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re: a bubblewall house
10 jun 1997
rt.rev.dr.jeff ganaposki (?) wrote:
>speaking of bubble walls...
>have you ever examine the beadwall system of zomeworks?
i've never seen one, altho i have prints and pictures, and i've spoken with
inventors dave harrison and steve baer. this is a nice mature reliable product,
some 20 years old now, it apparently works well, and many people say it's
beautiful in operation.
>they used polystyrene beads blown between two panes of glass.
the beads cost about $1/ft^3, they take up a lot of space when the glazing
cavity is empty (eg 2 55 gallon drums for a 4'x8'x4" thick window.) beadwall
also requires one vacuum cleaner motor per cavity, which makes for expense and
complexity, although the motors don't use much average power, since they only
operate for a few minutes a day.
bubbles seem like an improvement vs beads, with one small air pump for a whole
system, and a chance to store soapy water with 1/200 of the bubble volume when
the windows are empty, eg 1 55 gallon drum full of water for 500 ft^2 of 4"
thick windows...
>as far as i know, they sell manufacturing licenses for it.
it's no longer an official zomeworks product, and they don't support it, and
i think the patent has run out (if not the trademark), so i guess anyone can
build beadwalls now...
nick
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