy, muddy mess? That's the part I can't wrap my head around.

gavin_kim6d ago

Haha @jordan_hill it really is wild, right? And @emma_wells83 the clay keeps moisture from building up, so it doesn't get moldy. Grandpa knew what he was doing.