Kinda proud of this and thought I would share

[Planeweird]

This is a window in my kitchen that I had to size down so that I could have more counter top space. If it was a normal window it would look at my neighbors house and that didn't interest me. So I made one out of wind bottle bottoms and concrete.

 

[quads]

That's cool, psychedelic! Reminds me of Fred Smith's old place, about 150 miles north of me. He made statues out of concrete and pieces of beer bottles from his tavern.
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2251

 

[Metal]

What's the r-value on that? Looks cool. I refinished my deck this spring and made it cedar color. Now when the sunlight reflects off it through the dining room windows it turns my dining room and kitchen orange.

 

[Planeweird]

Thanks guys. It was a lot of fun to make. I have no idea what the R value is though. It's 4" thick though and about 300lbs.

 

[Gooserider]

Thanks guys. It was a lot of fun to make. I have no idea what the R value is though. It's 4" thick though and about 300lbs.

Hate to say it, but while it looks great, and is a nice creative project, the R-value is probably pretty low from the description... Concrete without any insulation in it has a pretty low R-value, and since the wine bottle bottoms are single pane in effect, that will also be a very low R... Probably better than a single pane window, but not as good as a modern high tech window or a solid wall.

Purely from a theory standpoint, what would have given a higher R-value might have been to do something like pouring a 1" layer of concrete with the bottles in place, fitting a layer of foam insulation around the bottles and then pouring another inch layer of concrete (possibly w/ some sort of wire reinforcing mesh in each pour) and cutting the bottles off flush with the top. Possibly fill the bottles with some of that clear thermo-set resin to give better insulation on the bottle glass without reducing it's transparency... If you did 2" foam, the result would probably have an overall R-value closer to a modern window, possibly even better.

Gooserider

 

[Planeweird]

Thanks guys. It was a lot of fun to make. I have no idea what the R value is though. It's 4" thick though and about 300lbs.

Hate to say it, but while it looks great, and is a nice creative project, the R-value is probably pretty low from the description... Concrete without any insulation in it has a pretty low R-value, and since the wine bottle bottoms are single pane in effect, that will also be a very low R... Probably better than a single pane window, but not as good as a modern high tech window or a solid wall.

Purely from a theory standpoint, what would have given a higher R-value might have been to do something like pouring a 1" layer of concrete with the bottles in place, fitting a layer of foam insulation around the bottles and then pouring another inch layer of concrete (possibly w/ some sort of wire reinforcing mesh in each pour) and cutting the bottles off flush with the top. Possibly fill the bottles with some of that clear thermo-set resin to give better insulation on the bottle glass without reducing it's transparency... If you did 2" foam, the result would probably have an overall R-value closer to a modern window, possibly even better.

Gooserider

Well, the house has tons of single pane windows, so I wasn't worried about making one of 30 or so windows very efficient. But to answer your question, the concrete has an R value of 0.38 and the areas that are made up of wine bottles have an R value of 2.0.

 

[Gooserider]

As I said, it is a neat looking project, and I didn't intend any negative criticism about it... I was just looking at it and saying what I saw from the current construction, and trying to think of a way to make it more efficient as a mental exercise... In some cases though, it is perfectly OK to decide that looks are more important than energy savings...

Gooserider

 

[Planeweird]

As I said, it is a neat looking project, and I didn't intend any negative criticism about it... I was just looking at it and saying what I saw from the current construction, and trying to think of a way to make it more efficient as a mental exercise... In some cases though, it is perfectly OK to decide that looks are more important than energy savings...

Gooserider

Oh I take it as a criticism and thanks

 

[dvellone]

That's a great design - very nice.

 

[madrone]

Reminds me of an entire house I saw constructed that way, still standing in the ghost town of Rhyolite, NV.

can't find any good links, but worth googling "Rhyolite Bottle House"

 

[Planeweird]

As I said, it is a neat looking project, and I didn't intend any negative criticism about it... I was just looking at it and saying what I saw from the current construction, and trying to think of a way to make it more efficient as a mental exercise... In some cases though, it is perfectly OK to decide that looks are more important than energy savings...

Gooserider

Oh I take it as a criticism and thanks

I meant I DONT take it as a criticism. Geez, I need to proof read before posting

 

[Hogwildz]

Might have some solar advantages to negate or even the lack of thickness.
Many Earth homes use glass bottles and they tout how green & efficient they are.

 

[dvellone]

Might have some solar advantages to negate or even the lack of thickness.
Many Earth homes use glass bottles and they tout how green & efficient they are.

well, now I can tell my wife that my plan all along was to reduce the cost of building our new home through the over-consumption of beer and wine. Better switch quick from cans to bottles though or she'll think I'm a bigger moron than she already does.

 

[Planeweird]

Might have some solar advantages to negate or even the lack of thickness.
Many Earth homes use glass bottles and they tout how green & efficient they are.

well, now I can tell my wife that my plan all along was to reduce the cost of building our new home through the over-consumption of beer and wine. Better switch quick from cans to bottles though or she'll think I'm a bigger moron than she already does.

I hear ya. That window took over a 120 bottles to make, and yes, we drank most of them

 

[Hogwildz]

Might have some solar advantages to negate or even the lack of thickness.
Many Earth homes use glass bottles and they tout how green & efficient they are.

well, now I can tell my wife that my plan all along was to reduce the cost of building our new home through the over-consumption of beer and wine. Better switch quick from cans to bottles though or she'll think I'm a bigger moron than she already does.

I hear ya. That window took over a 120 bottles to make, and yes, we drank most of them

They do also use cans in Earth homes. Tires, cans, bottles, mud, straw.
Some are really cool. Nice work