Texas Hill Country

[LeoinSA]

When you're stuck in a spot ya don't particularly want to be it's best to figure out how to either get out or make the most of a bad situation.

I'm stuck here in San Antonio in a 1960's ranch house that is so energy inefficient and leaky that it costs too much money to heat and most especially cool in the hot and humid south-central Texas summers.

By stuck I mean that my wife has a wonderful teaching position at a local university where she is extremely comfortable remaining until she retires - in ~15 years.

So... About 110 to 140 miles WNW of SA are some small towns - Rocksprings - Camp Wood - Leakey and Junction up on the I10.  There is a great deal of acreage available out in that general area.  Depending on the parcel size, as low as $500 (or less) an acre for larger parcels to $1500 (and up) for smaller parcels.  A significant amount of parcels in the 50 to 75 acre size and in the $800 to $1000/acre range.  OK - these are all in the western sections of the Texas Hill Country - more likely folks are familiar with the hill country from SA area and to the NNE to a bit beyond Austin.  Way too spendy for this poor soul! 

Mama's willing to sell this house and move into an "nice" apartment for the 2-3 years until I can retire.  Then I could go out to some land that we're bought and start building a retirement place.  Then, being a senior professor she would schedule her teaching for Tuesdays through Friday mornings and commute to SA from the 'homestead' for 3.5 days and stay at the hill country house for the other 3.5.  Nice gig if you can get it! 

Out there in the hill country it doesn't get too cold in winter - maybe down to the low to mid-20's for a few nights as a 'norther comes through in December through February.  Mostly the lows will be in the low 30's or upper 20's during the 3 winter months. And there will be a goodly number of winter nights way above freezing in the mid to upper 30's.  Daytime temps can easily get into the high 60's to low 70's and most mid-winter days will be in the upper 40's through upper 50's.   

Since the summer temps can easily reach 100º from late May through mid-September, with typical lows in the mid 70's to occasional upper 60's.  The standard here in SA for May/September is 75º/95º and 60 to 80% humidity.  The worst is that the low comes just before dawn.  It's still 85º at 2 am. 

So all that leads to the hypothetical question... Would it be better to earth berm a small place (800 to 1000 SF) into the north face of a hill to get away from the summer heat as much as possible or... berm the same sized place into a south - southeast facing hill to get the potential solar gain for the months from October through April?

I believe my initial preference would be berm into the southerly facing slope to use solar gain to a large mass though an appropriate amount of summer overhang protected glass as the primary heat source with some supplemental wood heat as the backup.  My thinking is that if the bedroom was dug into the hill and significantly sheltered by the berm that the summer sleeping temps should be bearable, especially with some air movement from fans.

Opinions if you please.  Thanks in advance for your insight.  --Leo

[muldoon]

Welcome to the forum Leon.  I know that area of Texas a bit.  I hunted out in the Leakey Utopia Medina Junction for years and years.  I had no idea prices had come down that much.  The last time I looked they were north of 4k an acre out that way. 

It does get cold out there for Texas standards, but the real thing to watch for is all the low water crossings.  That rock dont soak up water and they flashflood like crazy.  Be very aware of land you are looking at and the access into and out of the place.  There are places - especially towards Hunt and Ingram that you simply will not be able to get to without going 40 miles out of your way -- like up to Bandera and back down.  You want to be sure you have some paved high road all the way to I10 if you can. 

As for building a bermed style house, the Texas heat is the biggest problem in my opinion.  I have seen it well over 110 many times, but only in the 20s-30s two to three weeks out of the year.  We nearly always had the Texas arctic blast dip in the teens, but I seem to recall it being a ince or twice a year thing.  A large window facing south would cook you in the summer.  If you positioned facing north, you get the added insulation efforts of the berm to help offset the heat.  During the winter, woodstoves will do the trick if you want, but I found the electricity is really cheap out that way because they are almost all co-op run where you are a member and not just a customer. 

I would look into whole house fans as well to help with heat. 

-- Out of curiosity, since your in San Antonio, did you consider the La Vernia, Gonzales or Luling areas?  They are country towns, but very commutable to a job in San Antonio.  I bought just over in Fayette county. 

[LeoinSA]

Welcome to the forum Leon. 

Thanks for that - but it's Leo - no 'n'. 

[major snips]

-- Out of curiosity, since your in San Antonio, did you consider the La Vernia, Gonzales or Luling areas?  They are country towns, but very commutable to a job in San Antonio.  I bought just over in Fayette county. 

It's the humidity that incapacitates me, not the heat itself.  So the further away I can be from The Gulf and still be in a reasonable 1/2 day-ish drive of SA the better off we'll be.  If I could I'd buy out at Alpine or Fort Davis to gain the altitude and resulting summer 'coolness' - notice that's in quotes. 

I've got a buddy that lives in Harper - about 30 miles NW of Kerrville - in a modified geodesic dome that he built 30 years ago.  They've got no A/C in the house and heat in winter with wood.  Their summer temps do get into the 90's often but they are usually on the dry side of the dry line and so the humidity isn't a problem.  I was last out there in August and it was miserable here in SA and pleasant there and the actual temp was only about 5-6º difference - high 90's here and mid-90's there.

As for a south facing window wall... Sufficient roof overhang to completely shade the glass from 2 months before summer solstice to 2 months after and add in a covering of high density shade cloth should keep the direct and reflected solar gain out.  Is my thinking wrong here?  Thanks. --Leo

[bayview]

   I looked into berming.  And decided against it.  I was concerned about future water intrusion, and critters - like fire ants.  And animals jumping onto the roof.  Walls would need to be built to withstand the outside pressure of the dirt.  It could be disastrous if you have expanding clay soil.

   Insulate well, including foundation.  Southern windows and a concrete floor makes a good heat sink.  Insulated window shades help keep heat in during winter and cold in the summer.  Limit northern exposed windows. 

   Plant trees on south side that lose their leaves in the winter. 

   A central wood burning stove with heat sink works well for retaining heat.

   Vent roof well. . . I wonder how well reflective materials work for keeping attic cooler.

http://www.gp.com/build/product.aspx?pid=5857

BTW - The electric co-op west of our property purchased their electricity at the wrong time and customers are stuck with .15 per kwh. (HillCo Electric Co-op) We are on Texas-New Mexico and pay .07.


/

[MountainDon]

I would build with windows facing south if there are no other concerns such as wanting to have a certain view. I would calculate overhangs at windows taking summer and winter sun angles into account. Using movable awnings to provide extra shading in summer is an option. Shade screen cloth can be quite effective at reducing heat gain from direct sun as well. We have insulated interior window shades as well as wood screening on the exterior, on our home. It goes without saying to also use the best, lowest u-factor, windows you can afford.

As for facing north and depending on the wood burner stove to keep warm, that would work. However, even with firewood being free, one must still cut, split and store it. Even if one has a very efficient wood stove there are still emissions and the fewer emissions the better, in my opinion. Even EPA approved wood smoke is a pollutant and if we can avoid burning fuels, so much the better. At least that is my opinion on the matter.

[glenn kangiser]

Where the nights never cool below 85 in the summer for long periods you will find that the temperature of the earth comes up to that for a good distance too. 

[LeoinSA]

Glenn - being a transplanted northern lad this is a point that had not even entered my thinking.  Where I come from the ground 8-10 feet down stays about 55º year-round.  Zero thought that it would be any different 1200 miles south of 'home'.

I read your response back on Thursday and I was so stunned that it took this long for me to mentally get back 'with it'.    So I ran a little experiment this morning.

Living in the 'burbs of the 7th largest city in the nation one may conclude that water in the water system has 1) some turnover and 2) the mains are buried several feet underground and 3) the temperature of the water from the faucet will reflect (give or take a bit) the temperature of the ground.

So...  Figuring that there is less water used overnight and that would allow the water in the mains to more readily acclimate to the temp of the surrounding ground I waited until early this AM to test the temp of the water.  I took the garden hose and watered the potted plants for about 15 minutes - guesstimating I used 75 gallons - certainly enough to get water out of the mains and though my house system.  I couldn't believe my eyes when the thermometer read 74º.  I did it three times.  Even going into kitchen to run some hot water into a glass to make sure the thermometer wasn't broken!  Yep.  74º

From this I infer that I'd have to dig a cave and get 30, 40 or even 50 feet under the surface to gain any significant cooling effect.  It appears that it certainly would not be worthwhile to spend the time, energy and money to build a bermed house here in Texas at about 30º north lattitude.

Thanks Glenn for making that simple point. --Leo

Where the nights never cool below 85 in the summer for long periods you will find that the temperature of the earth comes up to that for a good distance too.  

[LeoinSA]

I had no idea prices had come down that much.  The last time I looked they were north of 4k an acre out that way. 

A point that I want to make here...  The acreage that is being offered at $1000 an acre (and that I'm talking about in this thread) is what can charitably be called 'scrub' land in most other parts of the world.  'Tain't much on it 'cept scrub cedar and exposed limestone.  There certainly isn't much 'soil' except in pockets here and there.  And the 'best' pockets have been settled and built on long afore now.  Surface water ain't all that prevalent except during a gully-washer storm and y'all don't wanna be in a low spot then!    Worse, the porous limestone lets the water from rain easy peculate into the ground so there are few ponds 'cept where a huge amount of work has been done to construct dams and other man-made artifices to hold water.

The point is that the land is (relatively) cheap 'cause it ain't got all that much going for it. 

"The economy of Rocksprings is centered on the wool and mohair industry. Edwards County is one of the top producers of wool and mohair in the world." (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/RR/hjr11.html) Perhaps that's because the goats (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohair) that inhabit that whole area can thrive on the sparse vegetation.   More here: http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasHillCountryTowns/RockspringsTexas/RockspringsTx.htm

All that said, there is a thriving animal population - native and exotic - and a major 'industry' is hunting leases for the city folk to come out and 'hunt' from blinds overlooking feeder stations.

My thinking is that an individual could find a 'decent' (all relative) acreage and have a spot on the larger parcel that would be suitable for a small home and associated support activities.  Sun is plentiful and the ridge tops get some wind so producing electrical power shouldn't be an issue.  With enough roof surfaces and large enough tankage, catching and storing water for domestic use may not be an issue.  Having a well drilled may be problematic - more research needed. 

When all is said and done, if the economy picks up enough to be able to sell this current dog of a house at any decent price, this is an area within a 1/2 day drive of SA where one could carve out a decent spot to not only retire on but also be somewhat immune to any future upheavals in the social/economic fabric. --Leo

[MountainDon]

Regarding the water temperature experiment...

Does the water come to you from an above ground or an underground tank/cistern?  Here in NM our water comes from municipal wells and is stored in huge above ground steel tanks. In summer the water may be coming into the house, at any time of day, at 80+ degrees.  In winter it's quite a bit colder and in the inbetween seasons, it's inbetween. My point is that, here at least, the water temperature varies greatly with season. I do not think that is truly indicative od the soil temperature. But I could be wrong. To get an accurate spoil temperature I believe you'd need to dig down a ways in the dirt and plant a thermometer probe, cover it back up and monitor over a period of time.

[LeoinSA]

So... On the last leg of our December road trip we came from Del Rio up though the part of the country I originally referenced at the start of this thread.

Recognizing that this whole area is coming out of a nasty drought, the land around Rocksprings is near barren!

The goats, sheep and cows have eaten most of the vegetation down to bare ground on many parcels of land.  Lots of places are merely rock ranches.

The "pastures" ain't and the trees inside those fences are eaten up as high as the animals can reach.  Makes for a nice view under the oaks.

So we'll do some more scouting to the north and west of Kerrville to see what's to be seen.  And if we get some good moisture in the next several months we will venture back to the RS area to see if those rock ranches have any green amongst the boulders.

[LeoinSA]

I absolutely despise commercial radio - too many commercials for asinine crap.  So... I don't listen on my commute.  I do however listen to NPR for about 40 minutes a day.  20 in the morning and 20 in the afternoon.  My commute time is usually when they have some 'human interest' stories on.  I sometimes enjoy those - like today's story.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123068681  The audio will be available after 7pm EST 2/2/10.

The story addresses some of the issues mentioned in posts above this one.

But it also helps if you're more than slightly rich from fried chicken - and no, I do not mean having a big belly from greasy foods and beer. 

Leo